Bird, bug, butterfly and a wild variety of photos from Belarus, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain by Irish wildlife photographer Patrick J. O'Keeffe and invited guests

Saturday 15 June 2013

CONTINENTAL CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax carbo ssp. P. c. sinensis) Poda Nature Reserve, Burgas, Bulgaria

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The Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is of the family Phalacrocoracidae which is in the genus Phalacrocorax. It has a scattered distribution in parts of North America, Eurasia, Africa and Australasia. 
There are a number subspecies recognised including the ground nesting Common Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo carbo) which occurs in Britain and Ireland that breeds on coastal rocky outcrops and on off shore islands.  The tree nesting Continental Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) which breeds in Northern Europe extending eastwards to Japan, but has in recent times colonised parts of southern Britain. This is apparently a rare subspecies in Ireland with less than 70 records but is in all probably under recorded.
 
Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds

Monday 10 June 2013

SQUACCO HERON (Ardeola ralloides) Kalloni Saltpans, Kalloni, Lesvos Island, Greece


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The Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides) is resident south of the Sahara Desert in western, eastern and south eastern Africa, including Madagascar. There is also a small population in Morocco and Tunisia on the North West African coast. This small heron occurs as a summer resident in central and southern Europe as well as in western central Asia. In the autumn, it migrates back to Africa to spend the winter months there. Its diet includes frogs, lizards, small fish and a wide variety of invertebrates. Text © www.rawbirds.com

EUROPEAN MOLE CRICKET Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa Skala Kallonis, Lesvos Island, Greece

 
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Sunday 9 June 2013

BLACK STORK (Ciconia nigra) Kalloni Salt Pans, Lesvos Island, Greece

 
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The Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) is of the family Ciconiidae which is in the genus Ciconia.

BLACK STORK (Ciconia nigra) Kalloni Saltpans, Kalloni, Lesvos Island, Greece

 
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The Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) is of the family Ciconiidae which is in the genus Ciconia.

Thursday 6 June 2013

PEACOCK BUTTERFLY (Aglais io) at Broadmeadow Estuary, Swords, Fingal, Co. Dublin, Ireland

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The Peacock Butterfly (Aglais io) is of the family Nymphalidae which is in the genus Aglais. It overwinters as an adult with its wings closed and the dark cryptic under wing pattern help it avoid detection by predators.
 
 Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds

Wednesday 5 June 2013

GIANT PEACOCK MOTH (Saturnia pyri) Lesvos Island, Greece


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The Giant Peacock Moth (Saturnia pyri) is of the family Saturniidae which is in the genus Saturnia. It occurs in southern and central Europe, parts of North Africa as well as western, central and eastern Asia. This is the largest species of moth found in Europe with a wing span of up to 20cm.

Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds