Darren Reidy

* #WildflowerHour

Sorbus scannelliana, S. anglica & S. rupicola from Killarney National Park recently
##WildflowerHour

Catherine Connolly only put a twenty in the wedding card
#Smearthebejaysis

🌿 Celebrate 100 years of the Irish Naturalists’ Journal! Join Dr Rory Hodd & the Irish Bryophyte Group for a bryophyte walk/talk in Killarney NP, Sun 12 Oct 2025, 10:30–13:30. Free but booking essential: christina.campbell@opw.ie

What a crock of actual horse... burgers. 🙄

Also can we just use a nice gender neutral "they" instead of "s/he" in the job description... 💁‍♀️

How many chances should be given to get it right?

Non-compliance under our licence system appears to be more the norm than the aberration when it comes to protecting our water quality

Insights from last night's Joint Committee on Climate, Environment & Energy session on River Blackwater fish kill

Rules to protect Ireland’s fragile rivers are being repeatedly breached Public records about North Cork Creameries’ operations paint a disquieting picture of how regulators are performing

Public records about North Cork Creameries - a company that is a "leading supplier of butter to the internationally renowned Kerrygold brand" - paint a disquieting picture of how regulators are performing

www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Grass-of-Parnassus (Parnassia palustris) has long been my favourite wildflower, untiI I met the stunning Oysterplant (Mertensia maritima) for the 1st time last week, and then this week I saw my first ever Meadow Saffron (Colchicum autumnale) and now I just don't know anymore. #WildflowerHour

If you have a project on Ireland's natural heritage in mind now is your chance to apply for the INJ Grant

My FOI of Government memo confirms more data centres means higher electricity bills for all.

"The expansion of data centres has raised security of supply concerns and leads to associated costs to taxpayers and electricity bill payers," the memo stated.

www.rte.ie/news/primeti...

I love science, the rigorous way we advance our understanding of the universe. But I don't love the egos and pressures that come with academia.

I also love nature and understand that it is in critical need of saving. That is where I want to put my efforts - being a practitioner and inspiring others

Little treat to see Frogbit
(Hydrocharis morsus-ranae) today in the River Boyne, Oldbridge, Co. Meath. Not something you ever see in the South West so - happy dance💃🕺

@bsbiireland.bsky.social

For this week's #WildflowerHour Asteraceae Challege I give you - Common Fleabane
(Pulicaria dysenterica) from a roadside embankment in Wexford

This, in a nutshell, is why O’Leary talks down the Metro. He makes more money the fewer options there are for airport transit. Of course none of the news outlets that reported his misinformation verbatim ever bothered to mention this obvious conflict of interest.

A new one for me - Kangaroo Apple (Solanum laciniatum), and escaped house plant, naturalised in coastal habitats around Killiney in Ireland.

Lets keep and expand the Basic Income for Artists! Take the survey below!

Screenshot of the first two questions in the survey - there's only six to answer. #SpéirGorm #SpéirGhorm #Ireland #Art

There's a REALLY quick and easy survey for the public consultation on the Basic Income for the Arts scheme - it only takes a few seconds, anyone can fill it in, and it could make a huge difference to arts workers in Ireland. Take a few ticks to places a few ticks here: ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/run...

My piece on establishing Ireland's National Seed Bank was published in the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland back in the spring, but nothing beats seeing a copy in the flesh! My copy finally arrived in the post today 😊

For this week's pollinator themed #WildflowerHour I cheat a little (no flowers) and give you a swarm of honey bees on a Hawthorn hybrid trunk at the National Botanic Gardens

I recently went to check on the population of Pyrola rotundifolia subsp. maritima (Coastal Round-Leaved Winter-Green) in at the Raven Nature Reserve in Co. Wexford. It was still in flower but I will be returning to collect seed of this vulnerable species for Ireland's seed bank later in the season.

Nice to see a familiar graph replicated in this @data.ft.com deep-dive on data centres and how they're powered.

Ipomoea species have such showy flowers. But the secret to their identity is in their sepals and bracteoles. With over 600 recognised species in the genus, this morning glory has been leaving me in quite the bind(weed) this week 😅

YouTube video by HalseyVEVO Halsey - Graveyard

Graveyard - Halsey

youtu.be/rPgaYeq9NvI?...

Looking back on last wknd, visiting some lovely saltmarsh & coastal lagoons habitats in search of some of Ireland's rarest charaphytes w/ Paul Green & @bsbiireland.bsky.social Aquatic Plants Project.

We found both Foxtail Stonewort
(Lamprothamnium papulosum) & Bearded Stonewort
(Chara canescens).

YouTube video by CMAT CMAT - EURO-COUNTRY (Official Video)

This new song by CMAT is stuck in my my head, my throat and my gut.

The tragedy of the Celtic Tiger, the false promise of neoliberalism, the erasure of culture and identity, the loss of so many fathers, the outright greed of it all.

A moving & elegant piece of art.

youtu.be/_SVNTv44C4g?...

Scented Mayweed
(Matricaria chamomilla) & Scentless Mayweed
(Tripleurospermum inodorum) side by side on the Wexford Slobs.

Digitised today at DBN Herbarium was this 1863 specimen of Ranunculus repens accompanied by a lovely note.
1st ever plant specimen collected by R.M. Barrington, one of Ireland's great naturalists

@injournal.bsky.social
@colinkelleher.bsky.social
@nigelmonaghan-nh.bsky.social
@ria.ie
@dri.ie

I'd rather see the planning expire than go ahead.

A couple I know, in their 70s, one of whom has terminal cancer, have been evicted from the house they rented for the past 27 years.

A first hand casualty of the FFG landlords bill.