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 | <emit maxrows=20 randomize="yes" scope="outer" skiprows=0 sort="-value" source="values" values="2011-08-31$/aai-files/assets/Environment/Environment for Kids/Bugs and Beasties/fritillary-butterfly.jpg$Fritillary butterfly$Silver-washed fritillary: This large butterfly is associated withold broad-leaved woodland. The eggs are usually laid on the bark of a mature tree in an area where the larval food plant, common dog violet, is available. The adults fly in sunny gladesin late summer. (Richard Nairn)$image/jpeg$Copyright R. Nairn","2011-09-02$/aai-files/assets/Environment/Environment for Kids/Watery Wonders/natterjack-toad.jpg$Natterjack Toad$Natterjack Toad\r\n"
"$image/jpeg$","2008-10-21$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/kerry-slug.jpg$Kerry Slug$This black and white picture depicts The Kerry slug. It generally grows to approximately 7-8cm in length, has a dark brown body with light brown spots. The slug as two sets of tentacles, characteristic for all terrestrial slugs and snails. It is (apparently) the only slug species that will curl itself into a ball when it is disturbed. It has a  Lusitanian distribution, which describes animals and plants that only occur along the western seaboard of Europe and not in the interior of counties. The Kerry slug likes wet weather and feeds on lichens living on rocks and lower tree trunks. The Kerry Slug is an important species and is well protected appearing under Annex II and Annex IV of the European Union Habitats Directive. Being an Annex II species means that the area in which the Kerry Slug lives is guarded under Irish and European law as a Special Area of Conservation. Being listed as an Annex IV species means that the Kerry Slug is an animal of European Community interest and requires strict protection. $image/jpeg$","2008-07-24$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/native-woodland.jpg$Native Woodland$In the past Ireland was a heavily forested country. But over the centuries our forest cover \r\n"
"began to dwindle, being used for industry and making room for people and agriculture. Today all of our woodlands have been managed at some stage in the past. For this reason, Irelands native woodlands are known as 'semi-natural'. The trees that are native to Ireland include the kings of the forest, Oak and Ash, the tallest trees that form the canopy layer. These trees act as a support for many other plants such as mosses and lichens, which can be seen on the lower trunks of these trees. Under the canopy trees, holly, hazel and birch grow in what is known as the understory. The shrub layer includes plants such as ferns, heathers, bilberry and lastly the herb layer consist of those plants living closest to the ground, such as the mosses that can be seen in this picture. There are many layers within a forest, each one accommodating certain species at certain times.$image/jpeg$With kind permission of the Irish Wildlife Trust","2008-10-21$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/curlew.jpg$Curlew$The Curlew (Numenius arquata) is the largest wading bird in the Europe. It is very widespread, with its range extending east to the Urals and from Scandinavia and Russia in the north.  It is easily recognisable by its long curved bill, brown upper plumage and long legs. There has been a decline in its population across Europe which may be due to agricultural intensification. It is resident in Ireland throughout the year. It breeds in damp pastures and meadows, boglands in and some lowlands agricultural areas. Curlews generally winter in coastal areas in Britain, but in Ireland they over winter in inland areas as well.  Curlews use their long bills to hunt out worms, shellfish and shrimps in coastal muddy areas. Curlews are among the red list species of conservation concern in Ireland as specified by Birdwatch Ireland and RSPB Northern Ireland. $image/jpeg$","2008-06-27$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/badgers.jpg$Badgers$The Euroasian badger, Meles meles, belongs to one of the largest families of carnivores the Family Mustelidae which has 65 species. Its relatives include other animals found in Ireland the stoats, pine martins and otters in addition to the skunks, ferrets and minks. Its range is extensive, badgers can be found all across Europe and Asia, bounded by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and by latitudes at 60 and 35 degrees.  Badgers are elusive creatures, only coming out at night, and therefore relatively little is know about their complex social behaviour. Generally badgers live in social groups of 6, but up to 23 individuals in a group has been recorded. Badgers inherit their living areas, or setts, from their parents, as a result some setts can be centuries old. One excavated sett in England revealed 879m of tunnels, 50 chambers and 178 entrances!  $image/jpeg$With kind permission of the Irish Wildlife Trust","2008-10-21$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/michael-viney-author-of-the-flora-and-fauna-feature.jpg$Michael Viney, Author of the Flora and Fauna Feature$Michael Viney is the author of \223Ireland: A Smithsonian Natural History,\224 published in Belfast by the Blackstaff Press. He lives in west Mayo and writes the column \223Another Life,\224 on ecology and natural history, for the Weekend Review of the Irish Times.  $image/jpeg$","2008-07-24$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/bottlenose-dolphin.jpg$Bottlenose Dolphin$This image shows two bottlenosed dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Bottlenosed dolphins have a medium grey colour on their backs, with a pale or lighter grey flank and belly. They have a tall dorsal fin add mid-way along their back which is broad at its base and is sickle shaped. The head of a  bottlenose is rounded and its beak is short, with the lower jaw protruding beyond the upper, the mouth curves up at the back to give the appearance of a smile. They surface 2-3 times per minute seldom showing beak or fluke. Bottlenosed dolphins are opportunistic feeders, feeding on squid, crustaceans and fish. The Shannon estuary plays host to one of only 4 resident bottlenose dolphin populations in Europe, and has been declared a Special Area of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive (Wildlife Act Ammend 2000). $image/jpeg$Copyright Simon Berrow; Coutresty of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group","2008-07-24$/aai-files/assets/libraries/carlow-county-library/reading-room/flora-fauna/badger.jpg$Badger$Badger[Meles meles]$image/jpeg$Lorcan Scott Duchas","2008-07-24$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/bog-deal.jpg$Bog Deal$In the foreground of the picture is bog deal. These are the stumps of pine trees found deep within peat and would once have lived on the bog when its surface was drier, forming a forest of Scots Pine. In the background of the picture is a cut over bog, with a pool and shrubby vegetation. Bogs are very important habitats, and very few intact bogs now remain in Ireland. Bogs can provide us with a glimpse into the vegetation and climate of the past. However, once the climate began to get wetter, pine seeds could not germinate on the wetter bog and the roots of existing trees drowned as the bog began to grow again. These trees stumps still exist in the bog because the low oxygen conditions in peat prevent decay. $image/jpeg$Michael Viney","2008-07-24$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/pollardstown-fen.jpg$Pollardstown Fen$Picture of Pollardstown Fen. Blue sky with clouds, yellow /orange vegetation of long grasses, rushes and darker coloured shrubs. Large pool at the bottom of picture. Pollardstown Fen is the largest fen of its type in Ireland, reaching 220ha in area. It is now a  Nature Reserve and a Special Area of Conservation. The fen began its development 12,000 years ago when a depression in the land surface flooded with water and debris from melting ice. Over time, plants grew and died in the depression forming layers of peat. Generally, this process would continue to form an acidic peat bog, which gets all its nutrients from rainwater, with no contact from groundwater. But Pollardstown fen is fed by 40 calcium rich springs from the Curragh sand and gravel aquifer, making a very different and rare environment. The fen is a glimpse back into Ireland past, holding thousands of years of information in its peat, but also as a picture to how the raised bogs that covered most of the central plain would have once started life. $image/jpeg$With kind permission of the Irish Wildlife Trust","2008-07-24$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/groundwork.jpg$Groundwork$This picture was taken in oak wood of Killarney National Park where people pictured are volunteers invited each year to come and help remove Rhododendron through the Groundwork programme. Rhododendron grows in dense thickets of up to 6m tall. It blocks out all light to the ground layer in a forest and as a result trees and plants cannot grow, preventing the regeneration of the oak woodland. There are over 200 different varieties of Rhododendron in Ireland. Originally from the Caucasus, Rhododendron was brought to Ireland and planted as a cultivar in the large estates and gardens of the countryside. One variety, Rhododendron ponticum found the climatic conditions and poor peaty soil of Irelands oak woodlands an ideal habitat, and is causing a large problem in many areas of the country$image/jpeg$With kind permission of the Irish Wildlife Trust and Groundwork","2009-03-31$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/humpback-whale.jpg$Humpback Whale$This image depicts the fluke of a diving humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in dark grey sea. The fluke is dark grey/black colour, with a white edge. The distinctive scars on the fluke can be used to aide in the identification of an individual whale. The technique, known as photo-identification has been used by the IWDG to positively ID a humpback whale which has returned to the same area of West Cork at the same time of year, three years running.   The tip of the fluke is covered with barnacles. Adult humpbacks can range in length from 11-16m. Scientists believe that humpbacks use the deep waters of the Rockall trench as a migration corridor, but individuals have been spotted in Irish waters of the south and west coasts. In addition humpbacks have been observed inshore in the Autumn/winter period in recent years along the south coast. Due to over exploitation of this species humpbacks are considered an endangered species in the Atlantic. A single calf is born very 2-3 years. $image/jpeg$Copyright P\341draig Whooley; Courtesy of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group","2008-07-24$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/fin-whale.jpg$Fin Whale$In this picture the head and beak of a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) can be seen. The blow, a distinctive characteristic, can reach a height of 6m and can be seen for a great distance on windless days. The head of the fin whale is v-shaped and grey coloured. The beak is narrow and pointed. One of the diagnostic features for fin whales is the colouration of their baleen and lower lip. On the right hand side of the whale both are coloured white, as seen in the image, and on the left hand side (unseen) they are both dark coloured. Fin whales are the second largest animal species on the planet, with their average size being 19-20.5m in length, second only to the blue whale. Although Fins generally stay in deep waters they can move to within viewing range of our headlands when feeding opportunities arise. To date most sightings have been in the Cork and Waterford area. This may be due to increased observer effort by the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group in this area. Researchers in Cornell university suggest that 300-500 fin whales pass through Irish waters each year.$image/jpeg$Copyright P\341draig Whooley; Coutresty of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group","2008-10-21$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/storm-petrel.jpg$Storm Petrel$The European storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus) is a small bird, little bigger than a sparrow. It appears all black with a white rump. It flies very close to the water surface, and often feeds in flocks behind trawlers. Petrels breed along the rocky west coast of Ireland in offshore islands from May to September. It winters at sea. It eats fish plankton and crustaceans. It is thought that 67- 75% of the worlds storm petrels breed in the UK and Ireland. They are nocturnal birds, never venturing too far from their nests to feed. This bird is protected under the EU Birds Directive, which means that its is of high conservation importance in EU terms. One of the largest storm petrel colonies in the world is on Inishtooskert comprising of approximately 27,155 nests. It is on the amber list of birds in need of conservation for Ireland. $image/jpeg$","2008-07-24$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/mixed-bog-plants.jpg$Mixed Bog Plants$A particular community of characteristic species exist on Lowland blanket bogs. Plants such as the easily identifiable cottontails (Eriophrum spp.) with their fluffy white flowers in the summer months exist alongside the deep rooting  Purple Moor grass (Molina caerulea) which creates characteristic tuft and is a straw colour in this image. These species are generally representative of wetter areas.  In the back ground of this picture you can see Bog myrtle (Myrica gale) which can be identified by its reddish brown upright branches. The plant also carries tiny yellow resin glands on its bark and leaves which gives another clue to its identity. These plants have developed mechanisms to cope with the low nutrient waterlogged environment. For example, Bog myrtle has a bacteria in its roots that allows it to get more nitrogen which essential for plant growth. $image/jpeg$With kind permission of the Irish Wildlife Trust","2008-07-24$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/verge.jpg$Verge$Grassland verges now act as important wildlife corridors. They are rarely fertilised, mown occasionally, and there is little or no grazing or fertiliser application. Species found in verges vary depending on the environmental factors and soil type of the verge, in addition to management regime.  In this image there may be a range of grasses such as Creeping bents (Agrostis spp.) and Meadow grasses (Poa spp.). In addition there may be a range of coarser grasses such as Cock foot (Dactylis glomerata) and False Oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius). \r\n"
"There may be some ivy and brambles present, which act as a habitat for insects and a great source of food and shelter for many birds. $image/jpeg$With kind permission of the Irish Wildlife Trust","2008-10-21$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/dunlin-and-knot.jpg$Dunlin and Knot$The Dunlin (Calidris alpine) is Irelands smallest wading bird. It can be identified by its slightly down turned bill and a distinctive black belly patch in breeding plumage. It feeds in flocks in the winter, sometimes numbering thousands. Dunlins that visit Ireland breed on wetland areas in Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia.  They spend winter searching for food on mud flats, salt marshes and inland areas. Dunlins forage for insects, snails and worms. Knots are a close relative to Dunlins as they are both members of the same genus. The Knot (Calidris canuta) is a small, short legged bird. In winter it is grey above and white below. In summer it has brown plumage with a red brest, neck and face. Its population is vulnerable to disturbance such as sea level rise and land use change. Both Dunlin and Knot are registered as amber species on the list of bird of conservation concern in Ireland. $image/jpeg$","2008-07-24$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/improved-grassland.jpg$Improved Grassland$Most of Irelands grasslands fall into this category of intensively managed farmland. This means that they have probably been reseeded at some stage in their past, are fertilised or heavily grazed. Improved grasslands are generally dominated by a few species and have a tendency to have a low level of biodiversity. Improved grassland is of little conservation value. However, most Irish grasslands are surrounded by hedgerows. These linear features act a corridors for animals so that they can move from area to area, proving them with food and shelter to survive outside the intensively managed grasslands. $image/jpeg$With kind permission of the Irish Wildlife Trust","2008-07-24$/aai-files/assets/libraries/an-chomhairle-leabharlanna/reading-room/flora-fauna/fox.jpg$Fox$Red fox in long grass. A reddish brown colour, with large eyes and ears, and a white chest and belly. Red Foxes are omnivorous, eating mostly rodents, insects and fruit. They have a characteristic way of hunting. The fox stands motionless, listening and watching for its prey and then leaps high into the air,  bringing its forelimbs down straight and pinning its prey to the ground. Red foxes live solitary lives. Individuals will occupy home ranges of various sizes depending on the quality of the habitat. These ranges will be inhabited by one adult male and two adult female with their associated young. Individuals and family groups live in dens, the same den often being used by a number of successive generations. Once the pups are mature they move into their own territory, but they remain in the same home range for life. $image/jpeg$With kind permission of the Irish Wildlife Trust" variable="files.sorted-files">
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