Just a couple of months after seeing stoats for the first time in ages, I spotted another one. He was hurrying across a path as my wife and I were cycling along. It saw us only at the last second, probably because it was more concerned with the dead mouse it was carrying in its mouth. A mouse isn’t very big, but then, neither is a stoat, so it was a big meal for him. Anyway, once he spotted us, he dropped the mouse, ran back from when he came and didn’t reappear again to claim his dinner. Over the weekend, I spotted another creature not often seen (by me, anyway). I spotted this orange ladybird [Halyzia sedecimguttata]  in the shade of a huge old beech tree near Cong in Co. Mayo.

On the northern tip of Lough Corrib, just outside the village of Cong, is a very stately pile indeed. Ashford Castle is centuries old and was once owned by the Guinness family – it is visible from the quay at Oughterard in Galway. Alas [for me], a large white marquee was under construction at the lake’s edge in front of the castle when I visited it during the week, which kinda spoiled the picture I had intended to take – so I took this one instead.

Ashford Castle is a 5 star luxury hotel, and priced accordingly, but when I googled the castle yesterday, the first link was a ‘deal of the week’ offer for a night there at 98 euro per person sharing.

Camera = Canon 350D (adapted for infrared only), lens = Sigma10-20mm @ 18mm, aperture= f9, speed=1/250 sec, ISO100.