North Atlantic Skyline » lough corrib http://johnsmyth.ie/blog Despatches from the West of Ireland. Tue, 22 May 2012 23:44:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Once were tiddlers http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/2011/07/14/once-were-tiddlers/ http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/2011/07/14/once-were-tiddlers/#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2011 23:59:21 +0000 John Smyth http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/?p=3583 Juvenile Pike
In Irish rivers and lakes, the pike is a top predator [unless you count fishermen]. They can grow up to lengths of between 30 and 120 cm [the record for a pike was set in Germany, for a pike that 152 cm long]. Pike will eat almost anything – small fish, frogs and even small waterbirds. They are ambush predators – remaining still in the water until prey moves within range, and then darting suddenly towards the prey. It has backward-facing teeth which makes it harder for prey to escape. But even a predator like a pike start off as a little ‘un, and it have every cause to be nervous.  Mortality rates for pike are huge – when a mature adult female lays her eggs, she is literally one in a million (she can lay up to 20,000 eggs at a time, most of them destined to be foodstuff for other creatures while they are still very young). There is one very familiar predator that a growing pike has to watch out for – other pike. Pike are very opportunistic and if another pike, particularly a younger or smaller one is available, it will get eaten [this study estimated a mortality rate due to cannibalism rate of around 65%, albeit in an enclosed environment]. The pike pictured above was photographed in shallow waters in Lough Corrib – it was only 8 to 10 cms long. It has a long way to go.

]]> http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/2011/07/14/once-were-tiddlers/feed/ 0 Stone Wall http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/2011/06/20/stone-wall/ http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/2011/06/20/stone-wall/#comments Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:21:05 +0000 John Smyth http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/?p=3594 Stone Wall in Galway

A stone wall zig-zags through meadow along the banks of Lough Corrib.

]]> http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/2011/06/20/stone-wall/feed/ 0 Black-lined skimmer http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/2011/06/15/black-lined-skimmer/ http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/2011/06/15/black-lined-skimmer/#comments Tue, 14 Jun 2011 23:43:45 +0000 John Smyth http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/?p=3580 Black-lined Skimmer
This large dragonfly [about 5cm long] is called a Black-lined Skimmer (Orthetrum Cancellatum). This particular specimen was resting in meadow near the shore of Lough Corrib, a few miles from Cong.

]]> http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/2011/06/15/black-lined-skimmer/feed/ 0 Sunrise at Lackavrea, Part I http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/2010/10/18/sunrise-at-lackavrea-part-i/ http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/2010/10/18/sunrise-at-lackavrea-part-i/#comments Sun, 17 Oct 2010 23:10:13 +0000 John Smyth http://johnsmyth.ie/blog/?p=3115 Sunrise at Lackavrea, part II
If you were anywhere between Galway City and Maam Cross last Tuesday morning, all you would have seen was …very little, as a wall of fog billowed off Lough Corrib. West of Maam Cross, it was clear, as a star-filled night sky gave way to the clear blue of morning.  Driving towards Maam Bridge from the west, the fog began to blow west from the lake towards the sea – and around Lackavrea, the hill that overlooks the lake’s western edge.

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