North Atlantic Skyline - - Photographs from the west of Ireland (Galway, Mayo, Clare, Limerick, Roscommon and even Leitrim)

Flying Machines, Part I

I felt a bit guilty this morning - the Walking Club * were going out at 10 but I was staying behind to gawp at warplanes swooping over Salthill for the afternoon. The walkers were going to climb the Devil's Mother in Connemara, and no, that's not a euphimism for something naughty, though it probably should be. In atonement, I went for a quick early morning stroll to the Alder Trees, a wonderful, well-maintained path down to the old railway line outside Galway just beyond Bushey Park (on the way to Moycullen).

I don't know about the rest of you, but my first impression, when I looked at the insect pictured above, was...I wouldn't fancy one of them crawling up my trouser leg. (It might have something to do with the summer spent picking tobacco in Canada a decade ago. Every evening, after another day of backbreaking work, I'd have to retrieve bugs the size of small deckchairs from parts of me I didn't know I had - traumatized for life.) This is a Black Lined Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum, in case you're asked in a pub quiz) and it's around 5 centimetres long (obviously, he'd feel a lot bigger if he flew up your leg...)

Now I'm off to watch some man-made flying machines...

* Might want to mute the sound on your PC before clicking on the link...
galway,
ireland,
irishblogs,monasette