Hairstreaks & Other Things

Good heavens, it stopped raining! The sun came out, We headed for the hills! We did the Gortnakilly loop, starting low then going up onto the spine of the peninsula, ploughing on to Windy Gap, enjoying a cheese and biscuits in a sheltered spot,  then meandering our way back down again on a Board of Works road, a quick cuppa taken at a friend's house and then a walk along the road with massive view out to Bantry Bay. It was incredibly boggy but the bog plants were out and thriving! I've made a mini collage of some of the more exotic: 
top row: heath spotted orchid, bog bean, butterwort
bottom row: louse wort, sundew, milkwort
The butterworts are a delight, only out for a few weeks - a bright blue flower on a long stalk emerging from three bright green leaves. The sundews were just out too, tiny,  sticky arms outstretched to catch passing flies. And who could not but love the little cheerful pink lousewort! Lots of bog cotton too and the bog myrtle was just greening giving off a heady smell as you brushed by.
My main pic though shows the excitement of managing to get a bog bean up close and personal (feet in the bog - mine) and look, the added excitement of a teeny green hairstreak just doing it's thing. We also saw a kestrel, a raven and a lot of larks. Bliss.
It's Bank Holiday but we met not a soul, not even at the Junction! 
A short film about the Sheep's Head