Donegal butterfly day

It rained.

But we were in a far north coastal area on limestone, so I still hoped that I might find something new.

When it rains there are compensations. I got this shot of water droplets on the moss Tortula muralis.

Water droplets on Tortula muralis

I also found Common Scurvy Grass, a new plant for me:

Common Scurvy Grass

The leaves are very thick and succulent.

New to my Species List.

Being on coastal grassland, I expected to find Burnet moth larvae and this one posed nicely on the Clover leaf:  

6-spot Burnet Moth larva

Very close nearby I found Pyramidal Orchid:

Pyramidal Orchid

There were many other orchids in this grassland area, the majority being Early Marsh Orchid, but most had already gone over.

One of the boggy areas had plenty of Sundew:

Sundew with captured insects

We also found a leafminer on a young leaf of Smooth Sow-Thistle:

Chromatomyia 'atricornis' on Smooth Sow-thistle

Chromatomyia 'atricornis' is the name for a complex of species where the actual determination can only be secured by dissection of emerging males.

Finally, another confirmation of the limestone: Field Scabious, which I haven't seen within 150 miles of this location:

Field Scabious