This week we started meeting potential corporate sponsors to try to raise funds for land acquisition. The first few meetings with friendly contacts have allowed us to refine our proposition and we are excited to set up more meetings over the coming months.
Work has also been continuing on the website, with the completion of the Butterflies section of the Species Watch, which now contains information about all 33 of Ireland's resident and regular migrant butterfly species. We're now working on adding all of the red-listed Irish birds, followed by all of the amber-listed Irish birds.
In the meantime, like us on Facebook, follow our Twitter feed and you can also subscribe to our newsletter.
All Around Ireland
We received a very kind donation this week of a digital SLR camera and lens from our friends Kerry and Jose at All Around Ireland. They produce really amazing photos that you can buy in their shop - take a look and if you felt like buying something they, and we, would really appreciate it. You can also check out their Facebook and Twitter pages.
Thanks again to Kerry and Jose, we really appreciate it!
Species Focus: The Marsh Fritillary
This newsletter’s species focus is on the Marsh Fritillary.
The marsh fritillary is widely, but patchily, distributed across Ireland. They can be found in various habitats including calcareous grassland, degraded bogs, wet heath and mires and fens. The overall status and future prospects of these habitats are poor or bad.
Interestingly, the caterpillars of the marsh fritillary live in communal webs formed around their host plants and hibernate through the winter inside the web.
It is declining in Ireland due to reduction in habitat quality and fragmentation. It is therefore categorised as Vulnerable in Ireland.