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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Hummingbird hawk-moth visiting salvia this morning. An incredibly powerful flyer.

Bird-like moth visiting a very pink flower

Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

It’s the season for the Orangey-Nosed Birdling* to appear, and @birdwatchireland.bsky.social will be getting lots of “What is THIS bird?” queries. *It's a juvenile starling with pollen acquired while sipping nectar from NZ flax (Phormium tenax) #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirghorm

Little brown bird with orangey face on grassy area

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

27C/81F — which is mad hot for #dunlaoghaire. Keeping the terrier cool and occupied with watermelon and iced water. He’s lying on the sofa now, happy and relaxed (for the next few minutes anyway). #spéirghorm #speirgorm

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Dragon arum (Dracunculus vulgaris) luring in some greenbottle flies (Lucilia sp. ) for a bit of pollination. It smells of rotting flesh. Yum 🤢 #urbannature #irishnature #invertebrate #bugsky #pollinators #diptera #speirgorm #spéirghorm

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Echium candicans (or possibly E. webbii) keeping about 100 bees happy: mostly white-tailed and buff-tailed bumblebees. [Next post will demonstrate how I like to keep all my invertebrates busy😊] #urbannature #irishnature #invertebrate #bugsky #pollinators #speirgorm #spéirghorm

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Another one a little early for #WildflowerHour #WildFlowerShow in my wild garden. The Two Thugs: Green Alkanet and Red Valerian. Such a clear blue flower, but another non-native. Still, the bees love it, even if I don't.

of Green Alkanet in foreground with pink Rev Valerian behind.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

A little early for #WildflowerHour #WildFlowerShow in my wild garden, all introduced #wildflowers, except possibly the Dryopteris: Red Valerian, Welsh Poppy with Hedge Bindweed 🙃 coiling coyly through the lot

Pink flowered Red Valerian in foreground, yellow Welsh Poppy behind. Heart-shaped leaves of bindweed and pretty, filigreed fern.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

I’m pretty sure these pigeons on the paulownia are plotting something. Or maybe they’re just ignoring me steadfastly.

Five feral pigeons ranged on the branches of a tree, all facing away from the viewer.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Friday night question for Irish Bluesky. Is it #spéirgorm or #spéirghorm? Is ghorm the possessive: ‘Sky of blue’? And another thing: most people (including me) leave off the fada, because we don’t know if hashtags like fadaí. But, if we could just sort out the gorm vs ghorm issue, I’d be happy.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

A bit early for #wildflowerhour: Horsetail (Equisetum), but which one? And Colt’s-foot (Tussilago farfara) on cliff ledge in Shanganagh, Co Dublin. The first contains silica and was used for scrubbing pots, and the second is reputed to be good for scratchy throats and coughs. #storyplants

Curious pale spikes with ornate black bands stick up out of the soil. Also here: roundish leaves and yellow dandelion-like flowers.

Closer view of the previous picture: Curious pale spikes with ornate black bands stick up out of the soil. Also here: roundish leaves and yellow dandelion-like flowers

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Moon alert!!! Cruddy phone pic of gorgeous crescent moon, with a corona. If your skies are clear it’s worth paying homage to our beautiful moon 🌙

Dark tree branches and wires silhouetted against dark sky with tiny crescent moon

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

I'm made happy by all the excellent, slightly abstruse words in Urban Plants by @trevorthebotanist.bsky.social. Here's one: endozoochory (seed dispersal in animal poop). But my favourite so far is BATOLOGIST: one who studies BRAMBLES. Thanks, Trevor, for brightening this rainy day 😊 #urbanplants

Book cover of Urban Plants by Trevor Dines

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Get outside if you have clear skies! Bright and beauteous full moon to the northeast. My phone pic does not do it justice. Such a thrill to see it after all the rain, rain, rain.

Full moon in the sky, with chimneys and houses underneath it. A tree in the foreground.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

If you’re feeling left out because you couldn’t see the #northernlights, well I couldn’t either in light–polluted Dun Laoghaire. Just a faint tint of green, barely perceptible to the naked eye. My cheating phone, however, had slightly better luck. But, I still feel I didn’t witness #auroraborealis

Night sky shading from green to a reddish purple.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Garden visitor: phone pic through window. He/she has been here quite a bit since the cold snap, cleaning up under the bird feeders. I’m pleased at the healthy state of his/her coat. The local foxes had a lot of mange over the last few years.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

Just a phone pic. But it might encourage you to go outside and look at the magnificent moon, with Jupiter in attendance below. Lots of light pollution where I live, but the sight still thrills me.

Night view of a town with lines of chimneys and windows. A tall antenna on the Garda station
shoots skyward. The moon is bright and there is a glimpse of silvery sea over some of the roofs.

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Reposted by Jane Powers

Pete Buttigieg @petebuttigieg.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

It's an old and obvious pattern. An unpopular president - failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home - decides to launch a war for regime change abroad. The American people don’t want to “run” a foreign country while our leaders fail to improve life in this one.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

I managed an hour for my second #NewYearPlantHunt Seventeen species in flower. This clump of Scentless Mayweed agg. is so much hardier than all its brethren on the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire. And this Pot Marigold in a back lane has a very cold caterpillar on board

Clump of daisy-like flowers against backdrop of withered stems.

Orange flower with green caterpillar among a mess of green-grey leaves

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

I wimped out after half an hour of my #NewYearPlantHunt. Didn’t make it to the seafront or any of the back lanes. I forgot to put on appropriate footwear and my feet refused to go farther. Still, I got about a dozen species in flower.

Satellite map showing 1.5km walk through an urban area

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

www.nytimes.com/2023/12/26/o... For all my fellow knitters out there, or those who know a knitter, an absolutely beautiful animation about this intricate craft.

nytimes.com

Opinion | Knitting Helps Us Embrace Life’s Messy Imperfections (Published 2023)

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

I’m trying to empty one of the filing cabinets in my office, and came across this. No idea why I kept it. From the Daily Telegraph in 1997. Older gardeners will get a laugh out of it.

Newspaper cutting with headline: “So where’s the new Geoff Hamilton?” (He was the presenter of Gardeners’ World decades ago.)

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Irish bird-lovers: the annual Irish Garden Bird Survey starts tomorrow 🥳 🙌 🎉 If you need a reason to keep going in the darkest days of winter, count birds. If you want to be a citizen scientist, count birds. If breakfasts are boring, count birds. Got a few spare moments? Just count birds.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Well, this was a disappointment. Is there an actually delicious brand, or are they all overhyped? The chocolate on this tasted so-so and the pistachio filling was nice enough, but nothing special. #DubaiChocolate #speirgorm #spéirghorm

A piece of chocolate (with grey-green filling) and colourful packaging sit on a wooden board. The writing on the packaging reads: ‘Meltz… Dubai Chocolate… Made in UAE… Pistachio knafeh’.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

There goes the Navy from Dun Laoghaire: LE George Bernard Shaw

Grey ship on grey seas with foamy waves washing against the grey-brown rock in foreground.

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Reposted by Jane Powers

Hannah Daly @hannahdaly.ie · 14/11/2025

There's a roundabout in Cork where even during the worst traffic, drivers unfailingly allow others to merge in a "zip" by local custom. Driving through it restores my faith in society, every time. I just found out it's known as the "soundabout", and that's just wonderful.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

If you’re still up and have a clear sky to the east it’s worth paying your respects to the Moon (it’s a capital M moon tonight), Jupiter and Gemini. All within the width of a hand held at arm’s length. #speirgorm #spéirghorm

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Reposted by Jane Powers

Stan Carey @stancarey.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Nothing I watch this Halloween can compare with these lines about midges I just read in Jane Powers's "An Irish Nature Year"

Another of the tiny biters, Serromyia femorata, resident in Ireland, is worth mentioning for its interesting behaviour. While mating, the female pierces the male's head, releases enzymes that liquefy his innards, and sucks them out. His useless corpse breaks off at his genitalia which then act as a plug to prevent her mating with another male.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

This fellow cleared the garden pretty quickly 😱 🐦‍⬛🐦 😨 I’m delighted to see him on the premises again. Look at his yellow eye 😍 #sparrowhawk #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirghorm

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

Catherine Connolly will be elected as Ireland’s next president. The second news item at present is the vast number of spoiled votes. My thoughts on spoiled votes in the ALT TEXT OF THE PHOTO #aras25 #aras2025 #spoiledvotes #spoiltvotes #speirgorm #Spéirghorm

Over the last week, social media posts have quoted a letter to the Irish Times that says a spoiled vote counts as nothing, that certain groups have fought hard for the right to vote and that, ergo, a spoiled vote is the equivalence of silence.

I feel this is a simplistic way of looking at it. In Ireland, all votes are counted. Spoiled votes are counted, along with votes for legitimate candidates. In the final tally, all votes — including spoiled votes — are reported.

Those who spoil their votes are sending a message that some aspect of the election is unsatisfactory. In this election, for example, one of the three candidates on the ballot withdrew weeks ago. It is ridiculous to some voters that his name is still on the paper. Also, some felt that the two remaining candidates offered such a poor choice that it galled them to vote for either. Some wrote in their own choice, even though it voided the ballot’s legitimacy.

It takes an effort to spoil your vote. You have to go to the polling station (instead of staying home and griping) and you have to perform an action that goes against the human tendency to take sides and to be part of a recognised cohort. It is not mindless vandalism.

Some argue that it is troublemakers, jokers and begrudgers who spoil votes. Sure, a certain number of those who spoil their votes are doing it for badness. But, some of those are people who never set foot in a polling booth before. It’s possible that they quite liked making their marks, whatever they were, on a ballot paper. It’s possible that we now have some new voters for the next election. Good! Democracy happens in odd ways.

A spoiled vote is a sure way for dissatisfied voters to make their voices heard. It is an important and visible indicator of public opinion. This election has a comparatively large percentage of spoiled votes. Political parties and media are paying a lot of attention to this fact. In summary: **Yesterday’s spoiled votes convey anything but silence**

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

They were too busy to go to the polling station. As you can see. We had to leave them behind. #DogsForCatherine

Two dogs crowded together on a cushion on a leather sofa. The white terrier is partially sitting on the grey, spotty lurcher. There's actually loads of room, but the smaller one just likes to perch on the larger one.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

A superb nature book by Chloe Dalton. The writing is so simple and *restrained*, leaving space for the reader’s own feelings and imagination. You become as intimate as any human can with the curious workings of a hare’s fragile but joyous life. How anyone can support hare-coursing beats me.

Book cover: Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. Sunday Times bestseller. Winner Wainwright prize 2025.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Quite a gorgeous day for the autumn equinox in #Dunlaoghaire Harbour.

Beautiful day’s sea and sky. Sea is blue-green and lightly rippled, sky is clear except for a series of benign puffy clouds above the horizon. Two arms of the harbour can be seen in the distance, with lighthouses on each side.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Overnight oats! I’m bombarded by ads for them on social media. Now I’m going to have to try them. What’s the best recipe?

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

Excellent skies up there today and that's only right, seeing as it is #cloudappreciationday #lookup

Rows of Victorian chimneys march underneath a busy sky with lots of different kinds of clouds.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Flower crab spider (Misumena vatia) tucking into a hoverfly for dinner. Isn't she just gorgeous? 😍 #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

Bright yellow spider sitting in centre of purple hardy geranium flower, with small hoverfly in its jaws.

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Seven-spot ladybirds making more ladybirds 😍🐞 Lots of aphids to sustain them on this teasel 😊 #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Eristalis pertinax hoverfly doing her grooming routine: getting all the pollen and other garden detritus off her elegant wings and legs. Isn’t she a beauty? The looped vein in her wing denotes that she was once a rat-tailed maggot, bless her. #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Midsummer in my bonkers front garden: it takes a lot of bashing around to make a place look this natural. Everything is drought-resistant & nearly all are friends of #pollinators Plant names in alt text #dunlaoghaire #Irishgarden #Gardening #flowergarden #pollinatorgarden #speirgorm #spéirgorm

Eryngium 'Big Blue' and Geranium 'Rozanne' in foreground; Linaria 'Peachy' and Salvia 'Royal Bumble' behind.

Lobelia tupa in foreground with Salvia 'Royal Bumble', Echium candicans (Pride of Madeira) and Echium vulgare behind.

Yellow plants in foreground: Phlomis russeliana, Sisyrinchium striatum; pink flowers: Geranium canariense and Rosa nutkana 'Plena'; white willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium).

Echium candicans and Buff-tailed Bumblebee. There can be 40 or 50 bumblebees on this plant at any one time.

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Reposted by Jane Powers

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

#AshForFuture Ireland is requesting public reporting of healthy ash trees to help collect seed from plants that are tolerant/resilient to #AshDieback shorturl.at/vYbjZ "up to 10% of ash trees have some tolerance to the disease, with 1-3% showing a high level of tolerance."

AshForFuture Ireland participation request

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

@nicwilson.bsky.social I listened to your book. It is wonderfully honest and beautifully written. And you are a great reader. Well done on so many counts. (I also have those awful anxiety phone dreams. And also have a hag stone in my pocket to ground me!)

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

This monster of a Californian rose, Rosa nutkana ‘Plena’ flowers only once and it suckers everywhere, but I forgive it for a few weeks every summer. The scent is permeating my whole front garden.

Great lump of a shrub rose with vibrant pink flowers.

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Reposted by Jane Powers

Bob Johnston @bobjohnstonbooks.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

It's #IndependentBookshopWeek across Ireland & the UK so show your indies a bit of love! Treat yourself to a new book, notebook or a few cards & bask in the glory of supporting a local business! #IndiesRock #BookshopsRock

Poster for Independent Bookshop Week saying Shop Local Shop Independent

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

I’m slowly and deliciously making my way through this #urbanplants book by @trevorthebotanist.bsky.social Piece by piece he puts together the extraordinarily layered puzzle that is our urban flora. I just love this book. Just published. I hope it’s okay to give it a plug on #wildflowerhour

Cover of Urban Plants by Trevor Dines. Published by Bloomsbury

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Jane Powers @powersflowers.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

I can’t resist two more #urbanplants for #wildflowerhour today Wall Rue (such a perfect little fern) Great Mullein (in my wall next to footpath — can’t believe a passerby hasn’t beheaded it) #urbannature #irishnature #speirgorm #spéirgorm

Two tiny clumps of tiny fern poking out of a crack in a wall

Tall plant with a spike of yellow flowers growing out of a wall.

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