Burren National Park

It was our basic Irish summer day, 

irritatingly coy, 

all sun and skidding clouds and jackknifing breeze, 

ready at any second to make an effortless leap 

into bucketing rain 

or blazing sun 

or both.

~Tana French, In the Woods  

Mullaghmore Mountain

The Burren is like nowhere else on earth. Trust me. 

We have been to different parts of the Burren a time or two...extraordinary mix of mountains, lakes, streams, turloughs, meadows, woods, karst pavement, fabulous wildflowers, birds.... It was our last full day to wander. Why not see the park? What could be better than a bus to take us down the narrow lanes there-and-back? What better than a guided tour?*

upon mentioning our reservation for the guided hike to Eamon at the Dromore Woods Visitor Center, he quizzed us. "Who are you going with?" he asked. "If it's Susan, she knows all the birds. You'll see more orchids and frogs there too." 

At the Burren National Park Information Center** in Corofin we grabbed a map and looked at everything - twice. Then a young woman "geared up" for a hike came in and we figured this was our guide. We introduced ourselves and discovered that she, Susan, would be guiding us and that Eamon had called to let her know about us.**

Susan shows us nuts "harvested" by mice.

Once again we "got on the bus" and headed out. The trailhead is on the road that runs past the old church ruins at Killinaboy. There is no place to park. Cars were parked helter-skelter along the roadside. The bus slowed down long enough for us to jump off. It was definitely the right choice.***

Our small group walked through the wildflower meadow and learned from Susan that this 40 minute trail would likely take us a couple of hours as she would be sharing the history, geology, flora, and fauna of the Burren. Initially, I could not figure out what was in her backpack (It was a big backpack!).**** As we hiked along she brought out laminated photos of plants and animals, her "swatches" that were these wonderful plastic "cards" containing pictures and information, and her well thumbed bird book. When she heard a bird, she would quickly flip through the pages of the book to show us what we were hearing. It was amazing to see (and hear).*****

The entire hike was wonderful. It was designed in a way to provide a little bit of everything the Burren has to offer, but it's just an introduction. The mountain called. The wildflowers begged for more attention. Longer trails waited for exploration. And we wished we had not left it for our last day.

Here's some of what we saw - ignore the word "common" in the names of some of these observations. There was nothing "common" about anything.

Common Agrimony

I would have been perfectly happy wandering in the wildflower meadow photographing the orchids and strange insects. This is a Six-spot Burnet.

Same insect. The sun was so bright - this has less reflection.

Orchid - probably a Fragrant Orchid

Common Wood Sorrel - our choice for the shamrock, even if not the official one.

Another orchid - maybe a Marsh Orchid

Ah, this was called one herb name by our guide and another by iNaturalist. So it's either Marjoram or Thyme or something.

I love that mother nature knows that purple and yellow are complementary colors.

Ragwort

I imagine the wildflowers would have blinded us a few weeks earlier. Still, it was amazing.

Orchids blooming amid the brambles (the berries weren't ripe here).

Greater Knapweed

Wood Sage (I would have called it an orchid, but I would have been wrong).

Hare Bell

Okay - stop looking down, look up and out.

This was an easy hike, a little rough in spots, but not too bad unless one is rushing to catch up.

The woman to the left volunteers here and has taken this hike multiple times.

Bloody Cranesbill

Mountain Avens - the flower used as a symbol for the park. It is an alpine flower.

Lady's Bedstraw

This guy always appeared on hikes - usually just in front of me.

Common Hawthorn

Common Honeysuckle

A stray tree seems to grow out of the stone.

Glacial Erratic?

The clouds cast strange shadows on the mountain.

Wall-rue

Maidenhair Spleenwort

I would guess more glacial erratics.

Wildflower meadow - cows graze here part of the year, planting and fertilizing with seeds from other fields.

The trail wound in and out of small woods.

More orchids...

...this time the Broad-leaved Helleborine. It was fully in bloom.

Karst pavement with its clints and grykes******

Another Bloody Cranesbill

Common Bracken

Common Hazel

Rustyback

Sea Plantain

And the European Common Frog!

This frog stopped and allowed everyone to get a photo or two...or three.

Looking like our leopard frogs as it sat among the leaf litter and wood sorrel.

I was not the only person examining the orchids.

Some had almost bloomed out.

A small patch of the Knapweed.

Greater Knapweed looks just like our Basket Flower.

Buttercups

My fingers itched, but I didn't pick anything.

Let's say a Common Spotted Orchid

Common Selfheal

Meadowsweet

NOTES:

* It's always good to have trained eyes and ears helping you understand what you are seeing and hearing...just wait. And, it's free. Come on.

**She did not say "crazy Americans who are wild about frogs and orchids," but we had our suspicions. Seriously, once again we were reminded that Ireland is a small country. People know each other. They want you to enjoy your visit. All you have to do is open your mouth and say, "Hello!" Connections were magically happening and we felt welcome.

***TAKE THE BUS! Even if you aren't taking a guided tour you can take the shuttle from the Information Center to the park and back. You really don't want to try and park along the road during the summer. Really. I can see taking the first bus out on a morning, hiking one of the longer routes, and taking the last bus back in to town.

Off-season you can park at the trailhead as there are fewer folks out there. Be careful though. It can be difficult hiking in wet weather.

****I kept thinking it was a big pack for such a short hike. I hate to lug around a heavy pack and often just cram everything I need in multiple pockets. [And sometimes DH gets to carry the pack. He's a saint.] Since this trip I have set up my "hike backpack" and led two hikes of my favorite park - attempting to channel our young naturalists in Ireland.

Examples of "swatches" can be found here:  http://www.biodiversityireland.ie/product/tree-swatch/

*****We hope to be able to do that some day - bird by ear.  For now, we trusted Susan and we heard: Willow Warbler, Robin, Bullfinch, and Goldcrest (smallest bird in Europe). We saw no birds, just heard them.

****** http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/places/the_burren/limestone_pavements.htm