Not Brecknock

... Apart from the view from the A40 on the way to Fishguard and then Ireland.

Noticeable all the way was the abundance of flowering that has been unleashed in the dry and warm spell over the last two weeks. Primroses forming bright domes of yellow with the plant quite hidden along the roadsides were one of the highlights particularly in Pembrokeshire and then in Ireland we were stunned by the displays of Common Gorse. The latter I did manage to photograph:

Gorse, Eithinen Ffrengig or Ulex europaeus near Bantry, West Cork

And then after climbing Knockboy - the highest mountain in County Cork (no great boast really) I was delighted to see a large patch of Crowfoot on the way down:

Round-leaved Crowfoot, Crafanc-y-frân y rhostir or Ranunculus omiophyllus
(I've no idea what the Irish for this is)

Some views from Knockboy:

The mountains of Kerry in the distance

You can still just see where these Kerry fields once went right to the top - when Ireland had the highest population density in Europe

Lough Boy - below Knockboy

Now today in a short excursion into Herefordshire (walking from home in Hay) I was met by hedgerow displays of Greater Stitchwort and Yellow Archangel - so spring has sprung and Brecknock is waiting to be explored...

And finally some more of that Gorse:

Butterbur again

Paul Green spotted the Giant Butterbur patch near the car park in Builth Wells last week. See his pictures on his blog. Meanwhile I spotted a patch of the same species in Cwmdu - which I had been told about by one of my recording group last year. This was on the way to Abergavenny. On the way back we stopped for coffee at the Cafe - highly recommended to all those who, like us, have passed many times and not stopped. (Mynydd Ddu Tea Rooms) So here are some pictures of this Butterbur site.

Giant Butterbur or Yr alan mwyaf, Petasites japonicus on the verge in Cwmdu

Not a typical habitat for this species and there was none on the other side of the hedge that I could see - so maybe off a lorry tyre ?