Turn your back to the storm and face the sun: up-coming courses, volunteers, wildlife sightings and weather!

Every year it seems to me I hear complaints about spring. It is either
"late" or "unusually cold," "abnormally dry" or "fantastically wet,"
for no one is ever willing to admit that there is no such thing as a normal spring.
-- Thalassa Crusso

This certainly holds true this Spring at Carraig Dúlra. In our development diary (http://dulra.org/blog) you can read about our snowy Mother's day/family volunteering picnic, and the arrival of our first Wwoofers from Costa Rica and British Columbia. Luckily for them the cold snap broke, and they are wondering where is all that Irish rain they heard about.

It seems the sun will shine on, which is great for our willow courses at the end of the week. We will be basket making and learning how to create a fedge. Due to our house move we were a bit behind publicizing these so if you or someone you know is interested please book in! (Course details at http://dulra.org/basket_making_and_planting_basket_willow)

The kitchen, deck, and yurt area make working on the land very easy. We can stop and make a cup of tea or lunch and chat to our wwoofers or visitors. We had great excitement during one break, caused by our cats. They had moved to the land when we moved house recently. One of them, Panther, caught a Common Lizard, Lacerta vivipara, Ireland's only native reptile. None of us has ever seen one before and we were able to rescue it still alive, minus its tail, from Panther's mouth. It was then taken for a walk hopefully out of the way of the cats. Unfortunately they have been more successful with Pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus). The children rescue as many as they can, but we find their corpses littered about. The cats don't eat them. (See below)

With our wwoofers' and family volunteers help, we now have 45 fruit trees planted, mostly apple with a couple of pear and a cherry. Despite the weather the family day was great fun and we hope to hold regular days in future.

The vegetable garden is nearly rabbit proof fenced, and we have a few more lazy beds made. Suzie has been busy sowing lots of trays of veg, herbs and flowers and the dry weather has kept her busy watering them. So we need to create even more beds before planting out time.
Lets hope the weather is kind to us. . .

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
a cloud come over the sunlit arch,
And wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.
- Robert Frost

The pygmy shrew is the smallest mammal and the only shrew found in Ireland. It is easily distinguished from other rodents by its small size, long pointed nose, domed head with tiny eyes and red tipped teeth. Pygmy shrews occur in a variety of habitats but they are more abundant in moist habitats like peatlands where there is a good supply of invertebrates. Cats and other animals often kill shrews but they seldom eat them as their flesh is distasteful. Shrews usually live solitary lives but come together during the breeding season. Breeding occurs between April and August with at least two litters a year produced after a 22 day gestation period. The tiny young are born hairless and blind but are weaned after only 22 days. After this time they are evicted by the mother, who becomes hostile towards them. In general the lifespan of a pygmy shrew is one year.
http://www.iwt.ie/ext_docs/edu_resources/terrestrial/Pygmyshrewfinal.pdf

The common Lizard is described as having a grey brown to dark brown dorsal surface. Often it has a darker streak that may run the entire length of the spine. There is a dark border broken by light yellow and white spots seen on either side of the body.Adults emerge from hibernation in March; usually males are a few weeks earlier than females. Mating is between April and May. The females produce between 3 - 11 young in July / August
COMMON LIZARDS ARE PROTECTED UNDER THE WILDLIFE ACT 1976 (AMENDED BILL 2000). IT IS AN OFFENCE TO KILL, HARM OR INJURE THEM. We are not sure if this applies to cats.
http://www.iwt.ie/lizards_id.php