Summer has finally arrived here in Connemara with some sizzling weather last week. The burst of life which occured with flowers blooming and insects hatching it was welcoming to see.

I did not see much of the sun as I was at my easel busily working on some paintings for the show season which begins for me with the Shanes Castle game fair at the end of June. Following that I will be travelling to England for the CLA game fair, a massive show with huge crowds. It was cancelled last year due to torrential rain, lets hope this year that the weather is more seasonal. It will be quite an adventure heading over with a trailer load of stuff. I am really excited about it!

I did manage to get two days fishing lately on Lough Corrib. This is a wonderful time of the year to be on the lake as the sounds and sights are so varied. The mayfly is hatching and the trout are feeding eagerly ( in theory!).The lake is a birders paradise at this time of year with the little critters busily nesting and singing. I love the sounds of the gull colonies even though some of my fishing friends are driven to distraction by them. Some of the gulls do seem to choose the most careless nesting sites but I suppose they know better.Kittiwakes are the main culprits for this quirky behaviour in real estate. The eggs in the blog images are kittiwakes eggs , this particular bird building his nest on a rock ten feet from shore,easy pickings for the mink. The parents are determined  in their defense of their nests so maybe the mink tries to find easier pickings.

The highlight of my trip was getting some fantastic views of long -tailed ducks. I had never seen them before and they allowed my drifting boat to get within 40 feet of them. I was kneeling on the floor with just my camera lens sticking over the gunwales but they were quite relaxed feeding in front of me.

The fishing was tough as the weather was a bit too bright during the day but the evening fishing made up for it with good falls of midge.It was wonderful sleeping in my tent that night on an island listening to the sounds of curlew and relishing the thought of fresh trout   for breakfast! breakfast!