Nick Mark, MD @nick

4 posts3 participants0 posts today

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · 1d

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

Absolutely loving the sky today.

#irelandweather
#ireland #waterford #clouds

A bright yellow sun setting to the west over reflected in the still waters of the south side of Dungarvan bay.
The sky is covered in rows of cotton bud like sparse fluffy clouds, clearing from yellow hazy sky around the sun to a deep blue in the upper right of the picture.
Some trees are silhouetted in the middle distance by the waters edge with a recently cut lawn in the foreground.

The photo has a tall and narrow aspect ratio where the cloud covered sky covers the upper four fifths of the picture.

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · 2d

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

This extended sunny spell is starting to deliver some really nice sunsets.

#waterford
#Dungarvan

Deep red sky just after sunset over the distant mountains reflected in the waters of Dungarvan bay. A few of the pinpoint street lights of Dungarvan shine out if the dark shadow at the base of the mountains just above the water.

Four gnarly yew trees loom as silhouettes in the foreground providing a frame covering the bottom half of the photograph.

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · 2d

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

We had a visit from a beautifully restored early 20th century 50’ Cornish fishing boat called the Peel Castle this morning.

It has a fabulous bisquine gaff rigging style, I was a bit sad I didn’t get to see it under sail.

#waterford
#sailing

Three masted wooden sailing boat painted mostly black with a white stripe just below the gunwales seen side on with sails down. It’s moored just off shore in calm blue waters in front of a historic house with crenelated garden walls and the black roof and circular distinctive chimney on the left.

Two crew are busy working at the front if the boat. The registration PZ.17 in hand drawn white lettering can be read on the side of the boat towards the front.

**Europe Says** @europesays@pubeurope.com · 4d

Europe Says @europesays@pubeurope.com

https://www.europesays.com/2052913/ League of Ireland: All the action from this evening’s games as it happens #BohemianFC #CorkCity #DerryCity #DroghedaUnitedFC #GalwayUnitedFC #ireland #LiveBlogs #ShamrockRovers #Shelbourne #SligoRovers #StPatrick'sAthleticFC #waterford

EUROPE SAYS · 4dLeague of Ireland: All the action from this evening’s games as it happens - EUROPE SAYSThe final match of the evening between Derry City and St.Patrick’s Athletic kicks-off at 7.45pm with televised coverage on Virgin Media Two.

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · 6d

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

Last meeting of the week is now done. Computers powered off.

Glorious way to kick off a long weekend.

Sun starting drop towards the western horizon about an hour before sunset with a few scattered small thin clouds and a distant heavier horizontal cloud in the distance just above the horizon.

The sun is reflected in a silvery mottled broad line that crosses the otherwise steel grey waters of the south western edge of Dungarvan bay.

Some yew trees, pampas grass, and done power poles are silhouetted in the foreground at the bottom of the picture.

#waterford #ireland

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · Apr 28

Apr 28

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

Lovely sunset over Dungarvan bay earlier.

Sun setting behind evening haze and thin clouds.

The sun is reflected in a golden mottled line that crosses the silver dappled waters of the south western edge of Dungarvan bay.

Some yew trees and pampas grass are silhouetted in the foreground at the bottom of the picture.

#waterford #ireland

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · Apr 27 *

Apr 27 *

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

I came across an interesting pair of very old oyster shells today on the beach and I wonder if these two blackened shells are actually native flat oysters.

They look very different to the Gigas/Rock oyster that is at the top of the image. The latter are farmed here so the beach is covered in thousands of those shells but I think the other two look more like the native species and I’m now curious about whether they can be found here still.

Anyone know for sure?

Picture of three oyster shells on a patch sandy beach.

The oyster at the stop is mature and relatively recently deceased. Its shell is mostly white with a bit of purple and white and is elongated in shape with a very triangular cross section on the top shell. This is definitely a farmed Gigas/Rock Oyster from one of the farmed oyster beds on the sandbanks off this beach.

The two lower shells are much older and blackened from age and time spent in the coastal mud. They are also much flatter and more palmate or fan shaped than the Gigas oyster, and might be just very flat Gigas but could possibly be the native flat oyster that used to be harvested here in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

#waterford #biodiversity #oyster

Continued thread

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · Apr 27

Apr 27

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

And finally a few less obvious, or less colourful, wild flowers from the Cunnigar today. Small things like the little geranium and speedwell are easy to miss as they are quite small and tend to be hidden in the grasses.

Dove's-foot crane's-bill, a tiny cm scale solitary purple flower with five petals, each of which is double lobed at the tip nestled amongst the dune grasses and the distinctive geranium family leaves of the plant itself.

The center of the flower is an intricate geometric shape with a grid of dark blue and deep purple edges in the central stamen sitting inside the green bases of the petals.

A light blue four pedalled Germander Speedwell flower besties amongst dune grasses. The flower is fully open with three other flowers on the same stalk in various degrees of openness. The single central white stamen springs out from the white centre of the flower reaching out to a distance almost equal to the lengths of the petals giving this flower a very distinctive central spike.

Arum Lily or Cuckoo Pint with a fully open flower head comprised of the green hood like space and dark bulbous central flower stalk called the spadix. The brown spadix in this example has been nibbled by some wildlife.

Arum Lily or Cuckoo Pint with a single vertical open flower head rising up from the centre of the plants cruciform leaf base. The fully open flower head is comprised of the green hood like spathe and bulbous central flower stalk called the spadix. The green spadix in this example is intact and probably nut yet fully developed as the other examples nearby have much darker spadix.

#biodiversity #waterford #ireland

Continued thread

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · Apr 27

Apr 27

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

I also came across this today. I’m not entirely sure what bird laid this egg but the UK Woodland Trust guide makes me lean towards Magpie or Jackdaw. The egg looks more like the former but there are a lot more of the latter in the area.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/05/identify-eggshells/

An empty and broken, probably hatched, wild bird egg sitting in a clump of grass and clover.

The egg is a very light green base colour with a fine speckling of brown spots.

Only half the egg is here but what is left is intact , looking more like it hatched than it was eaten by a predator.

#biodiversity #waterford #ireland

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · Apr 27

Apr 27

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

It’s starting to be wildflower season on the Cunnigar again. A bit early for the orchids but there are plenty of bluebells, primroses, and violets.
#bloomscrolling #waterford #ireland

A spray of about 20 bluebell florets in full flower with all the flower trumpets open with the petals at the end curling back to show the lighter interior.

The bluebells are on a curved stalk starting on the right hand edge of tge photo, rising up as it reaches to the left, leaning over and down to the left hand edge of the photo.

The backdrop is a mix of green dune grasses with a scattering of old dried stalks.

A small spray of 6 bluebell florets in flower with the flower trumpets open with the petals at the end curling back to show the lighter interior. All the flower heads are clumped together roughly in a curved stalk starting at the top if the flower stem all pointing at and angle down to the ground.

Two light green grass stalks are in the foreground to the left of the bluebells with the green and brown backdrop grasses out of focus in the photos background.

A wood violet fully open with two petals pointing upwards and three pointing downwards.

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · Apr 24

Apr 24

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

My mostly neglected back garden has thrown up a solitary iris that was looking very sparkly after the heavy fog has rolled in and given everything a blanket of water droplets.

A purple iris in full flower seen head on with two flower heads to the left and right showing a yellow central area leading funny the core of the flower. Three florets are almost completely covered in a five must of waterholes giving the petals starkly bubble like texture. The slim green iris stems and some of the background grass stalks are also covered in water droplets.

The flower is positioned in the upper center of the picture covering more than half the width of the picture framed by a grass backdrop that is softly out of focus.

#bloomscrolling #waterford

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · Apr 24

Apr 24

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

Quite an unusual visitor in the bay today, a ‘super yacht’ called the Akula, registered out of the Caymans.

I assume they are stopping off for a round of Golf at the Gold Coast.

It’s on its way to Iceland and the Arctic apparently.

60m cruiser style yacht with red hull and white superstructure anchored in Dungarvan bay just offshore of the Gold Coast Golf course.

The flag of the Cayman Islands is flying just above the main aft deck.

Screenshot from the Super Yacht Times detailing the Akula.

Akula Yacht 59.4 m (194'8" ) | 1,241 GT
Built by Rossinavi | 2024

Akula Yacht Overview

Akula is a motor yacht with an overall length of 59.4 m. The yacht's builder is Rossinavi from Italy, who launched Akula in 2024. The superyacht has a beam of 11.3 m, a draught of 3.5 m and a volume of 1,241 GT.

#waterford #superyacht

Replied in thread

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · Apr 16

Apr 16

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

@_thegeoff

Pretty spectacular on the phone, not so easy to see by eye but it was there.

iPhone 15 Pro Max with long exposures (10-30sec) from a tripod.

Aurora over Dungarvan bay looking towards Bonmahon from Helvick.

Lots of purple and green covering most of the sky.

Aurora over Dungarvan bay looking towards the Comeragh Plateau from Helvick. An LED streetlight is flaring in the foreground.

Lots of purple and green covering most of the sky.

Aurora over Dungarvan bay looking north west towards the Gold Coast from Helvick with an LED streetlight flaring in the foreground.

Lots of purple columns and green bands covering most of the lower sky.

Wide angle shot of aurora over Dungarvan bay looking towards Dungarvan from Helvick.

Lots of purple and green covering most of the lower sky.

#auroraborealis #ireland #waterford

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · Apr 16

Apr 16

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

The odds of some level of Aurora being visible here later should the solar storm tip back up to the levels it was at this afternoon are now looking fairly good.

Having a clear blue sky while the disturbance level is in the hundreds of nT is uncommon.

AuroraWatch forecast showing disturbance levels in the hundreds of nano Tesla.

It’s a bar chart with low green bars until 12:00 noon, then two short yellow bars up to 14:00, and then a spike if re d bars rising to 700nT at 20:00 UTc, before falling back to Orange at 175nT at 21:00.

Panorama looking north across Dungarvan bay under a completely cloudless darkening blue sky. The sun has set to the west along the left hand edge of the picture turning the sky a golden colour on that side of the picture.

The foreground is dark with some trees on the left in the middle distance silhouetted against the water of the bay, and Helvick harbour on the right partially obscured by a cordalyne australensis.

#waterford #auroraborealis

**Joe Mansfield** @helvick@mastodon.ie · Apr 16

Apr 16

Joe Mansfield @helvick@mastodon.ie

Sunshine after rain along the Copper Coast.

It’s a bit cold out there but the light today when the sun breaks through the clouds has been very special.

Panorama looking north across Dungarvan bay with a patch of bright blue sky breaking through a dense layer of rain clouds. The sun is setting to the west along the left hand edge of the picture turning the sky and sea an intense golden colour on that side of the picture.

A freshly mown lawn with a number of bushes occupies the foreground with some trees on the left in the middle distance silhouetted against the water if the bay, and Helvick harbour on the right partially obscured by a cordalyne australensis.

A overly evening view from Helvick looking north east towards Bunmahon. The sky is mostly covered in thick grey rain clouds brightly lit by tge light from the setting sun. A shower is highlighted in the distance across the water picked out by the low angled sunlight. Helvick harbour is visible in the foreground beyond a line of shrubs and a cordalyne australensis.

#waterford #irelandweather

**Air Quality Alerts** @airquality@mastodon.ie · Apr 13

Apr 13

Air Quality Alerts @airquality@mastodon.ie

The air quality sensors have been reporting poor air at the following locations:
Dungarvan, Co. #Waterford 57µg/m³ high

**ElliPirelli** @Ellis_ramblings@troet.cafe · Apr 8 *

Apr 8 *

ElliPirelli @Ellis_ramblings@troet.cafe

Help please!

Question for the #Irish here.
Does anyone can tell me please at which graveyard I might have taken this picture in December 2009?

The last picture in the folder was taken in Narrabaun North, Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny some 45 minutes earlier.
So it must be in the area southern #Kilkenny, Co #Waterford or Co #SouthTipperary

#MastoDaoine
#Ireland
#geoguessr

Highcross at graveyard with an arch of a chapel ruin in the background.

Continued thread

**gentlegardener** @gentlegardener@mastodon.scot · Apr 2

Apr 2

gentlegardener @gentlegardener@mastodon.scot

Cold night,spring oven supper on the fly:
islay whisky +10% in vintage #waterford crystal.
#carrs crackers +10%
Brie +20%
traderjoes tarte aux champignons product of france +20%.
A wee General Mills maybe us made pizza ?

Thin mint chocolate Girl Scout cookies baked in USA Hmmm

Tomorrows #Smithfield pork tenderloin courtesy of its Chinese owner, pork maybe not Virginia

Grow it gift it share it trade it thrift it. Buy and cellar the good stuff for days like today.

**CLondoner92 (New Account)** @CLondoner92@mastodonapp.uk · Apr 1

Apr 1

CLondoner92 (New Account) @CLondoner92@mastodonapp.uk

Bus Éireann and the National #Transport Authority (NTA) have extended the Independent Travel Support (ITS) service to #Limerick. This service, which helps passengers aged 18 and over with additional needs travel independently on the Transport for #Ireland (TFI) network, has been available in #Dublin since 2008, with extensions to #Cork, #Waterford, #Galway, and now Limerick. ITS assistants travel with passengers to train them until they are confident to travel alone. The service, free of charge, operates Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. The expansion to Limerick is part of a wider effort to make public transport more accessible, empowering users to regain confidence and independence. The NTA and Bus Éireann aim to continue growing this essential service, contributing to a fully accessible transport system in Ireland.
https://www.nationaltransport.ie/news/bus-eireann-and-the-national-transport-authority-nta-launch-the-extension-of-the-independent-travel-support-its-service-to-limerick/