January and February are months that see the beginning of colour in the Irish countryside, in gardens and in hedgerows but also in woodlands.

Here, a little patch of fresh green and

While researching new locations for photography workshops recently, I found this very scenic woodland for the first time.

Not a famous location, and all the better for it. This

Such a colourful scene as Cirsium vulgare, the common thistle, provides pollen for the brightly coloured red-tailed bumblebee or Bombus lapidarius in the Irish

A recent photography tour in County Donegal brought us to the edge of a mountain to photograph the landscape of Ireland's most northerly county.

The weather was overcast, torrential

Like my previous post, this is one of trees

This lone and windswept tree prepares for another tough year of growing, its short stature and horizontal growth shows the direction of prevailing winds.

Clearly this side of the small

Lesser Celandine Ficaria verna is a bright, colourful spring flower in the Irish countryside that often carpets woodlands, riverbanks and lower hedgerows between March and May; with its

'How now brown cow' goes the old saying which is often used in elocution, it's also a phrase often asked of us who come from Northern Ireland.

Most from the other corners of

The greenery of a woodland clearing is a relaxing place to stop and admire the scenery of the natural environment.

Here, a mixed woodland of native Irish trees on the left gives way to

One of the few yellow ladybirds to be found in Ireland is the 14-spot ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata which, like most ladybirds, feasts on the gardener's enemy -

The Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi said that ‘The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream than to be emperor of the whole

The mightiest tree in the forest, an Irish woodland.

A recent visit through an Irish woodland saw me find and photograph the mightiest tree in the forest, pictured here.

It

January is over, spring has begun in Ireland - according to tradition, and colour is coming back into the landscape.

Winter is colourful in Ireland, the countryside remains green all

A woodland river flowing and swirling through the rocks under the tree canopy high above.

It just takes time, time for the action of the flowing water to finally erode the obstacles in

Beech trees fagus sylvatica are one of the finest trees to find in an Irish woodland.

This non-native species was introduced at some point in history, many centuries ago at

Exploring in the Irish countryside can be a fine and rewarding experience.

Here, I found an old stone bridge dating from the 1840s over a small river surrounded by green trees, its

I've been photographing bluebells for twenty years now, but I only recently realised that I have few posts here on Panoramic Ireland on bluebells.

Here a mixture of

Winter has been mild so far this year in Ireland, we haven't yet seen the snow and cold temperatures of early 2018; trees, shrubs and flowers that don't normally show much signs of spring growth

I'm a photographer, I'm also a tour leader, geographer and explorer.

I was thinking today about exploration and how, sometimes, a day's exploration can bring unexpected

The greylag goose Anser anser is not a common sight in Ireland yet in some of the wetlands around the country it is possible to see these majestic birds like here with