When staying at the Glengarriff Lodge in April, these bizarre looking creatures were all over the place. Didn’t have a clue what they were until further investigation revealed that they were violet oil beetles (Meloe violaceus).

I keep meaning to upgrade from my aged Nikon Coolpix 5700 – but this dated 5 megapixel camera still manages to surprise and delight me with the quality of image it’s capable of producing.

I’ve been toying with getting a DSLR for ages now, but while the kids are young I’m loath to swap what is a very capable and compact package for the bulkier SLR and associated paraphernalia.

Naturally there are times when I miss the speed and responsiveness of an SLR… but much less often than you might think.