My name is Owen Beckett and I’m an ecologist from Ireland with a passion for wildlife and in particular, insects. Through ‘Irish Naturalist’ I aim to document the wildlife I see on my outings both abroad and at home and whilst I wouldn’t call myself a wildlife photographer, I love photographing what I find and all of the pictures on the site are my own. Prior to 2017 I used a Panasonic Lumix bridge camera which on its day could produce good photos, but for the most part I found its quality to be a bit below where I wanted it to be and it often struggled with fast-moving subjects like bees and butterflies, so since then I have been using a Canon 1300d and kit lens which is much more apt for wildlife photography. Although still relatively basic, it has so far proven to be a worthwhile upgrade. I am still working to better my photography skills and over time I hope the quality of my images will begin to improve.
Whilst I am interested in many aspects of the natural world, my main interest centres around insects, especially bees and butterflies. On my site you’ll find sections dedicated to both, including individual species accounts for those that I have observed and photographed.
Whilst some of the information on this site is based on my own experience and personal observations, information relating to distributions, population trends, habitat preferences and flight periods in particular has been obtained from a variety of sources:
‘Insects of Ireland’ – McCormack, Regan and Shields
‘The Butterflies of Donegal’ – Aldwell and Smyth
‘Collins Butterfly Guide’ – Tolman and Lewington
‘Butterflies of Britain and Europe’ – Haahtela, Saarinen, Ojalainen and Aarnio
‘Butterflies and Moths’ – Sterry and McKay
‘RSPB Handbook of British Birds’ – Holden and Cleeves
‘The Mountains of Romania’ – Roberts
‘Wildflowers of Britain and Ireland’ – Blamey, Fitter and Fitter’
‘Walking in the Algarve’ – Julie Statham
‘Birds of Britain and Europe’ – Nicolai, Singer and Wothe
‘Structure and spread of butterflies in the surroundings of Cluj’ – Goia and Dinca
‘Atlas of the diurnal butterflies of Iberia and the Balearic Islands’ – Garcia-Barros
‘Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland’ – Falk and Lewington
‘Handbook of the Bees of the British Isles: Volumes 1 and 2’ – Else and Edwards
I hope you find my website informative and enjoyable.
