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258. 

ANTRIM TRIP 1949.

24th June '49. 

Left Dublin by 9.0 AM train for Belfast, where arrived 12.30 noon.  Left Belfast by bus 3.30 P.M. & arrived Carnlough, via Ballyclare & Larne, about 6 P.M.  After lunch in Belfast went to the Botanic Garden & in the rock garden there saw ☿☿ of Bombus pratorius added to the Irish List a couple of years ago by R.C. Faris from specimens taken in Antrim, Cavan (& Down?) 

Very hot, at end of very hot & dry couple of weeks & no rain reported at Caralough for at least 3 weeks.


25th June 1949. 

Cloudless, E. breeze, very hot.  Walked up on to plateau above Carnlough, by lane S. of Carnlough River;  had lunch on scarp at ca. 800 ft. then crossed moor to the site on the Cranny Burn, above where it meets the Pollan Burn, where Praeger & I found Pyrola secunda in July 1920 (See 1 Nat.), but as reported by E.N. Carrothers & L. McK. Moon found no trace of it & the place below topmost fall marked on my map as the site much changed, though Prunus Padus still there also Carex pallescens!  Later went N. +/- along course 


259.

25.6.49, cont.

of tributary of Cranny Burn, at head of which on 1837 Ord. Map is shown a small tarn - not visited by Praeger & me in 1920 - but found no trace of it at present day.  Just N. of Cranny Burn & on left bank of above tributary, saw a nice swamp with Pinguicula lusitanica (in flower), Drosera anglica, &c., but nearly the whole surface of the moor dry & crisp & both Drosera & Pinguicula vulgaris seen growing on perfectly dry ground, which normally, & in 1920, would have taken on over top of boots.  Much Empetrum seen but no Cranberry & no Carex limosa or any of the rare species;  on a cut-away bog N. of Cranny River saw colony of what I take to be only Lastrea dilatata & on scarp at lunch place saw much Athyrium aculeatum. 

Returned by Pollan Burn - in which saw much Myriophyllum sp. (nearly dried up) - to lane leading back to Carnlough past the old Chalk Quarry, now reopened towards NE end.

Did not collect insects but a few taken, including Andrena tarsala - a huge colony on dry scarp facing S. on the Cranny Burn - & 2 of the small Gadfly T. bisignatus on the moor, which came to bite & got bitten instead 

For list of insects taken see p. 279 to follow.