Identifriday!

Identifriday- where we identify the wildlife we come across on our doorstep and on our travels and get into the habit of noticing and appreciating our local biodiversity!

We visited Lough Carra recently. This is a beautiful marl lake in County Mayo. Marl is a clay that is high in calcium and aquatic plants can not easily grow in it. This makes the waters of Carra crystal clear and translucent. Unfortunately some enrichment of this lake has occurred in recent years and it's waters aren't as clean and clear as they used to be. According to this the water quality of the lake is of moderate status.

But it's still a beautiful lake with fab scenery and abundant wildlife. So what creature did we spot that day?

A leech!

Leech- Helobdella stagnalis

This little guy was suckering it's way along the bottom of a rock that I picked up in the shallows. According to Small Freshwater Creatures  Helobdella stagnalis (or at least that's my best guess as I didn't have a microscope handy!) feeds primarily on midge larvae and is common in lakes and ponds.  

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend! If you see anything interesting let me know!