Description
Benbulben Mountain, Grange, County Sligo, Ireland
The month of May as we all know is “Bluebell Season” Around this time each year, many photographers rush to capture these stunning little flowers in colourful blossom before they dwindle away for another year. The thing about bluebells is that they mainly seem to grow in woodland environments. This isn’t a bad thing, but it means that most photos captured of bluebells are very similar looking in appearance. For this reason, I personally find bluebell photos a little cliché & normally don’t bother capturing them. However, during research I found this stunning location of bluebells growing in a non-woodland habitat! So admittedly I had to eat my own words & found myself rushing to capture bluebells like everyone else ?
On arrival I couldn’t believe my eyes! A meadow filled with millions of lush bluebells growing on the actual slope of Benbulben mountain. The surprising thing is that there was only the odd hawthorn ‘Fairy Tree’ growing here amongst this sea of flowers? It turns out that many years ago these slopes were densely populated by ancient woodland & these bluebells flourished under their branches. Then sadly this woodland was cut down to allow for grazing sheep. Miraculously these resilient little flowers continued to grow & overpopulate Benbulben’s slope long after their habitat was destroyed. Observing nature adapting & flourishing like this against all the odds brings pure joy to me ? Long may it last
