What is a Bog?

A bog is a wet marshy area.There are two kinds of bogs, raised bogs and blanket bogs.
A lot of plants grow on the bog but mostly insects and birds live there.
Yellow water lilies colonize the deep water areas at the centre of the bog. Bogs are widely distributed over cold, damp areas.
Some of our local bog are, Cush bog, Tauran bog, All saints bog, Brockney bog, Drynagh bog, Noggus Bog and The Derries Bog.

View from the Slieve Bloom Mts.

 

View of Noggus bog and Ferbane power station
(before the destruction of the cooling towers)

 

Bog Plants

 

 

Rosemary

Rosemary is a flower that can be found on raised bogs and is one of the most attractive bog plants and for this reason has been named the county Offaly flower .

 

 

 

 

 

Black Beaked Sedge

The black beaked sedge is flowering plant and flowers around June.It grows up to 20-30 cm high there stems grow straight up Bog and its leaves are about 3/4 the length of the stem. Every leaf forms a black or brown sheath around the base of the stem.

A black bog rush

A black bog rush forms dence tussock of packed dark green and cylindrical stems which may be grown up to a half a metre high.
This is one of those plants where the stem has almost taken over the work of the leaves.
Its leaves are very narrow and bristle like , agrouped around the stem base and enclosed in shiny black or reddish brown sheaths which makes it easy to recognise when it appears in fossil form in the bog.
Back in earlier times black bog rush was known as the Black Keilb in the west where it was regarded as an indicator of good grazing

 

Bog Mosses

Bog mosses are very important plants on the .There are different types of mosses such as sphagnum cuspidatum and Sphagnum Recurvum.
Sphagnum Cuspidatum is a pale yellow to green in colour and has long slender stems.
The stems leaves are triangular and are much longer than they are broad.

 

Sphagnum Recurvum are different because they are light green to a dark green in colour.

Sundew

A sundew is a bog plant and if a small insect lands on the leaf or brushes by it then the sticky hairs catches it then the plant eats it.

This was done by Niall Flaherty, Audrey Cannon and Stephen Clancy 6th class with Colin Kenny, 5th class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bogland Fauna

Bogland Fauna consists of Inverterbrates like the black slug leeches and worms.
You will also find spring tails, caterpillars and ground beetles.
You can also find wild birds like the Snipe, Partrige, Corncrake, Curlew and the Crane.
Other forms of wildlife you may come across are foxes, badgers, hares, mink, rats, mice, hedgehogs and if you are lucky you might spot an otter but very rarely.
And you will also see dragonflies .