If you are interested in nature these are the websites you need to know about

The business of being a naturalist, whether professional or amateur, has been transformed by modern technology, writes Dick Warner.

There are two things in particular that have become so indispensable that it’s hard to imagine how we got along without them in the bad old days. They are the camera phone and the internet.

Cameras have been around for a long time, but not ones that you always have with you in your pocket that provide instant, high-resolution pictures, often with the option of macro close-ups. With my latest one I can even take pictures under water.

Everyone at some time or another comes across a wild flower they can’t identify or a strange-looking beetle. Even professional botanists are seldom good at identifying beetles and entomologists are often weak on plant identification. So out with the phone, a quick picture and then the second great invention comes into play — the internet.

The quality and quantity of natural history websites on the internet today is phenomenal, including websites devoted purely to Irish wildlife, with pictures that you can compare with the image you captured on your phone.

The Vincent Wildlife Trust has a website called mammals-in-ireland that I use all the time because it’s really up to date and contains excellent information. I have practically every relevant book on the subject that’s ever been published but this one website is better than all of them put together.

BirdWatch Ireland has several very good websites but if you’re a serious birder interested in scarce and rare birds and you want up-to-the minute information about what’s been spotted log on to Irishbirding.com. The famous twitcher’s grapevine is now online.

There are many botany websites and many have features allowing you to sort wildflowers by colour or season. One I find friendly and useful is wildflowersofireland.net. As well as good photographs and factual information it has little snippets about herbal remedies, plant folklore or literary associations.

Dragonflies and damselflies are a fascinating subject but one that’s a bit too specialised for most all-round naturalists. However, if you can get a photograph of the insect on your phone and then google dragonflyireland this excellent website should lead to instant identification and then give you a lot of information about what you’ve just identified.

Lichens are another branch of natural history that I find a little bewildering at times but luckily lichens.ie is another wonderful website which is obviously curated with passion as well as huge knowledge.

All these websites are designed so they pop up on a search engine. MothsIreland.com does a good job. Inland Fisheries Ireland has a useful website on fresh water fish.