Now summer is nearly here, those of us whose powers of observation haven’t been extinguished by technology will notice many more insects around. For most people, unfortunately, insects are nasty creepy-crawlies that sting, bite or buzz, and must therefore be swatted. But insects, as well as being the most numerous […]
The strong easterly winds of the past few weeks have brought in all sorts of things to the cove at the end of our lane. There was a fleet of By-the-wind-sailors (Velella velella), those strange hydrozoans that look like little blue boats with transparent sails. Some have sails that go […]
There was a piece on RTE Radio 1’s ‘Sunday Miscellany’ a few weeks ago by Hugh Wheldon, a young Irish volunteer with the environmental organisation Sea Shepherd. He was aboard the ship ‘Allankay’, in the Antarctic, and talked of icebergs and polar sunsets, Cape Horn and Drake’s Passage, orcas and […]
Most people associate hares with March; think of the expression “mad as a March hare” and the hare in ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. So this is a bit early, but because of what I have seen and heard recently, I couldn’t wait another month. The madness, by the way, refers […]
In 2024, I collected 51.74 kilograms of litter from the cove at the end of our lane. That is more than in 2022 and 2023, but a little less than in 2021. Fishing gear such as ropes and hard plastic floats were the heaviest items, but plastic bottle pieces were, […]
As you carve that big roasted turkey on Christmas Day, I wonder how many will ask: why is a bird from America named after a country in Asia Minor? Turkeys belong to the family Phasianidae, along with pheasants, peacocks, chickens, partridges, grouse and quails. This family is part of a […]