Eye on Nature

In my garden there was a small burrow at the foot of large conifers, which I assumed was the den of visiting foxes. This summer it has been enlarged enormously leaving a pile of earth outside about 2m in length and 1m in width.
Brian Duffy
Sandymount, Dublin

You have acquired a badger sett.

I have been watching a group of young grey crows playing with a bottle top, practising their skill at opening shells by dropping them from a height. They take turns to fly up and drop the bottle top, with a subsequent kerfuffle over who gets to play with it next.
Terri Kearney
Skibbereen, Co Cork

I came across a dark insect in a bog near Ballina, Co Mayo. It was oval and very flat, with a "stinger" extending from the abdomen and horns similar to a dung beetle's.
Gerry Ring
Ballina, Co Mayo

From the photograph you sent, it was a water scorpion which creeps over the mud and vegetation in shallow water catching prey in its front pincers. It draws air from the surface through its hollow tail.

Michael Viney welcomes observations at Thallabawn, Carrowniskey PO, Westport, Co Mayo, or by email at viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address