We were utterly spoilt on the East Wall recently. The tide was out. We saw a familiar friend, an Oystercatcher, and some new (to us) seabirds. Can you help us identify this one? Margot (13) and Alex (8) McGuinness, Dublin
This is a black guillemot in winter/non-breeding plumage. So, no wonder it is not familiar to you. In full breeding plumage it is entirely black with a large white wing patch on both sides of its body, and it has bright red feet. It looks completely different at this time of year. Unlike our common guillemot species, this one does not disperse far from the coastline in winter. In summer they breed along the Dublin docks in crevices and behind boulders. They build no nest; the two eggs are laid on the ground or sometimes in shallow burrows. They feed on small fish, small crabs, some seaweeds, and drowned insects. The new East Wall Greenway at Dublin Port is a great place for watching our shore birds.
In the battle between the sparrowhawk and the grey squirrel in our garden in Rathfarnham, the squirrel was “victorious”. Eloise Hayes, Dublin
This is a cracking photograph. The male sparrowhawk was definitely out of his league. Sparrowhawks hunt small birds, which they catch by ambushing them from behind a hedge or wall while they are feeding. Squirrels are not usually on the menu at all. Male sparrowhawks are smaller than the females and have blue-grey feathers on the head and back.
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I found this purple organism for the first time last year. It was in my mother’s small garden pond, just outside Cavan. I never managed to find out what it was. It’s appearing again this year – so am hoping this image helps identify it. Rachael Cullivan, Co Cavan
I thought that it might be Lamprocystis purpurea – a phototrophic purple sulphur bacterium which is present in Europe, but there are no records so far for Ireland. Bruce Osborne, who is professor of plant ecophysiology in UCD, agrees. These bacteria live in freshwater lakes and use sulphur rather than carbon as an energy source. He suggests that, as it would need high levels of sulphur/hydrogen sulphide (H²S) to survive, you might be able to smell this around the pond. Spent mushroom compost contains high levels of H²S, so that may be a source of the sulphur if your mother uses it in the garden.
I saw these ‘spots’ on a dead piece of wood. What are they please? Dorothy Hatton
This is a fungus with the apt name of wood warts. This one – Hypoxylon fragiforme – grows on decaying beech wood. It is one of the Ascomycetes group of fungi and forms part of the decomposing cycle of the ecosystem, which is essential for breaking down dead plants and recycling their nutrients.
I was in a local wood recently where I found these young seedlings coming up through the moss and old leaves. Have you any idea what they are? Dyan Smith, Ennis, Co Clare
I have. These are emerging young wood anemones – Anemone nemorosa. They flower early in the year because flowers that grow on the woodland floor in deciduous woods have to complete their life cycle while they have light – before the canopy closes on the trees overhead. These are members of the buttercup family and will have six petals when they are fully open. This is a common perennial plant that grows throughout Ireland in woodlands and under hedgerows. While it is now considered to be poisonous, its roots were used long ago for the “expelling of phlegm”, while its leaves were considered useful as a plaster for wounds.
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