Environment

Are single morel mushrooms unusual or just hard to spot? Readers’ nature queries

Long-legged spider crab, whelk egg mass, frog spawn, snails and ‘cabbage stalk’ corals

Single morel mushroom

Ethna Viney
Sat Apr 6 2019 - 06:00

I spotted this single morel mushroom while walking in a wood in Co Wicklow recently. Are they unusual or just hard to spot? – Erica Pickering, Glenageary, Co Dublin
The common morel is widespread in Ireland in suitable habitats: near ash trees in wet, shady woodland in limestone areas.

Video of a sea spider was taken by Colm Ó Guairim on Trá Bhuí, Carna. I know they are prevalent in Australia, but are they rare to Irish coasts? – Dee O'Connell, Carna, Co Galway
It's the long-legged spider crab, Macropodia rostrata, which camouflages itself with seaweed and sponges (which are also its food). They are found along the west coasts of both Ireland and Britain.

Egg mass of the common whelk

This stuff was in floodwater on the coastal commonage at Mullaghmore, Co Sligo. Why does it attract gulls, oystercatchers and crows? – Heather Wood, Cliffoney, Co Sligo
It's the egg mass of the common whelk, an attractive food for birds.

Frog spawn containing fungal infection. As a result tadpoles will not develop. spawn

I saw this white frog spawn while walking in the silent Valley in the Mourne Mountains. Is it a stage/type of frog spawn? – Brian Griffin, Knocklyon, Dublin 15
It looks like a fungal infection of the spawn, which will not develop into tadpoles.

READ MORE

Snails on a post in Donegal

I saw these snails stuck on a post beside a beach in Donegal in mid-March. – Martin Carberry, Donegal
Snails hibernate through cold spells and aestivate (sleep) in hot, dry spells, to avoid the drying affects of heat or cold or wind.

A solitary coral from the Lower Carboniferous Limestone of Co Sligo. They are often colloquially referred to as “cabbage stalk”

The fossil in Eye on Nature (March 23rd) appears to be a solitary coral from the Lower Carboniferous Limestone of Co Sligo. The basal septae or "platforms" produced by the coral animal at successive growth periods can be seen. They are often colloquially referred to as "cabbage stalk" corals, which the whole specimen resembles. – Gillian Sheehan (geologist), Caherdavin, Limerick

Ethna Viney welcomes observations and photographs at Thallabawn, Louisburgh, Co Mayo, F28 F978, or by email at viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address.