Heritage & Habitat | The Irish Times

Ridge above Thallabawn. Illustration: Michael Viney.

Conquering Everest on a Mayo ridge for a good cause

Michael Viney: Crumbling hilltop trig pillars’ played key role in the mapping of Ireland

The large and admirable Lumbricus terrestris earthworm, key architect of the structure and fertility of soil.

The foreign invaders decimating North’s worm population

Antipodean flatworms pose risk to indigenous variety which could have severe knock-on effects

Cuckoo at other bird’s nest: Most cuckoos of both sexes resemble some sort of hawk. Illustration: Michael Viney

Lonely lapwings and the secret world of non-breeders

Another Life: Some floaters circle territories and sneak the odd ‘extra-pair copulation’

Swinging back the polytunnel door, I wish its leafy occupants a cheery good morning and ask them how they’re doing. Illustration: Michael Viney

Does it matter whether my plants listen to Mozart or Bach?

Michael Viney: Plant intelligence rests in the ways by which they solve their problems

Goat willow in flower. Illustration: Michael Viney

David Attenborough gives humankind one last chance

A Life on Our Planet is a terrifying catalogue of our self-sabotaging transgressions

The narrow entry corridor for grey squirrels at Sutton Cross offered hope for the reds at a crucial balance in their breeding.

Have Howth’s red squirrels succumbed to invasive greys?

Greys carry squirrel-pox virus which is fatal to Ireland’s native reds

House sparrows: their modern decline in most cities of western Europe, in places to virtual extinction, has prompted much research. Illustration: Michael Viney

The rapid decline of the restless, chirruping house sparrow

Another Life: The disappearance of this bird from cities has prompted much research

A Connemara bog. Illustration: Michael Viney

Tim Robinson created a unique ecological chronicle of Ireland

Robinson has followed Mairéad, his wife and collaborator, into the list of Covid-19 fatalities

Supermarkets emptied of eggs, Britons are seeking hens for their back gardens – such a bonanza for the UK’s urban foxes. Illustration: Michael Viney

We’ve gone from housing hens to online supermarket dependency

Will Covid-19 begin a resurgence of the 1970s withdrawal from growth-driven capitalism?

Once a local badger chose to wrench a bunch of leaves and stems from a stand of flowering daffodils.

Both badgers and humans waiting on security from plague

Greater industry involvement required if bovine TB to be eliminated by 2030 target

Ireland had an estimated 223,000 Irish hares in the winter of 2018/19. Picture: Michael Viney

Counting hares under the spotlight

Michael Viney: Camera traps are now used as a regular part of hare monitoring

Fish in seagrass. Illustration: Michael Viney

Sea change for the worse as alien seaweed unmakes the bed

Marine life with very specific habitat needs threatened in the face of sweeping change

The lizard shares the Burren’s warmth with an alien but locally naturlised reptile, a legless lizard that most resembles a snake. Picture: Michael Viney

The trouble with terrapins and two wild reptiles living in Ireland

Three terrapins as pets seems a bit ambitious considering their needs

Wind-blown sheep. Illustration: Michael Viney

Bogged down: Bleak outlook for the west’s blanket peatlands

The list of causes of damage is long, making it hard to know where to start

Grey seals tend to eat fish whole. Illustration: Michael Viney

How have our grey seals adapted to eat venomous weever fish?

Few, if any, of Ireland’s mammals have evolved the ability to eat venomous creatures

Golden kelp. Illustration: Michael Viney

Golden kelp: how did the alien seaweed end up in Irish waters?

Golden kelp is notably bare of other sea life, so there are concerns over its possible impact

Lesser celandines. Credit: Michael Viney

New year plant hunt gives young, keen, diligent botanists adrenaline spike

Long-term objective is to see how wildflowers are responding to changes in weather patterns and climate

The skylark is among the species that has been attracted to Feargal Ó Cuinneagáin’s meadows of richly mixed native herbs and wild flower. Drawing by Michael Viney

Mixed messages from politicians on biodiversity

Time to restore meadows once full of insects and nectar in summer and spires of seeds in winter

Dark Hedges of Stranocum, Co Antrim by Michael Viney

Storm Brendan rattles the nature-depleted North

A new report shows no let-up in the loss of wildlife in Northern Ireland

Corncrake: important place in literature has romanticised the bird

How do we choose which endangered species to save?

Corncrakes get major EU funding despite being of ‘least concern’ on Red List criteria

The shiny black backs that came curving along the waves behind me were those of bottlenose dolphins, out for their own kind of fun. Picture: Michael Viney

On a frosty morning 40 years ago, I saw a group of dolphins playing tag

As top marine predators, dolphins accumulate the most man-made toxic pollutants

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