Heritage & Habitat | The Irish Times

Coastal lake in Connemara. Illustration: Michael Viney

Dutch botanists drawn to Ireland’s landscapes of special beauty

The Hidden Lakes of Connemara offers ‘a tribute to a fascinating landscape’

White blackbird. Illustration: Michael Viney

How can a blackbird be white? It’s actually not that uncommon

Blackbirds topped the list of a British ‘abnormal plumage’ survey, at over 40%

Just as dandelions close when raindrops fall, Dara McAnulty says, the bullying at school made him close himself off

Another Life: The remarkable Dara McAnulty and his connection with nature

Young author and his family live as ‘close as otters’ at the foot of the Mourne Mountains

Mola mola: a near-circular disc of a fish with a rather small mouth, the sunfish swims mostly vertically. Illustration: Michael Viney

Another Life: Here comes the sunfish

Michael Viney: Mola mola, with its appetite for jellyfish, are in warmer Irish waters

Sika like to tear the bark from young conifers. Illustration: Michael Viney

Another Life: Ireland’s growing deer population poses many challenges

Climate change has ‘greatly enabled’ a national surge in the range of deer

An elm tree. Drawing: Michael Viney

Another Life: How are Ireland’s elms faring in 2020?

Michael Viney: Despite the threat of disease, Ireland’s living elms can still surprise

Even the robust oystercatcher had fallen from 109 pairs to 34 on the Inishkeas.

Another Life: Our waders are growing fewer year by year

Michael Viney: A new survey brings arresting confirmations of decline

Janthina. Illustration: Michael Viney

Two sea species whose enmity is carried by wind and water

The by-the-wind sailor’s sworn foe, the violet sea snail, floats upside-down alongside it

Great Skua: Illustration Michael Viney

Another Life: Arrival of great skuas may alter seabird balance on Clare Island

Michael Viney: North Atlantic’s top predator now shares island with 13 other species

A tree planted closer to the house grew into a strong-muscled, shapely candelabra, beautiful in every season. Illustration: Michael Viney

Another Life: Our second ash comes into conflict with technology

Michael Viney: The wayside ashes of the west stand as defiantly healthy emblems of their kind

Winged ants emerging for take-off. Illustration: Michael Viney

Anti-chaos theory: How do ant colonies organise so efficiently?

Individual ants are certainly not smart, but their group wisdom may exceed our own

Gannet with fish: Anyone who has watched the birds plunging vertically from the sky to seize mackerel deep beneath the surface must marvel at their anatomy. Illustration: Michael Viney

Gannet population continues to thrive despite human threat to its numbers

Michael Viney: Irish numbers have more than doubled since the counts of Operation Seafarer in 1970

Fox with prey: The urban adult is “thin and exhausted” from finding and ferrying food to its cubs. Illustration: Michael Viney

Another Life: The fox as he dwells among us

Michael Viney: A predator denning in parks, gardens and wasteland gets mixed responses

Choughs. Illustration: Michael Viney

The declining choughs of Dursey island need decision makers’ help

A beefed-up, independent National Parks and Wildlife Service would be just the ticket

Cocksfoot grass: their hint of purple strong against the light in a sunny meadow

Super grass: the arching, architectural forms of wild meadows

Michael Viney: Wild grasses have loved the mood swings of our climate this year

Puffins visit land only to breed, nesting in burrows and crevices. Illustration by Michael Viney

Between cliff and sea: The curious trail of a puffin

Another Life: As one of many of the world’s declining seabirds, puffins are now receiving much more necessary and serious attention

Alice C Tyler presenting the first Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 1974

Alice and Jack Tyler: America’s first environmental power couple

Another Life: A new book on the founders of the Tyler Prize shows their political influence

The spotted flycatcher. Illustration: Michael Viney

Spotted flycatcher is less likely to be spotted with each passing year

Avian science journal Ibis reports ‘great conservation concern’ about the species

Dung beetle. Photograph: iStock.

The Irish farmers peering into cow pats for precious dung beetles

Another Life: Dairy farmer Bruce Thompson examines impact of worming drug on beetles

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

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