The rooks are feeding on the cones of Scots pines and carrying away fallen ones. What do they find to eat in these hard cones?
Des O'Reilly, Oldcastle, Co Meath
Rooks have strong beaks. In late summer the cones open out to release their winged seeds.
On Inis Mór I saw an animal about 15cm (six inches) long with a tail of about the same length. It was grey, very thin and not very hairy, more a sleek coat. The tail was thin with a bushy tip, and the ears stood up. It ran and stopped along the road and then ran into the bushes.
Mark Duggan, Templeogue, Dublin
From its length and the bushy tip of its tail it sounds like a stoat that got wet, when the normally chestnut brown fur would look grey and sleek.
I've just seen a seal approaching a haul-out [ where seals haul themselves out], "porpoising" at great speed for 50 to 100 yards. It came almost entirely out of the water at each leap. I don't recall seeing a seal do this before.
Ralph Sheppard, Raphoe, Co Donegal
"Porpoising" seems to be part of mating play in common seals.
