Despite being regularly disturbed, why are magpies and, to a lesser extent, rooks and jackdaws, so often seen on roads? I disturbed six magpies and two rooks on the 30 miles of road between Limerick and Tarbert. - P. Lysaght, Limerick. They feed on birds and mammal kills on the road.
Is it a particularly good year for king- fishers? While surveying butterflies for the millennium survey, I saw five different king- fishers in different locations in the last five days. I walk along the bank of the Royal Canal nearly every day but a kingfisher remains a rare treat. - Lesley Whiteside, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
As you were on the lookout for butterflies, you may have been paying closer attention than usual. The fine summer would certainly mean that kingfishers would have had a successful breeding season.