. A bird has been laying eggs on a piece of plastic on the tarmacadam outside the house. The plastic may have looked like water from above. We have not been able to catch her in the act but she has laid three eggs which are three quarters of an inch long, plumpish, greyish in colour and speckled. I think they may be those of a pied wagtail which we have here.
Canon Fred Gilmore, Strandhill, Co Sligo
The description of the eggs fits those of the pied wagtail, and they do like to make a nest near water. There is no record of a pied wagtail laying eggs without building a nest, and it was rather remiss of her not to do so. The eggs will not survive predators very long in the open.
. Last October my brother was surprised to see blossoms come out on his apple tree while it was still in fruit. Has this happened in other parts of the country, and is it due to some climatic influence, perhaps the exceptional summer?
Teresa McGowan, Kinlough, Co Leitrim
It is certainly remarkable to see such exuberant fertility in an apple tree. Dr Donal Synnott of the Botanic Gardens suggests that it may be the response of the particular tree to months of drought and a sudden surge of rain. This indeed happened in October in Co Leitrim, which had more than twice its normal rainfall for the month.
. On April 19th I noticed a hummingbird hawkmoth moving in and out of the primroses and aubretia. Is this exceptionally early for such a moth to arrive? I would like to attract more of these very attractive insects to my garden. What plants provide a nursery for the larvae?
J S Glendinning, Kinsale, Co Cork
It is early for the hummingbird hawkmoth to arrive on migration from the continent. There have been reports of some adults from the last hatch of the previous year hibernating in the south of England, but they seldom survive the winter. Perhaps yours arrived early with the help of the south easterly winds, or perhaps it had hibernated in the south of Ireland and managed to survive. The caterpillars feed on hedge bedstraw, lady's bedstraw and wild madder.