EYE ON NATURE

On a sunny day the female earwig, Forficula auricularia, described one-inch circles, anti-clockwise on the garden path for over an hour (about 1,500 times). She looked healthy and I use no chemicals. Curious to know if she was wafting pheremones, I placed a male beside her, but after two revolutions he fled! Have you any insights on this behaviour?

Susan Flynn, Ballybrack, Co Dublin

The earwig may have had a damaged antenna or leg or eye which disorientated it. The antennae are composed of up to 50 segments, so it would be difficult to see without magnification if one was damaged. There seems to be nothing in its normal behaviour that would explain this activity.

Recently I was fishing in the Royal Canal about seven miles from Kinnegad when I noticed on two occasions a completely white house martin flying over the canal. Can you tell me how rare this is?

Rinus de Bruin, Killiney, Co Dublin

House martin's occasionally hybridise with swallows and albinos are sometimes found among the offspring. But it would still have been a comparatively rare sighting.

The Irish Wildbird Conservancy is carrying out a countrywide barn owl survey, and particularly wants reports from the northern half of the country. The barn owl has snow-white underparts and does not hoot, but shrieks. The young in the nest hiss when demanding food, unlike the young of the long-eared owl which squeak. If you see a barn owl or know of a nesting site, or want more information, contact Dominic Berridge, Barn Owl Survey Organiser, Rathsilla, Adamstown, Co Wexford.