I came across this distressed bird of prey on the Poolbeg peninsula a few weeks ago. Sadly, I found it dead a few days later. Its injuries were not obvious, and I assume it may have been a victim of bird flu. Could you identify the species please? Dermot McGeady, Dublin
This is a buzzard and bird flu is indeed the likely culprit for its death, which sadly wasn’t instantaneous. People who find any dead birds with no obvious cause of death should notify the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine via its Avian Check website. Also, because in this case it is a bird of prey found dead in perhaps suspicious circumstances, the National Parks & Wildlife Service should be notified as it keeps a register of all such deaths and often investigates the causes. Buzzards can also die from consuming rats or other small mammals that have eaten rodenticide, and the NPWS checks for this. Never approach a bird suspected of having bird flu – it is vital that the virus causing it isn’t given a chance to jump species.
My grandson Daibhidh found this skull on Clogherhead beach. Any ideas about what it might be? Bernard McDonald, Co Louth
I’m not convinced it is a skull. It’s hard to say without seeing it from more angles, but it looks more like a vertebra – part of the backbone – of a mammal. Those curved parts look like the transverse processes of one of the vertebrae from the lower end of the spine. These are the bony protrusions extending laterally from each side, where the muscles and ligaments of the spine attach.
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This tiny little guy fell out of a shopping bag purchased at our local supermarket. The bag was made in Vietnam, if that is a clue. Do you know what it is? Marie Fitzgerald, Dublin
It seems to be the very small, mummified remains of a lizard. At that tiny size the lizard could be a house gecko (Hemidactylus sp) or a mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris), according to Rob Gandola of the Herpetological Society of Ireland. Rob also points out that there are at least 100 species of gecko in Vietnam.
This bird visits my feeder. What is it please? It is new to me since I got a new feeder and special peanuts for birds. Rosaleen Power, Co Wicklow
It is a male blackcap, a mainly summer visitor from Africa to our deciduous woodlands, where it can be difficult to see. Over the past 30 years, however, blackcaps have overwintered in Ireland in increasing numbers and visit bird feeders for peanuts. (The male often behaves quite aggressively, chasing other birds away.) These overwintering birds come here from a separate continental European population rather than from Africa. In recent times some of these have stayed to breed and so have an early advantage in nest site selection.
This photo was taken on my house wall during the last week in March. Is it a moth or a butterfly? Frank Russell, Ballyvaughan, Co Clare
It is an oak beauty moth, which flies between the end of February and April. This is a female – the males have long feathery antennae. It flies by night and rests up during the day. The caterpillars that appear in May look exactly like oak twigs and they feed on oak or birch leaves at night. It pupates in the ground and overwinters as a pupa. It is quite a scarce Irish species, but the Burren seems to be a stronghold for it. Mothsireland.com welcomes all such records.
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