At the beginning of January I noticed a few lesser celandine and coltsfoot in bloom at Red Rock in Sutton, along with quite a few alexanders that had been flowering since before Christmas. But at the old Baldoyle racecourse I came across what I thought was a cowslip. My botany book suggested a false oxlip. I'm sending you a photograph.
Frank Smyth
Sutton, Dublin 13
Yes, it is a false oxlip, which is a naturally occurring hybrid between cowslip and primrose.
Could you identify the shellfish in my photograph? They had colonised the neck of a bottle on the beach. They look like mussels, but the creatures inside resemble tiny squid.
Anne Marie Byrne
Bray, Co Wicklow
They are goose barnacles. Their eggs hatch into free-swimming larvae that float around in the sea. As they develop they fasten on to floating objects, where they grow and reproduce to repeat the cycle. They are called goose barnacles because, centuries ago, it was thought from their appearance that they were embryo barnacle geese, and they seemed to arrive from the sea.
Last year the first tadpoles appeared in my pond on January 31st, so the spawn probably arrived in mid-January. This year the first spawn appeared on January 14th.
Neal Cahill
Templenoe, Co Kerry
Little egrets were very evident during the very wet weather. Mike Vyrne saw one near Ross Strand in Co Mayo. In Dublin, Paul Nash saw a pair at St Mary's Rugby Club, in Templegue.
Ethna Viney welcomes observations and photographs at Thallabawn, Louisburgh, Co Mayo, or by email at viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address