Why is a blue tit picking the buds off my Bramley apple tree and depositing them in a nearby nest box?
Hazel Paine, Greystones, Co Wicklow
In the literature some believe that birds, particularly blue tits, bring fresh material last into the nest, to keep down parasites.
Recently we saw two large white birds harassing crows in Scots pine trees. The crows eventually drove off the white birds. In full flight their wingspan was about three feet. Were they little egrets?
Ann Hanniffy, Portlaoise, Co Laois
They sound like a pair of little egrets prospecting for a nesting site. Battles between herons are well known in competition for the higher reaches of tall trees.
I found a dogfish mermaid’s purse on the strand that had no cracks or holes, and I wondered would it hatch out. I put it in a container of seawater, with seaweed and sand, so that the young dogfish would survive.
Jack Sleeman, Cork
A mermaid’s purse is a gelatinous pod of eggs laid by dogfish and other
sharks, which attaches to seabed seaweed. Those that get washed in are mostly empty. Keep an eye on it to see if it has eggs that hatch.
In early January 20 glossy ibises settled on Tramore’s Backstrand. I’m sending you a photo of some of them by Paddy Dwan. As well as being the Deise Natureways project’s new biodiversity officer, he was my collaborator on our book about the Backstrand.
Mark Roper, Piltown, Co Kilkenny
Ethna Viney welcomes observations at Thallabawn, Louisburgh, Co Mayo, or by email at viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address