I found this somewhat wet insect crawling on narcissus stems in my garden. It was quite large, bigger than a bumble bee. – Adrian Conway, Kildoon, Co Meath
It looks like the vestal cuckoo bumblebee, Bombus vestalis, which is a parasite on the buff-tailed bumblebee. Cuckoo bumblebees have no workers, don't make nests and lay eggs in the nest of a bumblebee. The bumblebee workers then rear them as their own.
This great spotted woodpecker has been back on several occasions to our bird feeder, sometimes twice a day. – Philip Butler, Wicklow.
I heard a woodpecker just outside Derrycairn Wood in Leitrim near the town of Dromod on March 2nd. I had two German friends with me who were able to confirm the sound as they have them in their back yard. – Frank Kelly, Mohill, Co Leitrim.
It might be a good idea to go back to the wood and check it out again. It would be very interesting if the woodpecker has reached there.
I found this interesting green moth in St Anne's Park at the end of February. It was an inch or so in length. What type of moth is it? – Niall Mac Carthaigh, Raheny, Dublin 5
It looks like a green arches moth. But it shouldn't be around in that form this early in the year. It should still be a caterpillar.
Crossing the Tolka footbridge from Fairview Park I spotted an otter in the water. It performed a few rolls, not bothered by me. A few years ago I spotted one at Annesley Bridge, a few hundred metres upstream of the Tolka footbridge. – Richard Lord, Clontarf, Dublin 3
My cat, Pickle, brought this goldcrest to the back door. My brother's guidebook says it's the smallest Irish bird. – Elizabeth, Ní Shúilleabháin, Ballingeary, Co Cork
Ethna Viney welcomes observations and photographs at Thallabawn, Louisburgh, Co Mayo, F28 F978, or by email at viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address.
