I turned over a log in my garden and found a colony of woodlice and two large healthy centipedes. Were they hibernating among the woodlice? Eugene Murphy, Stillorgan, Co Dublin
Centipedes and woodlice do not hibernate but they seek out hiding places during the day that are dark and damp; they both hunt at night. Both also select places where their upper and lower surfaces are in touch with their surroundings, hence logs and stones.
In mid-February I found a large frog sitting on the doorstep of my father's house in Co Wicklow. I had also seen it in the autumn. Could it have hibernated under his granite step where there is a hollow? It seems an inhospitable place. Kerry Pocock, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin
It was a pregnant female on her way to seek out water to spawn. She could have hibernated under the step, in a compost heap or some sheltered crevice.
This year, for the first time, two beautiful goldfinches arrived at our bird table. Seamus and Roberta Ó Riain, Sandymount, Dublin 4
More and more goldfinches are discovering garden feeding stations.