I enclose a photograph of a nest in a bush (a white, spherical object), is it a bees' or a wasps' nest? It fell or was blown down in a storm, and on the ground the outside part was like strips of paper, and it had sections inside. Eithne Moffat, Cootehall, Boyle, Co Roscommon
It was the nest of tree wasps or of Norwegian wasps, more likely tree wasps because the Norwegian wasps are rare in Ireland. The nest of the tree wasp is much smaller than that of our more usual wasps - the common wasp and the German wasp - whose football-size nests are usually in the ground, in a cavity or in a roof space, and can contain thousands of individuals. The nest of the tree wasp is tennis ball size or smaller and contains perhaps a mere 100 individuals. For the record: An albino oystercatcher on the slob in Oysterhaven Creek in Co Cork. Its plumage was entirely white, apart from black primary wing feathers. Its beak and legs were the usual orange-red. At Carrowkeel, Co Sligo, on September 9th, Ulli Peiler of Ballymote, saw a white-tailed eagle. It looked healthy and purposeful and was hunting about three feet above the ground.
Edited by Michael Viney, who welcomes observations sent to him at Thallabawn, Carrowniskey PO, Westport, Co Mayo, e-mail: viney@anu.ie