While weeding a small flower patch I unearthed a strange creature. It had an orange head, three orange hairy legs each side near the head, tiny pincers near the mouth, and a creamy yellow, ridged, and very flexible body about two to three inches long. It had no legs to the rear which was smooth, worm-like, and grey. There were tiny orange dots down each side.
Edel Banks, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.
It sounds like the larvae of the cockchafer beetle, also known as the maybug because it flies in May and June and crashes into windows and lights. The larvae feed on the roots of cereals and grasses.
In Dun Laoghaire recently I was amazed to watch the incredible antics of two dolphins. They stayed for hours, it seemed, in the region of Scotsman Bay and quite close to the pier itself at times. I have lived in Sandycove for over five years and have never before seen dolphins.
Hugh Rochefort, Sandycove, Co Dublin.
There is quite a population of harbour porpoises in Dublin Bay, and they are reported frequently in the outer reaches, from Dun Laoghaire outwards and around Howth Head. In a regular watch from Howth Head in 1994, anything from one to six were seen every 90 minutes during the summer months. This dropped to one every five hours in September. It just requires patience to see them.
A group from the Dublin Naturalists' Field Club recently explored Woodstock Demesne, Inistoige, Co Kilkenny. On a sunny, windless evening from a deep ravine below us came very clearly the odd, unmistakable mating call of a male capercaillie, that distinctive "tik, tik, plop" the latter note like the sound of a stone being dropped from a height into a still pond. I thought it became extinct in Ireland in the late 18th century.
June Eiffe, Leixlip, Co Kildare.
There has not been an official reintroduction of the capercaillie, but one or more could have been introduced privately.