Michael Viney responds to queries and observations on nature.
I regularly put crusts out for the birds. Recently I watched a crow collect three crusts in his beak, bury in a hole under the hedge and cover them. He repeated this twice again in the field. Is this a common practice? Mary Tobin, Carrick on Suir, Co Tipperary.
Most of the crow family hoard food - the rooks, jackdaws, ravens, hooded crows, magpies, jays, etc.
On July 4th the dragonfly, Aeshna grandis, paid a brief visit, alighting on the back wall of the house. There are more damselflies than dragonflies this year.
G Monaghan, Parnell Rd, Dublin, 12.
I saw what resembled a small hummingbird feeding on a lavender bush in my back garden. It was around 50cms in length, had a long curved proboscis and was light brown in colour. The wings seemed to stick out at right angles to its body.
Georgina Dalton, Laytown, Co Meath
It was a hummingbird hawkmoth. While yellowhammers are scarce in the west, there is a high population of them along a route on which I walk most evenings even though it is farmed intensively with the hedgerows cut very low.
T Brennan, Dundalk.