Stork sightings on the increase in Ireland
Michael Hatch, Bangor, Co Down
There seems to have been quite a few sightings of white storks in Ireland this year during April, May and June, much more than any other year. White storks winter in Africa and fly to Europe to breed. The western population flies in over Gibraltar and breeds in Spain and parts of France. Those seen in Ireland overshot their destination and ended up here. There are no records of them nesting here and indeed their nests would be hard to miss as they build big nests on the roofs of tall houses and on prominent buildings in towns.
Bluetit nestbox. Photograph: Sharlette Caplin
We had a nest box in our garden in Terenure. I captured the last fledgling in this picture before it flew the nest in June. I am sending it in to you so that everyone can get pleasure from the image.
Sharlette Caplin
By providing bluetits with correctly positioned nest boxes, gardeners can encourage them into their gardens. They typically lay seven-11 eggs and feed the young with greenflies, caterpillars, spiders and other small insects. As each parent visits the box with a mouthful of insect food 500 times a day each during the height of the breeding season, gardeners are delighted with them. Once they fledge and leave the nest box, that's it – they are gone for the year.
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Yellowtail caterpillar. Photograph: Gordon Gallagher
I found this colourful creature on a leaf in our hawthorn hedge. Can you please help me identify it?
Gordon Gallagher, Athboy, Co Meath
Identifying caterpillars can be difficult. There are five instar stages of development as they grow, which may all differ from each other. The people at
mothsireland.com
are generous with help and advice and they appreciate records being sent to them. This is the final caterpillar stage of the yellowtail moth, which is much more flamboyant as a caterpillar than an adult. The hairs can cause severe irritation if handled or eaten, so most birds leave it alone.
Grasshopper. Photograph: M Corr
What sort of grasshopper was on my window. How could it get there – can grasshoppers fly or was it one almighty hop?
M Corr, Balbriggan, Dublin
We have five species of grasshopper in Ireland and all of them can fly, although they don't do it very often. This is the field grasshopper – Chorthippus brunneus – a female, as the end of its abdomen is not turned up like the prow of a boat. Your excellent photograph shows clearly the sharply indented keel on the area behind the head. This distinguishes it from that of the common green grasshopper, which has parallel sides. Your image shows too the pegs on the underside of its back legs. It rubs these against a strong vein on the edge of the green forewings to produce the chirping 'song'.
White spider. Photograph: Muireann O'Sullivan
We spotted this unusual looking white spider in our garden this month in Cork. What is it called do you know?
Muireann O'Sullivan, Caherlag, Co Cork
Indeed, I do know what it is called. It has several names – the flower crab spider, misumena vatia and white death, a name that describes exactly what this spider does. This is a female, which is three times as large and much deadlier than the male. It normally sits motionless in white flowers, where it can't be easily seen, and ambushes insects that come to feed. When a visiting bee or butterfly sticks in its head to get a drink of nectar, this spider bites it just behind the head and immediately paralyses it with its venom. It then dines on it leisurely by sucking out its soft insides.
Please submit your nature query, observation, or photo, with a location, via
irishtimes.com/eyeonnature
or by email to weekend@irishtimes.com
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