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Irish Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Irish Times
No-mow May pays off with a buzzing garden
I did as advised and let my dandelions grow during May and was rewarded by a visit from this large bumblebee. Which species is it? Catherine McCarthy, Carrick-on-Suir Well done for letting your dandelions flourish. They are a rich source of pollen and nectar for bees . This is the common carder bee, which has a ginger orange thorax. It has a mixture of colours on the abdomen but there are always black hairs on the abdomen of this species that help to distinguish it from the less common large carder bee, which has no black hairs. The common carder makes nests from moss on the ground. These can contain up to 200 bees at peak population, which are very much smaller than honeybee colonies. Sea pink flowers. Photograph: Walter O'Dwyer I saw these wonderful pink flowers growing in large clumps along the coast near Clonakilty in April. What are they and are they native to this country? Walter O'Dwyer, Dublin This is the sea pink or thrift – Armeria maritima. It is a native species and can occur in great sheets of colour on cliff and salt marshes. It has long roots that enable it to seek out fresh water in dry conditions, and it can tolerate high concentrations of salt in the soil. It flowers in April and early May. READ MORE Viviparous lizard. Photograph: Willie Campbell Our cat recently brought this lizard to the door. There was also a smaller dead one at the door a couple of weeks ago. I'm wondering are they native? Willie Campbell, Co Galway Is there no end to the wanton marauding of the domestic feline? This poor lizard was probably sunning itself in an effort to raise its body temperature sufficiently to get going in the morning – it being a cold-blooded creature needing environmental heat. We have just the one native lizard – the viviparous lizard, so-called because it overcomes the risk of living in this cold country by giving birth to live young. What actually happens is that it lays eggs that immediately hatch. There is no placental attachment as in mammals. [ No-mow May pays off with a buzzing garden Opens in new window ] Cuckoo flower with orange tip butterfly. Photograph: A Donovan These pale mauve flowers are growing in the wetter parts of the grassy area in my garden. In early May I saw this butterfly on the flower. Can you tell me what is going on here? A Donovan, Letterkenny This flower, Cardamine pratensis or lady's smock, is also known as the cuckoo flower because the cuckoo has arrived by the time it is in flower. Its natural habitat is wet damp grassland, and it will appear in the absence of mowing. It is the food plant for the caterpillars of the orange-tip butterfly, whose Latin name, Anthocharis cardamines, reflects this fact. Even in the world of butterflies, beautiful colours are not equally distributed – only males have the lovely bright orange tips on their forewings. The hardworking, egg-laying females have just black tips on the white forewings but are distinguished from the cabbage-guzzling large and small whites by having green and white undersides to the back wings. [ Live near a town? Got food or smelly shoes? Foxes and badgers may pay you a visit Opens in new window ] Male stonechat. Photograph: John Glynn Here is a picture of a stonechat, which I saw in the Caher river valley near Fanore in Co Clare at the end of April. John Glynn, Co Clare This is a lovely picture of a male stonechat not yet in full breeding plumage. When it is, the males have a very black head, striking white neck patches and a bright orange breast. The females (wouldn't you just know) are a much duller version of this flamboyant colour scheme. The 'song', which both sexes produce, sounds exactly like two stones being banged together. It is a native species of scrubby uplands with furze. Please submit your nature query, observation, or photo, with a location, via or by email to weekend@
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
In a muddle
Sir, – As a muddle-headed 82 year old with clumsy hands it's hard enough to do most things I want to do through the computer. But I am so overwhelmed with horror of Israeli horrors in Gaza I must at least try. What people can do to each other is so horrific I wonder, not for the first time, if humans should be on the Earth at all. – Yours etc. ANNE BAILY (DR) READ MORE Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary
