I have this lovely robin in my garden at the moment. It sings – though quite plaintively. There is no other robin coming in that I can see. D Coleman, Dublin
Robins, both male and female, hold separate territories throughout the winter and both sexes sing to defend it. They are most unwelcoming of any other robin that comes in and quickly escort it off the premises – with violence if they perceive it to be necessary. What they are doing on Christmas cards wishing the recipients peace and happiness beats me.
The yew tree down the road is covered in red berries. Does this mean that we will have a very hard winter? P McLeer, Drogheda
Long ago it was thought that if the Almighty was sending a very harsh winter, he made provision for the birds and small mammals by bestowing a great harvest of berries on the trees and shrubs as food for the beleaguered creatures. There is no scientific foundation for this belief. Lots of berries, or arils to give them their correct botanical name, on the female yew tree (which is what your tree is) are a result of a plentiful supply of pollen in February 2023 from a separate male tree within a radius of a mile or two.
My husband, Tony, and I spotted this triggerfish while walking on Keel Beach in Achill at low tide late in November. I am aware that they have been spotted up as far north as the Donegal coast and was wondering if our waters now contain species that are known to have harmed people. Are trigger fish now resident in Irish waters? Mary Keogh, Dublin
[ What is this strange growth outside Cork University Hospital?Opens in new window ]
Triggerfish do no harm to people. They are so-called because the first ray of the first dorsal fin may be raised and locked into position, thus allowing the fish to wedge itself in crevices where it can chisel shellfish off rocks using its eight extremely powerful incisor teeth. Although once considered quite rare, the warming seas around Ireland are beginning to contain larger shoals of this tropical species.
I spotted this little guy basking on the wall of my house. I wondered if he was enjoying the heat from an outside light that beams directly on to the wall. Or perhaps he was doing some yoga or stretching exercises. Either way he was very agitated when I disturbed him ... and revealed himself to be a cranefly, I think. Patricia Timlin, Foxford, Co Mayo
This is not a cranefly but a harvestman (Dicranopalpus ramosus), which is distantly related to spiders and has eight legs. It is identifiable due to it being the only Irish species with long, forked palps that look like an extra pair of legs. It typically has a very flattened resting posture.
We would love to know why this insect has six legs and not eight. Maybe he lost them somewhere along the way? Daniel Ryan (7)
All insects have six legs, and all spiders have eight. So this is an insect: a cranefly, commonly called a daddy-long-legs here in Ireland. Like many fly species, it has a pair of knobbed halteres for steering, just behind its legs. Its wings seem folded over the body in this picture. In the US, where they speak a different form of English, they call a particular long-legged spider a daddy-long-legs and it has eight legs. To avoid such linguistic confusion, all wildlife has individual Latin names. Your insect is Tipula paludosa and the long-legged spider is Pholcus phalangioides.
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