Bombus terrestris is often the earliest queen bee to emerge from overwintering
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Nature
Articles related to nature
How to successfully divide plants in spring
The process couldn’t be more straightforward, but timing is crucial and it does require a bit of muscle
Why has the thorny issue of hedgerows surfaced in court?
A case involving illegal removal has proved costly for company and nature
Bull Island is nature’s gift to Dubliners. They haven’t been grateful
Once a haven for wildlife, its famed hares and many birds have disappeared
Grief, anger and lack of trust expressed in community meetings on Nature Restoration Plan
Plan must have clear and enforceable targets, says advisory committee
Being in nature can be deeply restorative – something we all too easily forget
Losing routine contact with the living world results in less concern, less protection and less access. The antidote is evidence that conservation works
‘The wonder never left me’: Photos tell stories of the ocean in an era of warming seas
The Ocean Within is a photographic project exploring fish as living archives of the sea
Strawberry trees forever: Fruits take a year to ripen so are always on the crann caithne
Eye on nature: Eanna Ní Lamhna on red frogs, a white-tailed eagle, curious fungus and a carnivorous invertebrate with 77 pairs of legs
Field Notes from an Extinction by Eoghan Walls: Compelling story of survival and apocalypse
Both humans and birds are the victims of systems and philosophies run amok in this novel about an English scientist studying the last of a dying species
Ecologists are leaving the field as AI moves in
Technology is revolutionising how we gather and assess data on nature, presenting huge benefits and no little irony
Should I be worried about this mushroom on my wall?
Eye on Nature: Eanna Ní Lamhna on a quick-growing fungus, an eagle sighting and a sea mouse
Is this swan’s discolouration a Suir thing?
Éanna Ní Lamhna replies to readers’ questions and observations
Reviews in brief: This is the Mizen; May Morton: Phantom Poet; The Hidden Seasons
Hidden histories of the Mizen; a celebration of a forgotten poet; and observations of the natural world
How to help hedgehogs: Researchers outline ‘simple steps’ in effort to save species
Populations under pressure across Europe due to traffic, habitat loss and pesticide use
Is climate change responsible for this sighting of a butterfly in winter?
Eye on Nature: Éanna Ní Lamhna on a migrant insect, a native dipper, and a toothy-looking animal horn
A supermodel sandpiper popped up on the Clare shore in December
Eye on Nature: Éanna Ní Lamhna on kelp, Bootlace Fungus and Pelican’s Foot Shells
Snowdrops arrive with impeccable timing to save us from winter desolation
It took Jimi Blake at Hunting Brook Gardens in Wicklow time to come around to the humble snowdrop, but he eventually saw the light
Keep your front garden intact and other nature-based solutions to urban flood risks
Slowing the runoff from heavy downpours into struggling Victorian drainage systems in urban areas protects property and water quality
Endangered corncrake and coastlines focus of biodiversity grants worth more than €500,000
National Parks and Wildlife Service in partnership with Community Foundation Ireland funding 78 local area projects
Should I keep ducks as pest controllers in my garden?
Certain breeds are great at keeping down populations of slugs and snails, but they do need to be kept out of vulnerable areas
Where did this duck come from and why is it in Ireland?
Readers’ notes and queries for Éanna Ní Lamhna
‘I just booked a flight there one day’: From Wicklow to life in Ho Chi Minh city
‘It has a real life-affirming vibrancy that made sense to me...exactly what I was looking for,' says Cian Duggan in Vietnam
Is this big fella a common raven? He was very light on his feet
Eye on Nature: Eanna Ní Lamhna on roving ravens, sunbathing butterflies and spotted dogfish
The Dublin half hectare that became a self-sustaining sanctuary for nature
Bequeathed to the nation, the Grove in Donnybrook has been a haven for plants and wildlife. The intention was to keep it that way
The universal law of getting too hot
Life on a temperature roller coaster is getting more precarious
Have you any idea what this colourful fly is?
Eye on Nature: Eanna Ní Lamhna responds to your wildlife queries
Saunas, cinemas and listening to albums: 25 ways to get off your phone
Get off your phone and out into the real world with this inspiring list of screen-free things to do in the year ahead
The Silver River has been badly devalued but it could thrive again
A stretch of the Slieve Bloom river fails even minimal legal standards but other magnificent parts offer a glimpse of what could be
‘All forms of heritage connect children to their past and help them make sense of the present’
The Heritage in Schools scheme encourages children and teachers to investigate local heritage through place-based learning
‘I spotted this owl near my home in Co Kilkenny. What type of owl is it?’
Readers’ notes and queries for Éanna Ní Lamhna
Mary Reynolds: ‘My life is based around trying to remind people of what Ireland should look like’
Reynolds started the global movement We Are the ARK - or Acts of Restorative Kindness
Rejuvenating soils and nature through regenerative farming
Better productivity has come at expense of ecosystems but new and old practices show their vibrancy can be restored
This is a most excellent picture of a male jumping spider
Eye on Nature: Éanna Ní Lamhna on hot-house arachnids, blue mushrooms and boring beetles
The solution to tackling the climate crisis? We need everything
Wind, solar, green hydrogen - every scalable option shown to work at reasonable cost is required
There are happier and healthier countries than Ireland, but most aren’t
However awful the state of the world, more people are living longer, healthier and probably happier lives now than ever
Light pollution is surprisingly straightforward to fix when communities work together
A Co Mayo community has achieved results that are both visually striking and ecologically responsible
If you drink reindeer urine after they have eaten these red mushrooms, you’ll get high apparently
Eye on Nature: Eanna Ní Lamhna on flying reindeer, avian winter visitors and fossilised limestone
Advisers concerned by lack of funding commitment for nature restoration plan
Plan is to be published in draft form for public consultation early next year
Specimen of rare whale spotted off Donegal last year sighted almost 5,000km away near Boston
Scientists hail ‘very significant’ sighting of endangered right whale individual, recognisable from unique pattern of crustaceans on head
‘Is this what Ireland once looked like?’ Bison, wolves and nature itself roam free in Europe’s wildest forest
To understand what nature does in our absence, there can be few better opportunities than Białowieźa
Nature-loving types will tell you leaves are a gift. Don’t be fooled
They are piling up on the footpath, destroying the garden, sneaking into the house ... and always wet
Next spring these swans will be driven away by their formerly loving parents
Eanna Ní Lamhna on an extremely tiny plant feeder, a heated standoff on the Dodder and a rare presence in Wicklow
‘It was utterly sacred’: Manchán Magan’s widow on his final days, death and legacy
It is almost two months since Aisling Rogerson’s husband, the beloved writer and broadcaster, died of cancer
Medicinal properties of nature not to be underestimated
While being out and about is the ideal, even having and interacting with houseplants in the cooler season could be helpful
Glen of the Downs nature reserve could expand after NPWS acquires large parcel of forestry land
‘We hope to see the National Parks & Wildlife Service resourcing an ambitious native woodland restoration project,’ says Irish Wildlife Trust
Operator sought for eco-friendly guest accommodation at Avondale Forest Park
Coillte weighs development of up to 50 eco-sensitive cabins on grounds of historic Wicklow estate where Parnell was born
The stain on your fingers from the bleeding aphids will go after a few days
Éanna Ní Lamhna on the rarely seen great bittern, a very irritating caterpillar, and the beautiful green lacewing
The golden plover’s numbers in Ireland have dwindled to a few isolated strongholds
Ella McSweeney: Golden plovers have begun arriving from Iceland, home to a third of the world’s breeding population
This red fungus has been rarely recorded in Ireland
Éanna Ní Lamhna on the red latticed stinkhorn, spotted snake millipedes and a possible rare Irish sighting of a funnelweb spider web
A damp, soggy shed is frustratingly impractical but it has attracted visitors: snails
My garden snails, Cornu aspersum, are still active and show no signs of hibernating anytime soon
I’ve fallen in love with roses again despite their constant demands
Late autumn to early spring is a great time of year to plant these ultra-hardy, long-lived – and, yes, high-maintenance – plants
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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