Our cat chased this bird into our house during a storm. We’ve never seen anything quite like it before. A friend identified it as a water rail. Are they common in Ireland? We were able to keep the cat away as we got the bird safely outside! Emily Tedd, Dublin
Yes, it is indeed a water rail; presumably, a rather bewildered one. The species is common and widespread in Ireland, though rarely seen on account of its secretive nature and the inaccessibility of the wetland habitats it favours, where it almost always remains hidden in dense vegetation. It has a distinctive call like a pig squealing. Our Irish breeding population is supplemented in autumn by migrants from northern Europe. This one was probably migrating and got caught up in the storm. I hope it doesn’t need counselling after its traumatic experiences.
I spotted this (pardon the pun!) taking shelter in a doorway. Is this one of our native species of ladybird? Jason Cross, Cork
This is the seven-spot ladybird, one of our largest native ladybird species. It overwinters as an adult in leaf litter and will emerge in spring to feed and breed. It is a carnivore that feeds on a wide variety of aphids and greenflies. They have few deliberate predators as they taste horrible, and emit a yellow foul-tasting liquid from their knees to deter would-be assassins.
This drake has very different colouring to all of the other mallard drakes in the Castle pond. He is frequently chased and harassed because of it. Perhaps you could shed some light on his predicament? Ken Noble, Dublin
He can blame his father because he is the result of an extramarital affair. Male mallards will interbreed with feral or domestic ducks, especially near areas where ducks are kept, resulting in bizarre-looking offspring. In fact, mallards have been recorded as having bred with more than 40 different duck species. Birds in a group regularly torment one that looks different; this can happen too in the case of leucistic blackbirds, which have some white feathers as well.
I recently came across this lad lunching on an earthworm on the cliff walk. Is it a shrew? Richard O’Farrell, Co Waterford
It is a shrew, which you can tell by its small size and its long, pointed snout. Shrews are ravenous carnivores with a very fast metabolic rate. They must eat every two hours or die, and they consume their own weight in food every day. Our native pygmy shrew has now been joined on the Irish list by the larger invasive, white-toothed shrew, which is three times the size, and has been recorded in Co Waterford. A pygmy shrew weighs 6g as do earthworms, so this may be a white-toothed shrew.
I took a photo of this beetle in Kerry this year, but I haven’t a clue what species it is. John Devlin, Co Kerry
This is a ground beetle, one of the Carabus species, most likely Carabus granulatus which varies from dark copper-brown to greenish black in colour. It is quite a common ground beetle that hunts at night and feeds on earthworms and insects such as earwigs. By day it lurks under mosses and stones. It overwinters as an adult, emerging in spring to breed, resulting in summer larvae. In continental Europe the species is wing dimorphic, meaning some have wings and can fly, while others have much-reduced wings or none at all or. Flight in this species is unknown in Ireland or Britain.
Please submit your nature query, observation, or photo, with a location, via irishtimes.com/eyeonnature or by email to weekend@irishtimes.com
