I'm told that some people in Dublin hear flocks of immigrant redwings flying across the city on autumn nights. I'd love to hear this - but what should I be listening for? James Dolan, Inchicore, Dublin.
Redwings have been arriving for several weeks now, and though their contact call is quite soft - a thin see-ip - it seems to carry amazingly well at night, even over the traffic noise of busy towns and cities.
In late September, on Inishbofin (Co Galway), I saw thousands of tiny jellyfish stranded on the beach at low tide. They were the colour of a 20p coin and about the same size.
Mary Hanly, Salthill, Co Galway.
These jellyfish were part of a much bigger stranding on many beaches along the west coast, from Connemara to Donegal (and here at Thallabawn), and more were arriving up to the end of October. They were Pelagia noctiluca, with a bell up to 10cm across, deep amber in colour and bearing little bumps like goose-pimples. Pelagia produces a mucus which is luminous at night. It is a warm-water species, with a weak, prickly sting, and may have reached Ireland in the Lusitanian current which originates near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea.
Edited by Michael Viney, who welcomes observations sent to him at Thallabawn, Carrowniskey PO, Westport, Co Mayo. e-mail: viney@anu.ie. Observations sent by e-mail should be accompanied by postal address as location is sometimes important to identification or behaviour.