Exploring Dublin: Wildlife, Parks, Waterways, by Christopher Moriarty, Wolfhound Press, 218pp, £8.99
You've heard of bar flies, surely. But how about pub flies? It is just six years since the first tropical fruit-eaters, classified as Drosophila repleta, were spotted by two respected entomologists . . . in the men's toilet of a "highly respectable" south-city Dublin pub.
And here's another nugget: shopping mall bats. No, not crazed consumers, but flying insects of the nocturnal kind. In May 1996, a member of the Dublin Bat Group made acquaintance with a female which had been captured in the shopping centre at St Stephen's Green.
The indefatigable Christopher Moriarty records many such gems in this in Exploring Dublin. The naturalist and fisheries expert is already author of several walking guides and accounts of river habitats - the Liffey and Dodder. Fortunately, he cannot resist continuing to share his knowledge about all things wild and wonderful in the capital city.
And there is so much of it, he notes, in spite of the best efforts of gardeners, developers and vandals to tame it or kill it off. As late as the 18th century, nature was seen as "something to be curbed, rather than fostered", and as recently as the 1950s, movers and shakers were seriously considering the destruction of the canals and the Liffey by covering them over. He gives credit to individuals within the Dublin Naturalists' Field Club, An Taisce and residents groups for raising awareness about the value of the city's water, trees and special spaces.
Dedicated to past, present and future field club members, including those who produced the 1984 classic Flora of Inner Dublin, this book is based primarily on notes made by the author while wandering the streets of Dublin between 1991 and 1996. It sets as its boundaries the two canals, but includes the Liffey Junction, the Royal Canal's 7th Lock and the East Link Toll Bridge. The author makes the what must be the first attempt ever to compile a complete list of inner city birds, and includes O'Connell Street among his list of smaller parks, managed skilfully by Dublin Corporation. Besides the occasional fox, he writes, the thoroughfare has a "truly remarkable variety of wildlife". The sort that isn't half appreciated, and doesn't merit the attention of the gardai . . .
Lorna Siggins is a staff journalist with The Irish Times