Test your knowledge of the local waters and the wilds
Fri, Dec 24, 2010
ANOTHER LIFE: By MICHAEL VINEY
1 Which invasive alien among ladybirds has turned up in Ireland dressed for an old-fashioned pantomime?
2 An equally undesirable alien among crabs has been found in an Irish estuary wearing gloves.
3 Wild boar, once native to Ireland and now reintroduced, have bred in remote woodland. What are their young called?
4 How many points has a snowflake?
5 Last winter fine fronds of frozen water, extruded from the pores of dead trees, were found in a Galway wood. What are they called?
6 Which Arctic goose is grazing Dublin’s winter playing fields?
7 Is phycology the study of (a) seaweeds, (b) lichens or (c) reasoning in mammals?
8 A humpback whale provided dramatic pictures off Hook Head, Co Wexford, last January. What was it doing?
9 A rare and ecologically famous Irish invertebrate displaced from warmer climes is sprinkled with white spots and rolls into a ball when touched. What is it?
10 New research shows that starlings keep their place in a wheeling flock by watching how many other birds: seven, 10 or 15?
11 To which vegetable family does the earthstar belong?
12 To avoid being tempted out too early in spring, which insect chooses the north side of field banks in which to hibernate?
13 A group resisting the ban on stag hunting called itself Rise, an acronym for what?
14 Wrens are known for crowding together in nest boxes on icy winter nights. The record number counted so far is (a) 35, (b) 50 or (c) 60?
15 Not quite animal, not quite vegetable, a shape-shifting organism can flow across damp outdoor surfaces. What is it?
16 Leisler’s, Nathusius’s and Daubenton’s are three kinds of which Irish mammal?
17 The stoat’s Arctic counterpart turns white in winter. Its name?
18 Clinging under stones in streams, this fly larva clads itself for camouflage in fragments of gravel and plants.
19 The little egret belongs to which family of birds?
20 Wasps and bumblebees build a new nest every year. True or false?
21 The atmospheric swings of the NAO have a great effect on Irish weather.What do the letters stand for?
22 The oil in a sheep’s fleece helps to keep out the rain.What is it called?
23 Most trees and many plants need fungi at their roots for a beneficial food-swap. Are the fungi called (a) macrophylla, (b) mycorrhiza or (c) mycelia?
24 Its spring call often is confused with that of the cuckoo. What bird newly settled here builds a platform on which to rest in winter?
25 What colour are the winter buds of the native Irish ash?
26 Several kinds of nematode are being used as biological controls on plant pests. What form of life are they?
27 Swallows and house martins are arriving earlier from Africa in spring. How much earlier on average: (a) one week, (b) two, (c) three?
28 As jellyfish multiply, two marine creatures are well known for eating them. One is the leatherback turtle. The other swims vertically. What is it?
29 Migrant waxwings have spread across Ireland to feed on garden and hedgerow berries. Where have they come from?
30 Coccolithophore plant plankton shimmers in the sea. What rock may be made of it when it dies?
31 Sometimes called the green plover, what is the bird’s more usual name?
32 Seeds of Irish grasses, potatoes and grains are stored against disaster in an ice-cold Global Seed Vault. Where is it?
33 An irrational fear of spiders is what kind of phobia?
34 Radio devices clipped on to migrant geese, sharks and turtles report their whereabouts to satellites for scientific study. What is this technology called?
35 Irish trawlers are catching huge shoals of a little red warm-water fish, newly abundant in the northeast Atlantic, mainly for mincing into salmon feed. Which fish?
36 Mosses and liverworts are collectively known as (a) saprophytes, (b) neophytes or (c) bryophytes?
37 What is the folk name for the secondary spurt of tree growth in summer that produces twigs with reddish leaves?
38 Lacerta vivipara is Ireland’s only native reptile. What is it?
39 Excess sugars from plant sap, excreted at the anuses of aphids and fed upon by wasps and butterflies, make a syrup called what?
40 We say a charm of goldfinches, but what is a collection of ravens?
ANSWERS
1 Harlequin. 2 Chinese mitten crab. 3 Shoat. 4 Six, mostly. 5 Hair ice. 6 Brent. 7 (a). 8 Breaching. 9 Kerry slug. 10 Seven. 11 Fungi. 12 Bumblebees. 13 Rural Ireland Says Enough. 14 (a). 15 Slime mould. 16 Bats. 17 Ermine. 18 Caddis. 19 Herons. 20 True. 21 North Atlantic oscillation. 22 Lanolin. 23 (b). 24 Collared dove. 25 Black. 26 Parasitic round worms. 27 (a). 28 Sunfish Mola mola. 29 Scandinavia. 30 Chalk. 31 Lapwing. 32 Svalbard. 33 Arachnophobia. 34 Telemetry. 35 Boar fish. 36 (c). 37 Lammas growth. 38 Common lizard. 39 Honeydew. 40 An unkindness.
Eye on nature
We were thrilled to see 15 red squirrels in Beleek Woods, Ballina – a triumph for their reintroduction. Do they not hibernate?
Barbara Browne, Ballina, Co Mayo
Neither red nor grey squirrels hibernate, but they are less active on the coldest days in winter.
Do birds eat snow if water supplies are frozen?
Edwina Clerkin, Clonskeagh, Dublin
They do, but it takes a lot of energy to melt it inside their bodies. Better to put out water several times a day for them in icy weather.
I was surprised to see a badger cross Knocklyon Road and go into a hedge. What an unexpected encounter with such a reclusive creature in Dublin suburbia.
Brian Johnston, Knocklyon, Dublin
It probably lives in a nearby park or on a riverbank.
A bullfinch has been pecking at the branches of my Japanese plum tree. What kind of food is so attractive to it?
Pat Maher, Greystones, Co Dublin
Bullfinches usually feed on insects, berries, seeds and buds. It is probably stripping the buds from your tree. We’ve had several reports of snipe foraging in gardens during the snow and frost.
Michael Viney welcomes observations at Thallabawn, Carrowniskey PO, Westport, Co Mayo, or e-mail: viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address.
© 2010 The Irish Times
Fri, Dec 24, 2010
ANOTHER LIFE: By MICHAEL VINEY
1 Which invasive alien among ladybirds has turned up in Ireland dressed for an old-fashioned pantomime?
2 An equally undesirable alien among crabs has been found in an Irish estuary wearing gloves.
3 Wild boar, once native to Ireland and now reintroduced, have bred in remote woodland. What are their young called?
4 How many points has a snowflake?
5 Last winter fine fronds of frozen water, extruded from the pores of dead trees, were found in a Galway wood. What are they called?
6 Which Arctic goose is grazing Dublin’s winter playing fields?
7 Is phycology the study of (a) seaweeds, (b) lichens or (c) reasoning in mammals?
8 A humpback whale provided dramatic pictures off Hook Head, Co Wexford, last January. What was it doing?
9 A rare and ecologically famous Irish invertebrate displaced from warmer climes is sprinkled with white spots and rolls into a ball when touched. What is it?
10 New research shows that starlings keep their place in a wheeling flock by watching how many other birds: seven, 10 or 15?
11 To which vegetable family does the earthstar belong?
12 To avoid being tempted out too early in spring, which insect chooses the north side of field banks in which to hibernate?
13 A group resisting the ban on stag hunting called itself Rise, an acronym for what?
14 Wrens are known for crowding together in nest boxes on icy winter nights. The record number counted so far is (a) 35, (b) 50 or (c) 60?
15 Not quite animal, not quite vegetable, a shape-shifting organism can flow across damp outdoor surfaces. What is it?
16 Leisler’s, Nathusius’s and Daubenton’s are three kinds of which Irish mammal?
17 The stoat’s Arctic counterpart turns white in winter. Its name?
18 Clinging under stones in streams, this fly larva clads itself for camouflage in fragments of gravel and plants.
19 The little egret belongs to which family of birds?
20 Wasps and bumblebees build a new nest every year. True or false?
21 The atmospheric swings of the NAO have a great effect on Irish weather.What do the letters stand for?
22 The oil in a sheep’s fleece helps to keep out the rain.What is it called?
23 Most trees and many plants need fungi at their roots for a beneficial food-swap. Are the fungi called (a) macrophylla, (b) mycorrhiza or (c) mycelia?
24 Its spring call often is confused with that of the cuckoo. What bird newly settled here builds a platform on which to rest in winter?
25 What colour are the winter buds of the native Irish ash?
26 Several kinds of nematode are being used as biological controls on plant pests. What form of life are they?
27 Swallows and house martins are arriving earlier from Africa in spring. How much earlier on average: (a) one week, (b) two, (c) three?
28 As jellyfish multiply, two marine creatures are well known for eating them. One is the leatherback turtle. The other swims vertically. What is it?
29 Migrant waxwings have spread across Ireland to feed on garden and hedgerow berries. Where have they come from?
30 Coccolithophore plant plankton shimmers in the sea. What rock may be made of it when it dies?
31 Sometimes called the green plover, what is the bird’s more usual name?
32 Seeds of Irish grasses, potatoes and grains are stored against disaster in an ice-cold Global Seed Vault. Where is it?
33 An irrational fear of spiders is what kind of phobia?
34 Radio devices clipped on to migrant geese, sharks and turtles report their whereabouts to satellites for scientific study. What is this technology called?
35 Irish trawlers are catching huge shoals of a little red warm-water fish, newly abundant in the northeast Atlantic, mainly for mincing into salmon feed. Which fish?
36 Mosses and liverworts are collectively known as (a) saprophytes, (b) neophytes or (c) bryophytes?
37 What is the folk name for the secondary spurt of tree growth in summer that produces twigs with reddish leaves?
38 Lacerta vivipara is Ireland’s only native reptile. What is it?
39 Excess sugars from plant sap, excreted at the anuses of aphids and fed upon by wasps and butterflies, make a syrup called what?
40 We say a charm of goldfinches, but what is a collection of ravens?
ANSWERS
1 Harlequin. 2 Chinese mitten crab. 3 Shoat. 4 Six, mostly. 5 Hair ice. 6 Brent. 7 (a). 8 Breaching. 9 Kerry slug. 10 Seven. 11 Fungi. 12 Bumblebees. 13 Rural Ireland Says Enough. 14 (a). 15 Slime mould. 16 Bats. 17 Ermine. 18 Caddis. 19 Herons. 20 True. 21 North Atlantic oscillation. 22 Lanolin. 23 (b). 24 Collared dove. 25 Black. 26 Parasitic round worms. 27 (a). 28 Sunfish Mola mola. 29 Scandinavia. 30 Chalk. 31 Lapwing. 32 Svalbard. 33 Arachnophobia. 34 Telemetry. 35 Boar fish. 36 (c). 37 Lammas growth. 38 Common lizard. 39 Honeydew. 40 An unkindness.
Eye on nature
We were thrilled to see 15 red squirrels in Beleek Woods, Ballina – a triumph for their reintroduction. Do they not hibernate?
Barbara Browne, Ballina, Co Mayo
Neither red nor grey squirrels hibernate, but they are less active on the coldest days in winter.
Do birds eat snow if water supplies are frozen?
Edwina Clerkin, Clonskeagh, Dublin
They do, but it takes a lot of energy to melt it inside their bodies. Better to put out water several times a day for them in icy weather.
I was surprised to see a badger cross Knocklyon Road and go into a hedge. What an unexpected encounter with such a reclusive creature in Dublin suburbia.
Brian Johnston, Knocklyon, Dublin
It probably lives in a nearby park or on a riverbank.
A bullfinch has been pecking at the branches of my Japanese plum tree. What kind of food is so attractive to it?
Pat Maher, Greystones, Co Dublin
Bullfinches usually feed on insects, berries, seeds and buds. It is probably stripping the buds from your tree. We’ve had several reports of snipe foraging in gardens during the snow and frost.
Michael Viney welcomes observations at Thallabawn, Carrowniskey PO, Westport, Co Mayo, or e-mail: viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address.
© 2010 The Irish Times
