A new chapter in Irish inshore life is about to beginAs large trawlers are restricted, ‘low-impact fishers’ take up a role in the coastal ecosystemSat Mar 30 2019 - 06:00
Hospital flower ban: A bunch used to boost my little red cellsFlowers have been strongly endorsed as boosting wellbeing and speeding up recoverySat Mar 23 2019 - 06:00
Straws in the wind of a storm that threatens us allThe Uninhabitable Earth a salutary warning for our increasingly threatened timesSat Mar 16 2019 - 06:00
Storm petrels: why we have no idea how many are leftThe process of surveying the birds on Irish and UK islands is laborious and difficultSat Mar 09 2019 - 06:00
Give ivy a break – it’s a sanctuary for beleaguered wildlifeThe global threat to the insect world gives the worth of ivied trees new significanceSat Mar 02 2019 - 06:00
A beeline for extinction? ‘Let’s not accept that it’s too late’As threats to bees grow severe, garden design should consider pollinators’ needsSat Feb 23 2019 - 06:00
Garden feeders have led to a goldfinch boom. Is this a good thing?Are we sustaining goldfinches at an increasingly artificial level? And does it matter?Sat Feb 16 2019 - 06:00
There’s no antidepressant like a good view of the seaOlder Irish people living along the coast have a lower risk of depressionSat Feb 09 2019 - 06:00
There is something touching and subversive about vegansWhat we choose to eat is often now linked to wellbeing of planet as well as ourselvesSat Feb 02 2019 - 06:00
Alien invasion: strange creatures hitching a lift to a shore near youThe autumn’s calm seas have delivered phronima ashore with a gentle touchSat Jan 26 2019 - 06:00
Debate over mackerel quotas grows as Atlantic nations flout adviceShoals are moving into northern waters, hitting salmon and seabird populationsSat Jan 19 2019 - 06:00
Can coursing be good for hares? The strange answer is yesHare density has been found to be 18 times higher in a coursing club’s hunting groundsSat Jan 12 2019 - 06:00
Sun worship takes work in December, the dullest monthAs the clouds become more rain-laden, we’ll have to count on blocking highs from SiberiaSat Jan 05 2019 - 06:00
Michael Viney’s Christmas quiz: test your nature knowledgeDo you know your cetaceans from your elasmobranchs? Prove itSat Dec 22 2018 - 06:00
Juniper joined by new botanical recruits in Irish gin revolutionSeaweeds are among the newest botanical options for small-scale gin distillersSat Dec 15 2018 - 06:00
Curlew’s call now so rare it brings tears to an old farmer’s eyesNew and energetic habitat protection and predator control may give the bird a futureSat Dec 08 2018 - 06:00
Michael Viney’s choice of nature books for ChristmasFrom the definitive Burren book, to a pine marten celebration and a study of the LiffeySat Dec 01 2018 - 06:00
Tussles for mussels: A species under threat in the Doo Lough valleyThe historical threat of the pearl trade has been overtaken by fertiliser pollution and siltSat Nov 24 2018 - 06:00
Shrinking populations should be welcomed by economistsHuman beings and their livestock now account for 96% of mammals on the planetSat Nov 10 2018 - 06:00
Great tits: What a study tells us about their personalitiesShy males are less devoted to forming a strong pair bond with a single femaleSat Nov 10 2018 - 06:00
The rat that chewed in from the cold, right through the wallWe live in a maze for rodent adventurers, lured in by food aromas and warmthSat Nov 03 2018 - 06:00
Michael Viney: Ireland paying high price for invasive speciesIntroduced species now cost the Republic €200 million a year in damage and controlSat Oct 27 2018 - 06:00
Seals and struggle: the changing fortunes of Ireland’s offshore islandsIt’s feared that the western islands could come to be peopled only in brighter monthsSat Oct 20 2018 - 06:00
No country for cows and badgers: Ireland’s bovine TB problemFarm patterns, ecology and geography may make Ireland a paradise for the pathogenSat Oct 13 2018 - 06:00
Crayfish plague: no wonder the Irish species is white-clawedA deadly American import is threatening the final extinction of the white-clawed crayfishSat Oct 06 2018 - 06:00
Flying form: Ireland’s fantastic feathered immigrantsIn a rich roster of species that come to feed or breed are birds of awesome endeavourSat Sept 29 2018 - 06:00
‘King of all fish’ remains safe from Irish anglersEU extremely unlikely to allow recreational fishing of bluefin tuna, Minister tells anglersSat Sept 22 2018 - 06:00
Pike no longer deemed to be the unacceptable foeArrival of the alien, red-eyed roach changed fish life in Ireland’s lakes and riversSat Sept 15 2018 - 06:00
In a time of climate change, will the wind continue to howl?The magnificent and frightening energy of a gale in full force is something to beholdSat Sept 08 2018 - 06:00
Dandelions a marvel of exquisite engineeringMechanisms enable common weed to maximise light and direct water to rootsSat Sept 01 2018 - 06:00
The Kerry slug trail leads all the way from SpainGenetic research on the Kerry slug has found strong links with those in Spain and PortugalSat Aug 25 2018 - 06:00
Where does rain, having fallen, actually go?Michael Viney: We need to tap into our groundwater resourceSat Aug 18 2018 - 06:00
From pond whirligigs to tooth-nosed snout weevils – it’s a busy beetle huntMichael Viney: Look out for orange harlequin ladybird – it’s pretty but it’s a pestSat Aug 11 2018 - 06:00
Moulting periods and the constant process of renewalAnother Life: The process of physical repair, of growing on, extends to most forms of animal lifeSat Aug 04 2018 - 06:00
Poisoned and preyless: obstacles to rewilding Ireland with eaglesRestoring the golden eagle to the west has found the limits to bringing back a carnivoreSat Jul 28 2018 - 06:00
Nature takes refuge as drought dries the landscapeAccess to water, and lack of it, shapes ecosystem for humans, flora and fauna alikeSat Jul 21 2018 - 06:00
Clifftops have given me some of the high point of my lifeMichael Viney: The cliffs of Ireland are the island’s last wild land, the views enchanting tourists on the Wild Atlantic WaySat Jul 14 2018 - 06:00
For peat’s sake, our uplands need rain – just not too much at onceDrought takes a toll on our peaty peaks – but a follow-up of torrential rain is a landslide riskSat Jul 07 2018 - 06:00
Michael Viney: The beauty of weeping beechesAnother Life: The weeping beech is the largest growing of all hardy weeping treesSat Jun 30 2018 - 06:00
We’ve known of ‘the plastic perils in the sea’ for 30 yearsMichael Viney: In 1989, decades before David Attenborough’s ‘Blue Planet 11’, I wrote a column for this newspaper on the threat of plastic to marine lifeSat Jun 23 2018 - 06:00
Michael Viney: As hedges and trees have grown, the acre is amassing quite a ferneryApart from its rarity and ethereal beauty, the botanical fascination of the fern includes a quirk of lifestyle largely peculiar to IrelandSat Jun 16 2018 - 06:00
Butterfly beauty, sexy scents and solar-powered wingsThe cabbage white butterfly is a multifaceted insect – if only it would keep off my brassicasSat Jun 09 2018 - 06:00
In praise of aphid-eating pollinatorsStingless, most no bigger than a thumbnail, hoverflies are a largely unsung legion among our insect pollinatorsSat Jun 02 2018 - 06:00
The great decline of Ireland’s angel sharkNative to big sandy bays on the west coast it may not survive to breed there any moreSat May 26 2018 - 06:00
New furry prey for the windhover, by any other nameThe hovering kestrel has an ability to track voles on the ground through UV reflections from the urine and faeces the rodents use to scent-mark their runwaysSat May 19 2018 - 06:00
Overcome by the pong of a pine-marten den? Count yourself luckyAnother Life: Michael Viney on the slow return of one of Ireland’s rarest mammalsSat May 12 2018 - 06:00
Skylarks stunned me, just like the poets the bird has hoisted into verseAnother Life: Michael Viney on his awe for a key voice in ‘Dawn Chorus 2018’Sat May 05 2018 - 06:00
Ireland’s historic hedgerows the essential corridors of natureMeasuring some 300,000km, their value to biodiversity remains paramountSat Apr 28 2018 - 06:00
Getting up close and digital with nature’s miniature lifeMichael Viney: Smartphone cameras allow us to get in close, often to a hand’s breadth of the subjectSat Apr 21 2018 - 06:00
Protecting cold water corals that support an array of wildlife off our coastsLophelia pertusa is the great builder of deep-sea reefs, with live coral crests as rich in species as rainforestsSat Apr 14 2018 - 06:00
