I photographed this curlew in flight in Poulnasherry Bay in west Clare in early September. John Glynn
Since the 1980s our population of breeding curlews has dropped by over 96 per cent and there are very few breeding pairs left.
These are ground-nesting birds and the change from haymaking to silage, and the draining and cutting of bogs has destroyed their breeding habitat.
The Irish breeding population moves to the coast after breeding where their numbers are supplemented by Scottish and Scandinavian breeders coming here to overwinter.
RM Block
We spotted this lovely coloured caterpillar on the grassy path running along the Burrow beach dunes in Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford this July. What will it be? Kristin Hunfeld, Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany
This is the caterpillar of the emperor moth, identifiable by its bright green colour and its rows of tubercles from which black bristles arise. While it most usually occurs in habitats in acidic soils where it feeds on heathers, it does also occur on sand dunes and calcareous grassland.
Its food plants here include flowers such as tormentil and the leaves of hawthorn, blackthorn and willow. The adult moth is a spectacular large grey creature.
It displays eye-like eyespots if molested by birds, that fly away terrified as the pattern of the opened wings resemble the pale face of a barn owl.
While on holiday in western Australia, I came across this sea hare washed up on a beach in Fremantle. When moving through the ocean this mollusc can shoot off a purple dye to protect itself, like the ink an octopus or squid releases when it feels threatened. Are they ever found near beaches in Ireland, or is the sea directly off our coasts too cold for them? Michael Cullen, Sandycove, Co Dublin
[ Is it a seed, a shell or a chocolate macaron?Opens in new window ]
We do indeed have our own species of sea hare, Aplysia punctata, which can grow up to 20cm (7.8in) long and can do the spurting out purple dye trick too. The Australian one is a different species, up to three times as large and it washes ashore there in hundreds at the end of its 12-month lifecycle. Our species lives among seaweeds in the shallow waters around our coast on which they feed and from which they derive their colour – red or green depending on the type of seaweed. They get the name from their upper head tentacles which resemble hares’ ears.
This huge insect, which seems to me to a be a type of horsefly, flew into the house in mid-July. I have never seen such a large insert. Is this a native species? Patrick Dawson, Ballitore, Co Kildare
It is indeed a horsefly. This species Tabanus sudeticus is our largest horsefly species with a wingspan up to 5cm (1.9in). It has scimitar-shaped antennae. The females can inflict a painful bite on horses, cattle and humans with its sharp, scissors-like mandibles which make a cut in the skin. They release an anti-coagulant to keep the blood flowing but no anaesthetic to numb the pain. They absorb the ensuing blood with the sponge-like mouthparts – this meal being a pre-requisite to egg-laying.
This picture of a glossy ibis was taken by Sinead Craig of Inishowen Wildlife Club at Myroe on the east bank of the Foyle Estuary during a large influx of migrants to Ireland in early September. These seem to have come from Donana National Park in Spain which had a very successful breeding season, but severe water shortages there means that the birds have had to disperse widely in order to find feeding grounds. They need invertebrate - rich wetlands, both coastal and inland which they can probe for crabs, worms and such like.
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