Eye on nature

On logs in the garden I found what looked like bundles of twigs about two inches long. They were soft but tough, and empty like cocoons.

Fergus Hamill

Castleknock, Dublin

The casings are those of the case- bearing moth, Psyche casta – also called a bagworm – made of plant fragments bound with silk.

The female is wingless and remains in the casing, where the larvae also pupate before the small, male, winged moths emerge. The larvae can move the casings around.

Recently I observed a city pigeon feeding an almost fledged chick in the rafters of Grand Canal Dock Dart station.

David Kelly

Sandycove, Co Dublin

Urban pigeons breed all year round.

Our local nesting starlings come to our bird feeders, and one of them gives a most accurate imitation of the common short fox call.

Gerard Neville

Ballybeg, Co Tipperary

Starlings are great mimics. They can copy other birds, sirens

and almost any sounds they hear in their neighbourhood.

Michael Viney welcomes observations at Thallabawn, Louisburgh, Co Mayo, or by email at viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address