On holiday in Ireland in May 2019, I took this photo of some flowers along the Great Western Greenway near Westport. I’d like to identify them, but so far have had no success. – Cait Layton Hampton, Virginia, United States
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These are house leeks. The rosettes look grey and fuzzy so it's most likely the spiderweb type – Sempervivum arachnoideum. This is a garden plant, so-called because of an old custom of growing them on the roof of the house to keep away illness. It has escaped into the wild.
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These red berries are abundant this year in a nearby woodland edge. What are they and are they edible? – Mary Doogan, Longford
These are the berries of the guelder rose, a native small tree. They will make you sick if you eat them raw – cook first!
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While at Malahide railway station in late July, this large butterfly, surely 4 inches in width, flew by me and landed. – Tony McCarthy, Malahide
It is not native to these parts – yet anyway. It must have escaped from Malahide Castle Butterfly House.
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I found lots of this red mushroom growing singly in a woodland with beech trees in Wicklow in late August. Are they unusual? – M McLeer
It is one of the Russula mushrooms – a huge group, several of which are red in colour. The colour of the spore print helps with identification. Don’t chance eating it!
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I wonder if you could identify this bird. The picture was taken by my daughter in Cork recently. – Brendan Moloney, Dungarvan
This is a juvenile goldfinch. Birds just out of the nest have a completely brown head with none of the lovely red, white and black markings of the adult.
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Billy Flynn sent this lovely picture of a gold spot moth seen in Co Monaghan. Its green caterpillars feed on wetland plants.
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