Test your nature knowledge with my Christmas quiz

ANOTHER LIFE: 1"O Tannenbaum! O Tannenbaum!" – a Merkelian carol to which seasonal decoration?

2Which EU partner exports most mistletoe to Ireland: (a) Spain; (b) Netherlands; (c) France?

3Medieval mead, Christmas booze of barons, needs a major input from which insect?

4Myrrh, rhubarb, aloe and gentian are among the ingredients of this bitter, syrupy, hangover beverage. Its name?

5Brussels sprouts and cloves are both what kinds of growth?

6What makes the scarlet "flower" on poinsettias, the Christmas plant?

7"Reindeer moss" grows on Irish hills. Is it (a) fungus; (b) lichen; (c) liverwort?

8Flocks of which European marshland migrant wandered to Ireland in November?

9Ireland's last wolf was run down by hounds in 1786 on (a) Mount Brandon; (b) Ben Bulben; (c) Mount Leinster?

10Where on the whale is the fluke?

11Our whooper swans of winter fly in from which country?

12Irish potatoes have joined a global cold store of vital seeds – on which Arctic island?

13Each snowflake is different in structure, but they all have how many points: (a) five; (b) six; (c) eight?

14Irish water insects at Pollardstown fen were recorded this year making remarkably loud sounds by rubbing bits of their bodies together. Were they (a) stridulating; (b) coruscating; (c) procrastinating?

15Little terns on the Co Wicklow coast had their eggs stolen by a predatory crow, nicknamed Rupert by observers. Which kind of crow?

16Research into octopus behaviour suggests the creature may possess a rudimentary consciousness. Is octopus (a) crustacean; (b) fish; (c) mollusc?

17"Always towards a distant gig somewhere . . . laying taut, dark strings above the rippling ocean skin for hail and rain to pluck . . ." Which black, coastal seabirds caught the eye of the Galway-based poet and musician Pete Mullineaux?

18An organic species called Nostoc spread rubbery goo on wet paths and lawns this autumn. It is (a) lichen; (b) alga; (c) slime mould?

19Which beetle, often known by its folk name in Irish, is fittingly described as wearing "the sinister, matt black of biker's leathers"?

20Blue 13 and Pink 6 are new forms of Phytophthora infestans– better known as what to vegetable growers?

21Which riparian Irish bird, of remarkable aquatic behaviour, has flaps to keep the water out of its nose?

22Bubble nets are a hunting strategy of which kind of marine mammal?

23 Three-quarters of Ireland's soil organic carbon is held in which kind of landscape: (a) forests; (b) grasslands; (c) bogs?

24Which Minister is now responsible for nature conservation?

25 "When all I would do," wrote WB Yeats, "is scratch your head and let you go . . ." Tender words for which Irish mammal?

26Crows perch in smoke on chimney pots for (a) waterproofing; (b) delousing; (c) sexual stimulation?

27A dolphin has been spotted exploring the Republic's only marine nature reserve. Is this (a) Lough Atalia; (b) Lough Hyne; (c) Lough Swilly?

28In the Wild Nephin project planned for Co Mayo by Coillte, which will be the dominant conifer: (a) lodgepole pine; (b) Scots pine; (c) monkey puzzle?

29In Connemara, the poet Eamon Grennan has remarked bees, after rain, "entering headfirst / the upside-down, open / nectar-heavy skirts" of which soggy flowers?

30Which diminutive deer has joined Ireland's list of invasive aliens: (a) sika; (b) oryx; (c) muntjac?

31Spectacular flocks of starlings were filmed this autumn above the Shannon Estuary and watched on YouTube. What is the fancy name for such gatherings?

32An ocean storm in May scorched the leaves of hedges and trees on the west coast. What category of plants would resist the salt's damage: (a) charophyte; (b) epiphyte; (c) halophyte?

33Which Irish mammal underwent a widespread change of pelage last winter?

34"Bonxie" is a birders' name for which fierce bully of a northern seabird (above), now breeding on some western islands?

35Spiders don't get stuck on their webs because they know which strands are sticky: true or false?

36Which of the following grow wild on some Irish coasts: (a) searocket; (b) asparagus; (c) seakale?

37 Sorex minutusis the island's smallest creature on four legs. What is it?

38Studies of soil life by three Irish universities may help to chart the spread of which alien, predatory planarian?

39Which sticky buds of a tree are first to burst into leaf in the spring?

40Pollinating insects will contribute how much to the Irish economy next year: (a) €2.5 million; (b) €25 million; (c) €85 million?

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Answers

1 Christmas tree 2 (c); 3 Honeybee; 4 Fernet Branca; 5 Bud; 6 Bract of leaves; 7 (b); 8 Crane; 9 (c); 10 Tail; 11 Iceland; 12 Svalbard; 13 (b); 14 (a); 15 Rook; 16 (c); 17 Shags; 18 (b); 19 Deargadhaoil; 20 Potato blight; 21 Dipper; 22 Whales; 23 (c); 24 Jimmy Deenihan TD; 25 Red squirrel; 26 (b); 27 (b); 28 (a); 29 Fuchsia; 30 (c); 31 Murmurations; 32 (c); 33 Hare; 34 Great skua; 35 True; 36 All; 37 Pygmy shrew; 38 New Zealand flatworm; 39 Horse chestnut; 40 (c).

Eye on nature

A flock of birds comes to feed on the small green in our housing estate at this time of year. Their plumage is striped dun coloured and whitish underneath; their legs are about six inches long; and their long, curved beaks are about the same.

Seamus Coghlin, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14

They are curlews – migrant visitors from the Continent. A neighbour, Catherine Boylan, also recorded them and sent photographs.

My son watched a sparrowhawk chasing another smaller bird in the sky outside our home, to the consternation of the local jackdaws. A little later, as he was leaving the house, he found the sparrowhawk dead on the road with its kill still clutched in its claws. Was the prey too heavy for the sparrowhawk or did he just misjudge the swoop? (By the way, in the second week in December we picked a bunch of sweet pea in our garden.)

Gary Tennant, Sandyford, Dublin

Could be either, but a female sparrowhawk can kill a bird as large as a pigeon.

Recently a pair of white-tailed eagles visited Thallabawn Strand to feed on a whale carcass.

David Cabot, Carrigskeewaun, Co Mayo

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