Michael Viney responds to reader's queries and observations on nature.
I have seen a flock of 31 bean geese feeding in a field sloping down to Lough Fern, and while I watched another dozen arrived. They had a hint of orange on the beak and a stronger hint on the legs.
Eckhardt Schmidt, Co Donegal
The bean goose is a rare winter visitor from northern Europe and previously had only been observed on the east coast. One was seen in Northern Ireland last month, but there have been no records for many years of such a large flock.
I was walking through a wooded area on the shores of Lough Derg last August, at 4 a.m., when I came across a clear blue light shining from the forest floor. It was coming from some wood which had a black grain running through it. As I peeled off the damp bark more blue light appeared. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
Oisín Creagh, Cork
It was honey fungus which attacks trees and shrubs and kills them. It feeds on dead wood that it kills and also on other dead wood. The "black grain" you saw was its rhizomes which travel between the bark and the wood.
We have a female blackbird with a crippled claw in the garden. She not only survived the winter but chases the other birds away from the food we put out and defends the pond where the birds bathe.
Tim Magennis, Killiney, Co Dublin
Edited by Michael Viney, who welcomes observations sent to him at Thallabawn, Carrowniskey PO, Westport, Co Mayo.
e-mail: viney@anu.ie
Observations sent by e-mail should be accompanied by postal address.