On the eve of Samhain, Ireland’s landscape and wildlife prepare for rest and a reset
Our relatively mild, damp winters attract a wide range of migratory species and tie back into the island’s folklore
Nature
Articles related to nature
This ghostly creature landed on my window earlier this month. What is it?
Your creepy crawlies, witchy woods and slithery creatures identified by Éanna Ní Lamhna
‘They’re behaving like gangsters’: Will the rest of the world stand up to the US at Cop30?
A strong agreement on methane would be a sign that the rest of the world has not given up and is standing up to the bully
I think I spotted a false widow spider in my garden - what should I do?
Are there any precautions I should take?
This guillemot might survive after a rest - unless it has bird flu
Éanna Ní Lamhna on dog vomit slime, the forest shield bug and birch sawfly larvae
Old Irish goats should be carefully managed to avoid over-grazing
Without a culling programme, it is only a matter of time before the population gets out of hand
Green roofs and permeable paving: how to solve both the human and nature housing crises
New housing developments can provide more benefits to society than the bare minimum of having a roof over your head if done correctly
Two years ago we planted 24,000 native saplings – now our forest is thriving
We planted on the cheapest land we could find in Ireland. These small wet fields now hum with life. This habitat is healing
Two dragonflies tied up in afternoon delight in Cork
Éanna Ní Lamhna on Grey Dagger moth, Puffball mushrooms and Redshanks
Old Men of the Canal – Frank McNally on the herons of Percy Place
There is something military-looking about the birds’ appearance
New buildings must present ‘no net loss’ to nature, says Climate Change Council
Advisers want conditions added to planning laws to conserve and enhance biodiversity
You can’t choose the times you live in. And sadly we live in an age of extinction
I wonder who the last person in Ireland was to hear a wolf howl. Did they realise the magnitude of what they were hearing?
Phallus impudicus: the Latin name of the Stinkhorn fungus tells it like it is
Éanna Ní Lamhna on the harvestman, nest-box etiquette, and the flower crab spider
A reader’s most excellent photograph of the noble false widow spider
Éanna Ní Lamhna on the white saddle fungus, the curlew sandpiper influx and the rose chafer
Dingle peninsula receives award for being Ireland’s ‘greenest place’
Skerries, Inagh, Dún Laoghaire and Co Westmeath river restoration project also honoured at ceremony in Dublin
Ireland’s natural environment in ‘very poor’ condition, EU analysis finds
European Environment Report - news (analysis piece to follow) Embargoed to Sunday night 11pm
Curlew in flight: Draining and cutting of bogs has destroyed their breeding habitat
Your notes and queries for Éanna Ní Lamhna
Winter vegetables that thrive in Irish gardens
Parsnips, celeriac, squash, Swiss chard and purple sprouting broccoli are happy to overwinter outdoors or wait out the colder months under cover
Éanna Ní Lamhna: ‘When I went to UCD there were no points. You could study what you liked’
Environmentalist and media personality was inspired by an older girl at school to pursue science, despite it not being an option at second level
As the seasons change nature becomes unpredictable
Seasonality affects how populations of plants and animals grow, reproduce and survive
Birds in Australia are like birds in Ireland, except almost certainly on cocaine
For the majority of the year, Australian magpies are good neighbours - in September and October, things change
The couple who bought a Wicklow golf course and turned it into a native woodland
The former Glen of the Downs Golf Course greens are now covered in 80,000 native trees, planted by Anke and John Moran
As much as I love my dog, I can’t ignore the toll of pet flea treatments on aquatic life
If we follow advice to treat pets continuously, whether or not fleas are present, we inadvertently contribute to significant water pollution
Keep an eye out for the garden spider this autumn
Éanna Ní Lamhna on the forest shield bug, the autumn hawker and robin not-yet-redbreast
Why the exotic glossy ibis is ditching the Mediterranean for Louth
Global heating is increasing the rate of new visitors to Ireland generally, and there is every chance they will become established here
‘We took out 450 fish in an hour’: Blackwater pollution highlights decade of poor environmental compliance
Finger of blame for failures pointed at EPA, which licenses dischargers including North Cork Creameries and Munster Joinery
Mink eradication scheme being piloted in Midlands in first step towards eliminating invasive species
Volunteers to be professionally trained in trapping mink and ‘humane dispatch’
Colonialism still a puppet master of today’s extinction crisis
Decolonising entrenched patterns of power and thinking needed as part of response to environmental nightmare
This female only stick insect arrived in Ireland from New Zealand in the 1960s
Éanna Ní Lamhna on robin’s pincushion, an Irish mosquito, and a rare puffin snack
Surge in Irish corncrake numbers and in breeding territories, survey shows
Farming community key to success in recovery of bird threatened with local extinction
Ireland’s Greenest Places winners set to be announced
Competition found numerous examples of environmental enhancement in urban and rural locations
Marine protection delays makes ocean restoration more uncertain, warn environment groups
‘Budget 2026 is key test for Government’s commitment to Ireland’s seas’ and promise to scale-up MPAs
For the Birds – Frank McNally on an encounter with Dublin’s Pigeon Man
When I got a word in edgeways, finally, I wondered why Dublin’s rapacious seagulls never came near him
Is it a seed, a shell or a chocolate macaron?
Éanna Ní Lamhna on the sea-bean, the goat moth caterpillar and the large red damselfly
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Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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