For many beginning birdwatchers, the array of different waders that spend the winter on Ireland's beaches, mudflats and estuaries poses a daunting identification challenge.  Of these, the diminutive Sanderling (Calidris alba) is one of the easiest to recognise.  Strictly a coastal bird while in Ireland, this winter migrant is most often seen on sandy beaches; it spends the summer on remote breeding grounds on the high Arctic tundra.

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This image is the first close-up look at a strange and beautiful phenomenon that has never been seen on Earth.  The winter wonderland near the South Pole of Mars is more than a pretty picture,  because the use of colour imaging in this high-resolution view has provided scientists with concrete evidence to support a theory which we first reported in Village in 2006.

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The Kerry Slug – Geomalacus maculosus – has been getting its 15 minutes of fame recently. In the late stages of planning the upgrade of the N22 between Cork and Killarney it was discovered that the proposed new route would traverse territory occupied by this slug. So the roadworks were held up because the Kerry Slug is an Annexe 1 protected species under the Habitats Directive – a Directive voted into law in Ireland by referendum as part of the acceptance of the Single European Act, the Masstricht Agreement. In other words we all agreed by vote to give these listed species the full protection of the law.



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Paris is a great city for walkers because the main attractions are within a compact area. Use the metro for easy access to the best walking routes. Near the Abbesses station decorated in Art Nouveau style, climb steep steps or take the funicular to the top.  Add a comment

Found year-round throughout most of Ireland, save for some midland areas, the ‘Dipper' is something of an oddity amongst Ireland's birds.  Although a typical songbird in most respects, resembling an oversized, plump wren, it is a highly aquatic bird, rarely found far from fast-flowing rivers and streams.

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Because of its association with Christmas, holly is one of our more easily recognised native trees. It is probably the most ornamental of these native trees and many variegated and golden varieties are cultivated.

It is a visually attractive small tree and is very suitable for gardens as a specimen tree or hedge as it is slow growing and very dense. Trees can live for up to 250 years and the hard, pale wood is valued for carving, inlaying and engraving. They are found in oak-woods, on ditches or high up in mountain gullies where there is shelter from the harsh upland winds. Today, the holly forms the shrub (or lower) layer in some of our oldest woods. In some parts of the country it is considered unlucky to cut down holly, and it is often left as a standard in hedgerows.

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See the Earth's great ice sheets melt online By Leo Enright
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Ireland should be slow to become GM free, given what genetic modifications already have achieved and promise to accomplish By Rosemary Dolan Add a comment