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Could this heron have caught a lamprey eel in the Tolka beside the Botanic Gardens? – Proinsias Mac an Bheatha Fisheries scientist Ken Whelan certainly thinks so. This is probably a brook lamprey, which is the smallest of our three lamprey species; it doesn’t get any bigger than 15cm long. It is a non-parasitic species. The juveniles feed on dead plant and animal material in the water, while the adults do not feed at all. It definitely occurs in the Dodder but no doubt also in the Tolka.



Holly blue butterfly


I found this butterfly in my back garden. It looks just like the holly blue butterfly that was featured in your column on March 26th. My garden has both holly and ivy, which would support its life cycle as described. The main difference I see is the amount of black marking around the edge of the wings. Can you confirm its identification? – Mark Mallinn, Dublin This is a female holly blue of the spring generation, which has pronounced black tips on the side of the forewings. This generation lays its eggs on the flowers of female holly.



Black frogspawn


Could you please help identify these? They look like small black frogspawn; clump about 5cm by 6cm. I found them under decking board in my back garden at the end of March. – Kevin Farnan, Tralee Yes, frogs will occasionally lay eggs on dry land, often on the grassy margins of ponds and sometime in other damp locations such as under your decking. It’s not clear why – perhaps they just get excited! This spawn is not likely to survive very long.



Spring gentian


I spotted this beautiful gentian at the Burren coast on March 27th . Is it not early for such a sighting? – Mariea Mullally Well done. This beautiful perennial – the spring gentian – grows on limestone grassland, mainly in the Burren but also in east Galway and southeast Mayo. It usually grows in Alpine regions on the Continent. It generally flowers in April and May but the National Biodiversity Centre received a record for January 30th, 2019, and also have one February and six March records.
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