 How did you enjoy that week, that unbelievable week that we had? Wonderful weather, yeah, I and John come to see it too, and I certainly did. Perfect weather for exploring and out and about. And it didn't last too long, so it won't have stressed certainly up in this part of the country. It won't have stressed our nature or wildlife too much, but it was a glorious few days. Now if you've got a question that you'd like me to put to Angus, feel free to give in touch. Zero eight six sixty twenty five thousand is the number. And the first question is they often see large wasp type insects with long tails. Well, it's funny wasps around the last week for sure. But these are wasp type insects with long tails. Just wondering what what are they and do they sting like a wasp? Yeah, and there's a few different characters these guys could be. But we have a species or a few different species called wood wasps and wood wasps. They're related to our wasps that do sting us, but these guys don't at all. And the way to tell them first off is they're very big. So if you see what looks like a giant wasp, as we're all familiar with the normal bright yellow and black wasps. But if you see something that's much bigger, don't panic because they can't sting it. It cannot hurt you. It won't hurt you in any way. But the females have a long little tube at the back, which is they're called the oviposter. It's for laying eggs, but it looks like a big stinger. Looks like a big pin coming at the back of it. And it's not it's for going into to pine in particular that there's one. And the the greater wood wasp is a very big thing. You can get as long as your little finger and they will lay their eggs into pine and their eggs. Then those little larvae will live for two, three, sometimes even four years in pine wood, chewing, chewing, eating up the wood until eventually they emerge. And usually it's this time of year, late July, early August. They like a bit of heat and then they come to breed. But they're different to a hornet. There's no way. Yeah. And we don't have hornets in Ireland. Thank goodness that there was one record of an Asian hornet last year done in the southeast. But they seem to have collared in eradicators with no records of hornets really in Ireland. None of them. All certainly hornets hunt bees. So they're like big wasps as well. They hunt bees. They're unpleasant for people, perhaps, but they're more threatening to our bee species really. And they're not major to hear. So there'd be something that wouldn't. The bees might be able to cope with so well. But we don't have them here. There's no records of them here whatsoever. So if you do see a giant wasp like character, it's one of those wood wasps and slives. That character has already lived for possibly four, maybe even five years. It's quite amazing, really, until it's emerged and you get to see it. That long. So it's a totally different lifespan to a wasp. Yeah. And they can sometimes emerge in people's houses, actually, because they like pine wood in particular, softwoods. And those softwoods are used so much for our skirting boards and our architraves and all that kind of thing. Even our kitchens. And sometimes they might be quite happily, if they survived the lumber yard, might be quite happily living inside the cabin of your kitchen. You don't know anything about it. And then eventually they emerge. This giant insect starts flying around the place with this long, sticky, outy looking stinger type thing. And people get quite alarmed. I've been sent a couple of pictures already this year of people wondering what they were. But they won't hurt you. They can't hurt you. Open the window. Let them scoot out and go on about the things. All right. Another question. I saw a butterfly weekend that had what looked like eyes on its wings. What are they? They are one of our most common butterflies for Donegal, at least. They're called the peacock butterfly. And they're very dark when they close their wings. One of the ways to tell butterflies and moths. We have about 33 species of butterfly in Ireland, whereas we have over 1,400 species of moths. So it's easier to get to know the butterflies. And in general, they're more colorful. Not always. Some very colorful moths, too. But the moths, when they close their wings, their wings tend to close flash down, or sometimes in a bit of a home. Whereas the butterflies, when they close their wings, they're either partially closed or fully closed. And when they're closed like that, the underside of those wings is camouflaged. So the peacock, when it lands, it can tend to disappear. It's very, very dark. Not quite black, but different shades of very dark brown on the underside. But then when it opens those wings, and it's quite a big butterfly, when it opens the wings, it's amazing because it's got that lovely red, rich, red color. And then these four eyes on it, which of course are to scare off any predators. If a blackbird comes down to have a little poke and those wings open up and sees those giant eyes that fly off. So that's nature's way of protecting the butterfly. The eyes are scaring them underneath the camouflage. That's exactly it. And if you're watching, it's a lovely thing to do. And wait for a day when it's kind of 14, 15 degrees. That's all they need to fly. But they do like warm days. They won't be flying on wet days, damp days, or cold days. But we're still going to get a few more warm days, not as warm as last week, but go out and look for the butterflies. And if you find one, try and follow it, and see when it lands. And as they close their wings, they nearly disappear. They're quite amazing. And those peacocks that you'll see now, they're very fresh. And what I mean by that is they've just emerged. They have been spending the last few weeks as very hungry caterpillars munching away on nettles. Nettles is their food source. If there was no nettles, there'd be no peacock butterflies. And they eat away for a few weeks until they eventually get big enough, form their cocoon and metamorphosize into the adult butterfly. And that adult butterfly, that peacock that your listeners saw, will overwinter. It will go into a shed. It'll go into a log pile. It'll even go into somebody's house, maybe into an attic space somewhere where the temperature is kind of stable. And it'll sit there for the winter. And if it's outside, it could freeze solid pretty much three or four times throughout the winters. It's quite amazing, really. They have a little bit of antifreeze in their body, in their own systems. They'll still survive. Or they'll still survive. And they'll still survive. Even in those really cold winters, they'll still survive. Yeah, it's quite amazing. And then eventually, out they'll emerge. I've seen them as early as March, right up in the North in a show. But April time is when they start coming out. And they're looking for the nettles. Of course, they come out too early. There'll be no nettles. And they will lay their eggs onto the nettles. Those caterpillars then will turn into the end of next summer's peacock butterflies and around the cycle goes. OK, the hungry caterpillar. The peacock butterfly. And they have very distinctive with those eyes on its wings. And is it true that many buzzards die young at somebody? I don't see that many about anymore. The pressures on birds of prey in particular, anything that's the top of the food chain has a very, very difficult time, for sure. So it's got to make sure that there's enough food source for it, but also it needs to get its own territory. So at this time of year, you'll hear, or you might be lucky enough to hear young buzzards because the mum and dad have effectively let them go. And they're now in the same area. They haven't been chased from the territory of where they bred or where they grew up. But they'll be flying around calling, calling, calling. And that's their begging call, basically. They're calling for food. And in the next few weeks, as autumn starts to set in, mum and dad will chase them off or push them off. And they'll go off and try and find their own territory then. And that's when they're particularly vulnerable. Bad weather is coming, trying to find their own territory, being pushed on by other rival birds. But if they can establish an area, and as long as we are looking after the area well enough or not setting poison out into animals and that kind of thing, because of course they're scavengers. They clean up a lot of our roadkill. Well, as long as the poison isn't there and there's some trees for their shelter, they'll have a reasonable chance. But the next few weeks is definitely the trickiest time for them. Okay. They would scavenge. They would pick up roadkill. And I suppose it's a handy means for them. They're amazing birds, really. They'll hunt pigeons. They'll hunt crows, which some people don't like, and some people see as pests or nuisance. They'll hunt rabbits and rats and mice. But they'll also take frogs. They'll take worms. You'll sometimes see them sitting in the middle of a field, maybe on top of a fence post or a limba tree. And they're watching, watching. And they'll suddenly dive down onto the ground. And even if you've had a good view, you'd be taken. I can't see what it went for. But they're looking for any worms and any damp weather, the worms will be scurrying across the surface of the soil. And they'll take those too. But absolutely, they'll take roadkill, of which there's plenty, unfortunately. And this time of year, there's quite often a lot, as young animals are on the move, young badgers are out exploring, young herds are out trying to figure out their area. And often they fall victim to our roads. But the birds clean that up for us. I was watching a documentary on TV yesterday, where up in Yellowstone during the harsh winter, the owls are able to spot shrews. I think it is just going in under the snow and if they see any movement at all, they're straight in. So it's the same with buzzards and worms. The right side is about eight times better than us. So if you've ever used a pair of binoculars, most binoculars are either eight or 10 times more powerful. So if you've looked through a decent set of binoculars, that's what they're able to see. That's what they have the ability to be able to see all the time. And they're able to see that detail when they focus on something a little bit further away. So any small little movement at all, even at quite a distance, they can spot and spot reasonably well. But how different birds hunt like that is quite amazing. Something I saw just the other day up on Nakhala, at the end of Port Salom on the cliffs there. And it was a windy evening and there was a kestrel, which sometimes called the wind hover, because they hover, hover, hover. So they're one of the only birds of prey that will hover for prolonged periods. And they hover, hover, and then they might fly another 100 yards and then they'll stop and they'll hover again. But they're watching out for the mice, little rodents. But they can see in the UV light that we can't see in the UV spectrum that we can't see. Little rodents like mice are constantly urinating and constantly leaving a little trail of urine behind them. And that glows out. It emits a bit of a UV light. And the kestrels are able to see that and are able to follow those trails and then find the mouse. Even if the mouse is buried under Heather or whatever it is, they're able to give away for them. It's quite incredible. What chance does a bird of mice have? Very little. But then they breed incredibly fast. I feel too sorry for them now. And buzzards, are they... I mean, this texture says that they aren't seeing as many of them as they used to. Are they under threat? Would buzzards be our most common birds of prey? At this stage, there are there about... The sparrow hawk is probably more common. And it's funny that the kestrel that I just mentioned there is now in big trouble. And the kestrel is on the orange list of birds, of threatened birds. Unfortunately, their numbers have been going down and down. And a lot of that is, as we, over the last few years, have tidied up the kind of habitats they need. So they need their hunting, their foraging habitats, put all those little rodents in them. And as we spray stuff in clear areas, of course, we're clearing out their food, which is tragic. So that often pushes them along with the likes of barnals, hunt for similar kind of prey. And that pushes them towards the motorways and the roadways and the big verges there. And it's great to have those verges. However, the trucks going flying past, we've all experienced being a bit too close to a bus or a truck or a big vehicle going by. And there's a big suck of air afterwards. And that can really knock them off their flight. And that's a big threat to them. The sparrow hawks are doing better. And the buzzards were nearly wiped out altogether. And around about the 1950s, they were nearly completely gone. There was still a couple of strongholds in the north. And they've started to spread themselves. And one of the great things about the buzzards, in particular in the last 20 years, they've come back. So you're listening, they might have been gone from that area, locally gone, but in general, their numbers are doing well and they're spreading throughout the country. And it just shows if we leave areas alone, if we leave habitats alone and if we stop spreading poison, for instance, that was one of the big changes that came about with the Golden Eagle reintroduction program. The laws around laying poison, changed and landowners, to be fair to them, were very good and virtually all were respectful of that. And that's made a big difference. And that's one of the things that's allowed those buzzards to come back. And then remember, they're also doing that tidying up service for us. So even if they're lost locally in one place, nationally they're doing reasonably okay. So coming into a time now, we should be seeing quite a few young buzzards who've been moved out of the nest and they're off looking for their own territory because they're quite territorial buzzards. Yeah, they are very territorial. And what I'll do is I'll play the sound because buzzards are unusual in that they call the very vocal. So the parents will call a lot to each other in the springtime. If other birds come in in the wintertime, they will call to each other and call to them to try and chase them off. And then the youngsters make quite a racket at this time of year. Let me see if you can hear this now. People might recognize that sound. So quite loud. Whereas of course most birds of prey they don't make or they make very little sound. The young ones make noise all right when they're doing their begging calls. But after that there's very little sound because of course they don't want to give themselves away. But the buzzards are quite happy to be vocal. Now when they're hunting, they'll stop that of course. But a lot of the time when they're cruising, exploring their territory or trying to gently coax the youngster and say you've had your time. It's time to move on. And someone says once we get a spell of hot weather here outcome the flying ants. Why is this and what purpose do they serve? It was a couple of days during the week when they were a real menace. Just no matter what road you went on they seemed to be out in force. And they're attracted to white for some reason. So what purpose do they serve? The ants are, well with a couple of species. The black ants and the red ants. It's by far the most common. And they serve a multitude of purposes. They have the roller, right? All of those ants that are appearing now. The winged ants. That's the males and the new queens that are heading off to breed. And they can do that at any stage in the summertime really but they tend to like the hotter weather. So it tends to peak around about July or early August if we get a good little warm spell. I had a large number of them come out in my own garden actually about a week ago. The same kind of thing. Suddenly all these little characters were only there for about two or three hours and they were crawling up little bits of vegetation. And one area of the lawn, about a meter or so, a square meter of the lawn was covered in these ants which could look alarming if you weren't sure about them. But they won't do us any harm. You just leave them alone. And within two to three hours they're all gone. Most of them of course will be eaten by birds. Some will be eaten by spiders. Some by dragonflies. Some by other characters as well. That's an important part of the food chain. The ones that are lucky enough to breed well then the males will die. The females then they're able to remove their own wings and then they bury themselves down into mud and they create a little cell, a little chamber in the mud where they'll overwinter and then they'll form next year's colony of ants. Ants that stay on the ground are bad enough but ones that can fly, they're super annoying. I'd say if you're scooting along in your bike now at high speed and the mountain's open trying to hook up you're getting free protein there, right? That'll be a bit frustrating. But they're short lived and sometimes you'll see in some of the newspapers that there's a plague of ants coming in this kind of thing. We don't get plagues of ants coming. They come in a batch, they don't live for very long and they're a very welcome boost. You've got to remember this time of year there's more birds than any other time as well even though they've gone quiet. But if you've had an opportunity to sit in the garden in this warm weather in the evening times and just stay still, turn off the radio, take the earphones out and just sit, for the first few minutes you'll think, what am I doing? There's nothing happening, there's no nature here. And if you've any hedgerows around you any bushes around you, you'll start hearing tick, tick, tick of little birds communicating to each other and then you'll start to see them getting braver and braver and they're relying on the likes of them. That's what you see, we need to be sitting beside you because most of us wouldn't have a clue what birds are making the noise or what they're trying to say. You'd be able to decipher it all, work it all out. Well, you can hear the robins. So if you do hear a song at this time of year normally it's really only the robins or the rangs. They're the two that will sing all year round and the young ones you can hear them starting to sing. So most people are probably familiar with those sounds with the robins but it's well worth listening to because for the next few weeks the songs are kind of weak but sometimes a bit all over the place and the new robins and new rangs are starting to learn the songs off the adults and they're literally listening and then trying to impersonate and sometimes they end up putting their own little flair on it until it kind of settles a little bit. So you'll hear all sorts of strange variants of the robin and the rang song and they're about the only ones you'll hear right now. And finally, someone says that they noticed tiny silvery green coloured insects all along a stretch of the road. Any idea what they are? There's a few things that could be but if they're very small and very common or there's an awful lot of them there's a good chance that the dock beetle the green dock beetle and if you think of the dock leaf if you get stung by a nettle people will often pick the dock leaf and rub it on the sting. So these little characters, they lay their eggs huge numbers of eggs and the back of the dock leaf and then the little babies will eat down the docks for you so they'll take care of those. People don't seem to like docks in their garden even though they provide sustenance for these lovely little bugs which again feed birds and other characters plus of course the docks have lots of seeds that gold finches and chaff inches and whatnot will come into your garden and they'll eat those seeds a bit later in the year. But those little tiny silvery silvery green iridescent beetles there's a good chance that's what they are. And you'd recognise them I think they're about six, seven mils long and they've got a kind of blackish bit where they're about to lay eggs on their abdomen to the back of the beetle but beautiful, really shiny and they're lovely ones to introduce children to if you're trying to get children to explore nature a little bit because you'll find them they're very docile they can't hurt you in any way and they're beautiful with that colour. I have seen them and they're tiny they really are very small so they're small beetles. Okay, I guess Nature North West and on Facebook and also at the website if anybody's ever for more information. Thank you Angus. Thanks John, thanks. And if I could just mention there's Heritage Week on at the moment. I have a couple of walks on their booked but there's lots of other walks. There's over 60 events, Stony Gall has put on a huge amount of events in fairness to Joe Galler and everybody there in the Heritage Council, in the Heritage Office. So and all these events are pretty much all them are free. So look up Heritage Council or Heritage Week, Stony Gall and you'll find lots of great stuff. Thanks very much.