West Cork woodland takes on the appearance of a jungle in the Chilean highlands with Orange-bark myrtles growing to 50 or more feet in height, and wild-seeding themselves on the forest floor.

ARDMORE-GOAT ISLAND, WATERFORD.

OUR local bay is less green this summer than any summer since the seasonal sea lettuce began a scourge a decade ago.

I WAS interested to learn of the recent discovery that a parasite,  Toxoplasma gondii, can control the human brain.

"THERE’S a monster in the bath!" cried the damsel in distress, rushing into my workroom in her dressing gown at 8am.

THESE days, flat hedgehogs are all too often seen on west Cork roads and, no doubt, on roads all over Ireland.

ON these dulcet summer evenings, more often than not, sunlight streams down the west-facing bays of West Cork.

AT a family gathering in Cork City on a recent weekend, I walked through a Japanese garden, the owner of which is a dedicated cultivator of bonsai trees.

WALKING a bohreen above the sea last week, on a day that was dull, but warm — intermittent patches of bright sunlight, a pearl grey blanket overhead, and heavy heat beneath — I suddenly found a half dozen butterflies zipping madcap around me at a rate approaching the speed of bats.

SIGHTS not to be missed this week: firstly, the Water Crowfoot in your local river.