FOR years, I’ve watched swallows flying over water and dipping the ends of their beaks into the surface. I assumed they were getting a drink on the wing.

ONE of my favourite summer wildflowers is purple loosestrife. It’s a plant that loves wet places, as I do myself, growing on the banks of rivers, lakes and canals.

THE weekend before last I was in Lanesborough for the annual Lough Ree environmental summer school. I had the pleasant job of guiding boatloads of people on the lake and the river and showing off their beauty.

THE rapid decline in house sparrow numbers in Britain and some other European countries has prompted concern and a flurry of research projects.

Dick Warner flies flag for Burren Birds of Prey Centre

THERE had been a shower earlier in the evening but the sky cleared before sunset and I decided to take the dog for a walk along the lane. The trees were still dripping so I put on a hat and we set off.

BECAUSE of the increasing emphasis on the importance of bio-diversity in our countryside, a lot of attention is paid to species that are endangered.

OUR boat had been wandering around the Shannon for the past year or so and was beginning to look a bit shabby.

IT’S been a good year for cuckoos, for me, at least. In the last six weeks or so I’ve heard calling males in three different counties in three different provinces.

JUST occasionally something happens which gives me this nasty smug feeling that I’m a visionary who’s ahead of his time.