IT seems many peopl do not realise they are causing litter when they throw a cigarette butt on the ground.

IRELAND is speckled with small lakes and streams, about which little enough is known scientifically.

GIVEN the massive amounts of marine waste that was washed in by last year’s storms, people might be justified in thinking that there was little more of it left in the oceans.

THE ‘biddies’ were out over the weekend in some rural areas, keeping alive an age-old custom that marks the coming of spring while schoolchildren here and there have been making St Brigid’s crosses in honour of the saint whose feast day is February 1.

PEOPLE who move between locations to use waterways for sport may, unwittingly, be spreading dangerous invasive species in Ireland.

WITH memories of storms a year ago still fresh, people in coastal areas worry about a recurrence of the damage and flooding — made worse by a lack of hope that anything meaningful will be done about the situation.

WE might as well get into positive mode early in the New Year.

PEOPLE in city and country areas may hear eerie cries these nights, but be not be afraid. The screams might sound like the banshee. More than likely, however, it’s a female fox as we are in the mating season for the madra rua.

AS people tuck into mountains of smoked salmon — most of which is the farmed variety — over the festive season, the wild Atlantic salmon will continue its long battle for survival.

WHY, asks Donal Hickey, is it that so many Christmas cards continue to feature images of snow on the ground when white Christmases are so rare?