IT’S not quite Lough Neagh, but Dúlra’s tiny garden pond has turned green just like Ireland’s biggest lake.
As you can see in this picture, you could almost step on the surface like it’s a lawn. But this isn’t blue-green algae, it’s actually a plant called common duckweed which can take over a pond or indeed a lake in no time. When Dúlra identified the plant, he Googled frantically in a bid to find out if it was yet another invasive species that is upending our natural environment. Thankfully not so – this pesky plant is as native as the shamrock.
But once it finds your pond, it claims ownership. Given the right conditions, it doubles in 24 hours. In just a week Dúlra’s pond was covered in a thick carpet of duckweed, turning the clear water glistening in the sunlight into a pitch-dark place where next to nothing can survive. In big lakes, ducks will sort it out – they like it so much it’s named in their honour (in Irish as well – ros lachan). That won’t help Dúlra – there’s little chance of a duck visiting when the whole pond is about the size of a single bird!
But the good news is that the tadpoles that live in the pond and the tiny frogs that many of them have turned into don’t mind duckweed too much. It gives them cover from predators and even provides food for them. But only up to a point. If left unchecked, duckweed will thicken until it's a couple of centimetres and the tadpoles won’t be able to break through.
And so the best thing to do is scoop out the duckweed. Dúlra got himself a small hand-held kitchen sieve and used it to gather the duckweed, checking it for tadpoles before emptying it out. There’s no point doing it once and walking away – this plant will cover the pond once more in a couple of days.
But for now the pond looks healthy again and the autumn sun reaches the bottom and illuminates the last of the tadpoles.
If only it were so easy to clean Lough Neagh!
Choughs chuffed with their new home
A reader sends in a picture which shows how nature never fails to seize an opportunity.
The once-magnificent Óstán Gweedore in the Donegal Gaeltacht has lain derelict for many years now. The crumbling white hulk of a building is a tragic sight in what must be one of the most beautiful locations for a hotel in the whole of Ireland.
For Dúlra, it’s a physical metaphor for the shameful neglect of the Gaeltacht by the Irish government. He stayed in it when the kids were at the summer college and it was glorious – breakfast was served as you looked out at Oileán na Marbh and the boats sailing past from Bunbeag to Toraigh.
He saw the old hotel again a few months back and thought that if he won the lotto, he’d bring it back to its glory. But this week he learned from a reader on holiday that the old hotel has got back some glory at least – a flock of rare choughs has taken up residence there. The reader even took a picture of them to prove it.
The chough is a coastal member of the crow family with a distinctive red beak and feet and there are just 900 pairs here.
HOME FROM HOME: Choughs in the Donegal sky over Óstán Gaoth Dobhair
The cág gobdhearg – the red-gobbed jackdaw – seems to think that the white concrete shell is a cliff-face and they are nesting in the rooms where residents once stayed. It many ways it's similar to how ravens have decided to nest at Belfast City Hall.
On each visit to Gaoth Dobhair, Dúlra is always sad to see the ruins of the hotel, which are even more irreversible every time.
But he’s looking forward to his next visit and seeing the rare choughs enjoying their new five-star home.
• If you’ve seen or photographed anything interesting, or have any nature questions, you can text Dúlra on 07801 414804.
