THE much slower phrases of the chiffchaff’s song signal summer’s end, sounding like a sad, reluctant farewell before its frame of just nine grams takes to the skies to head south towards the Mediterranean basin, where it will remain until next spring.

IS IT autumn yet, or is it still summer? No-one seems to really agree when the seasons swap over.

DURING the month of August, I’ve watched a vast array of small invertebrates all around my garden, in hedges and along roadsides.

THE threat to our indigenous species from human activity can be blunt and brutal.

IN PRAISE of the magnificent sunflower, Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles, wrote that it: "Climbs the upland lawn, And bows in homage to the rising dawn, Imbibes with eagle eye the golden ray, And watches, as it moves, the orb of day.

"THAT trees, at least Japanese trees, have souls, cannot seem an unnatural fantasy to one who has seen the blossoming of the umenoki and the sakuranoki.

The highly toxic piece of sewage has ‘started to grow an unusual and toxic mould’.

AT THE west end of Bundoran town, grey rocky cliffs of thinly bedded shales and limestones, deposited some 300 million years ago, point out across Donegal bay to St John’s point lighthouse.

Plans for eight new greenway routes across Northern Ireland have been given a £200,000 boost.

NAVAL sonar could have caused the deaths of whales that washed ashore in Co Donegal, it has been claimed.

Crews had been tackling the blaze since around 1.20am on Tuesday in Swadlincote, Derbyshire.

Donald Trump has warned countries doing business with Iran that they will not be doing business with the US.

Emergency services in Portugal say they are still fighting a major wildfire on the south coast that threatened to engulf a hillside town overnight.

PEOPLE are being encouraged to get involved in the immersive experience of 'forest bathing' and connect with the ancient landscape in south Armagh.

THE hottest temperature I have ever experienced was 44C.

SMALLER bins and fewer collections are among changes being considered in Belfast.

Nathan the beach cat adores the water, and has built up quite an online following.

A MONTH'S worth of rainfall on Saturday wreaked havoc across Northern Ireland with severe flooding in homes and travel chaos.

The rare event was visible to people across different continents but proved elusive for many in Britain.

A RECENT visit to Dublin got me thinking how we take for granted the process of getting from one place to another.