For months now I have noticed an unusually bright star in the west from dusk onwards. It appears when no other stars do in the brightest part of the sky. I dont think its the north star because of its positioning. Do you know what it could be?

While hiking through the forest near Arenal volcano with my family, we encountered the "furry stumps with claws" shown in the photos.  Can anyone tell us what they are called so we can do some more research on them?

Recently I've been up late at night and have noticed something rather strange about the birds in my area: they will continuously sing from about 11pm until 3am, possibly even later. At this time of year (middle of January), it won't be fully bright until about 7 or 8, getting dark at 5 or 6 in the evening. What is their reason for doing this? I live relatively close to the centre of Dublin. Is light pollution an issue?

Stephen,

Dublin, Ireland

It has a normal stalk on the top, but also a completely separate bud of leaves growing out of the side. Does anybody know what's going on here?