Beinn Bheigier from Kynagarry

Wow! What a day! I wasn't looking forward to 3 miles of monotony along the Kynagarry track to the start of the moorland trek to Beinn Bheigier, but I can tell you, I was looking forward to it on the way back after miles of making muscles you'd forgotten you had work harder than they have in a long time! Also, I was wrong about the 3 miles of monotony; with almost every footstep we saw something new - the air was truly alive with the sound of natural music. It was a great morning for insects and I was delighted to see my first 2014 Marsh Fritillary, plus the bonus of one freshly emerged (I wished we'd come upon it minutes earlier as I've never seen its chrysalis). The biggest bonus of the day, for me at least, was the brief sighting of 2 Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk Moths. They were too quick for a photo - as was the adder - James' highlight of the day. We just managed a photo of its disappearing tail.

Approaching Islay's highest hill from this direction is definitely more difficult than from Ardtalla, but it was a rewarding walk, with stunning views, and well worth the effort. I'm just glad that, unlike James, I didn't have to go and play rugby afterwards!
Becky

Adder tail

Small Copper

Thrift - growing on top of Beinn Bheigier

Allalladh and Red Deer

Beautiful wispy clouds and Beinn Bheigier

Emerging Marsh Fritillary

Ladybird Update (Complete with Adder!)

I was cycling to Port Ellen yesterday afternoon when I spotted this slithering female adder right by the road side! It's a good job she wasn't any where near the middle as I wouldn't have been able to move her to safety. I did however pick up a big emperor moth caterpillar that was making headway for the cat's eyes. What a treat!

I promised an update on our ladybird project at the visitor centre, so here it is! As you can see from this picture, they have finally emerged! It is interesting to see the freshly hatched pale yellow individual on the right next to the colourful patterned one on the left. We have also had many colour variations, particularly ones that are inverted (black with red spots). We are hoping that with a plentiful supply of aphids and greenery, our hatchlings will breed. If this is successful the next generation will reach adulthood after around 8 weeks, and be ready for hibernation upon release.

Lorna

More Photos from Storakaig

More photos from our walk to Storakaig last Saturday.

Young male adder

Cladonia community

Fuscidea cyathoides

Red Deer Stag

Unusual pellet on the Sound of Islay

Barnhill, Jura

I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a few days at Barnhill, Jura last week. I walked across to Glengarrisdale on the west coast on one day and up to Corryvreckan Whirlpool on another. It was a fantastic opportunity to explore a part of Jura I'd not really seen before and I saw lots of flora and fauna as follows:
Becky

BIRDS
Lesser Redpoll, Yellowhammer, Swallow, Dunnock, Shag, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Gannet, Rock Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Grey Heron, Tree Pipit, Willow Warbler, Great Tit, Herring Gull, Guillemot, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Siskin, Great Northern Diver, Red-throated Diver, Song Thrush, Oystercatcher, Common Sandpiper, Peregrine, Buzzard, Grasshopper Warbler, Whinchat, Stonechat, Whitethroat, Blackbird, Linnet, Robin, Common Gull, Black Guillemot, Woodcock, Wren, Hooded Crow

FLORA
Heath-spotted Orchid, Common Sorrel, Broad-leaved Dock, White Clover, Red clover, Tormentil, Bir's-foot Trefoil, English Stonecrop, Thrift, Common Scurvy Grass, Yorkshire Fog, Crested Dog's Tail, Lesser Spearwort, Bracken, Marsh Lousewort, Bell Heather, Meadow Buttercup, Marsh Bedstraw, Round-leaved sundew, Butterwort, Foxglove, Lousewort, Eyebright, purple Loosestrife, Milkwort, Water Lily, Bog Asphodel, Common Cotton Grass, Hare's Tail, Cross-leaved Heath, Sycamore, Bog Myrtle, Bluebell, Primrose, Marsh Cinquefoil, Cow Wheat, Forget-me-not sp., Germander Speedwell, Selfheal, Scots Pine, Vetch sp., Dwarf Willow, Alder, Honeysuckle, Birch, Marsh Thistle, Cleavers, Cuckoo Flower, Bog Pimpernel, Bilberry, Skullcap, Ragged Robin, Herb Robert, Red Campion, Greater Stitchwort, Sea Plantain, Daisy, Flag iris, Common Rush, Purple Moor Grass, Meadow Grass

BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS
Ringlet, Dark Green Fritillary, Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Common Blue, Chimney Sweep, Silver Y, Emperor Moth larva

DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES
Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Four-spotted Chaser, Common Blue Damselfly

BEETLES
Carabus Glabratus, Carabus clatratus, Dung Beetle, Green Tiger Beetle, Silpha atrata, Tabanus sudeticus (male)

AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES
Common Frog, Common Toad, Common Lizard, Adder, Common Seal, Otter

Adder near Barnhill

Emperor Moth larva (5th instar)

Glengarrisdale bothy

Tabanus sudeticus (male) - Horsefly

Silpha atrata - Snail-killer I'm afraid

Common Toad

Corryvreckan Whirlpool



Adder

This adder was out basking on a south-facing bank this lunchtime. Adders seem to have become much less common on Islay than they used to be, which has been quite plausibly put down, at least in part, to the considerable increase in the number of breeding Buzzards in the last 20-30 years. Once killed on sight on the island, they are now a protected species. All sightings of them would be welcome. Please use the recording form you will find by clicking on the "Species Recording Forms" tab.
Malcolm

Adder - Niall Colthart

Adder Bonanza at Loch Cam

Not just one, not two, not even three, but FIVE adders on our walk yesterday at Loch Cam. It's taken me till this morning to recover sufficiently to write about it! The young are slithering around freely now, so no doubt this is a good time to adder watch if you're an enthusiast, which I'm not. Still, we also saw lots of other things as follows:

BIRDS: Raven, Buzzard, Meadow Pipit, Red-legged Partridge, Cormorant, Goldfinch, Song Thrush, Jackdaw, Pied Wagtail, Wheatear, Wood Pigeon

FLORA: Bell Heather, Heather, Cross-leaved Heath, Grass of Parnassus, Red Bartsia, Meadow Vetchling, Purple Loosestrife, Round-leaved Sundew, Milkwort, Meadowsweet, Creeping Thistle, Marsh Thistle, Spear Thistle, Bracken, Redshank, Self-heal, Water Lily, Water Mint, White Clover, Red Clover, Eyebright, Daisy, Mouse-ear Chickweed, Common Hawkbit, Common Ragwort, Jointed Rush, Pineapple Mayweed, Marsh Bedstraw, Marsh Willowherb, Harebell, Yarrow, Cuckoo Flower, Lesser Spearwort, Common Rush, Bog Pimpernel, Common Cottongrass, Devil's-bit Scabious, Bog Asphodel, Oak, Black Knapweed

INSECTS AND SPIDERS: Black Darter, Emerald Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Four-spotted Chaser, Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Common Darter, Small Copper, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Green-veined White, Meadow Brown, Dark Green Fritillary, Bombus lucorum, Bombus pascuorum, Oiceoptoma thoracium (Red-breasted Carrion beetle), Green Tiger Beetle, Carabus glabratus, Garden Spider, Fox Moth caterpillars (hundreds)

REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS: Common Toad, Common Frog, Adder

FUNGI AND LICHEN: Lichenomphalia umbellifera and lots of unknown species

Becky



Black Darter - Sympetrum danae

 

Garden spider - Araneus diadematus

Red-breasted Carrion beetle - Oiceoptoma thoracium

Common Toad - Bufo bufo

Adder - Vipera berus

Email from Rochdale

Thanks to Stephen and Yvonne Pinnington, who sent us this entry for the blog. 

We have recently returned from our second fantastic two-week break on Islay.

We were fortunate to be able to spend some time with members of the Islay Natural History Trust; at their centre at Port Charlotte (well worth a visit! and a good place to start exploring the wildlife of the island) and on two guided walks at Kintra and Bunnahabhain.

Our highlights included an adder on our first evening at our cottage overlooking Kilnaughton Bay as well as sightings of hen harriers hunting everyday, a pair of golden eagles at the Oa, a pair of yellow hammers at Bunnahabhain and the little terns at Kintra.

We also saw lots of small birds such as whitethroat and stonechat, dragonflies, including a golden-ringed, which was a first for us, Dark Green fritillaries everwhere, and frog and pyramidal orchids at Killinallan.

We were able to use our moth trap and attracted huge numbers of Drinker and Garden Tigers plus a Peach Blossom and Lychnis, which were all new to us.

Female adder

Dark Green Fritillary

Male Hen Harrier

Peach Blossom Moth

Altogether, a fantastic variety of flora and fauna that we are sure will bring us back to Islay again.

Photos from Mark and Sally Johnson

Thanks to Mark and Sally Johnson, regular visitors to the island and enthusiastic photographers, for these fantastic photos.

Diving Beetle

Female Adder

Black Guillemot

Mating Common Blue Damselflies

Adders

We've had several reports of adder sightings within the past week. Thanks to Paul Hadley for this photo of a female adder taken on his west coast of Jura backpack.
Becky

Some Natural History Records from Crystal Maw

Aphodius sphacelatus

Belted beauty moth 8/4/11 Ardnave dunes NR734296
Silpha atrata 9/4/11 Gruinart grassy area behind RSPB office NR676276
Oiceoptoma thoracica 17/4/11 Heathery slope above Aonan nan Uan NR763426
Adder 17/4/11 In dry grass near Bagh an Da Dhorius NR787409
Aphodius sphacelatus 11/4/11 100s in sheep dung in fields NR6940
Geotrupes stercorarius 5/4/11 Glenastle valley, amongst heather NR455286

Thanks Crystal

Reptile and Amphibian declines reported

Full Story - BBC Earth News