Christmas strandline casualties

A lovely Christmas present, calm quiet weather, a couple of beach walks, but some seafaring casualties of interest.
A Common Porpoise on Kilchoman beach fresh in on the tide.

A Trigger Fish at the top of the beach.

Boxing day at Black Rock had many washed up sea squirts and a small flock of c.60 Scaup close in shore.

Fiona

Walk at Killinallan

Lorna and I sadly resigned ourselves to a non-boggy walk yesterday - yes,  the amount of rain we've had over the past month or so has even defeated the Islay Welly Walker! So we enjoyed a windy walk along Traigh Baile Aonghais and enjoyed the ever changing clouds and lighting.
Becky

Acorn barnacles and pink algae/seaweed

A freshly deceased Spider Crab

Freshly deceased Goose Barnacles

Afternoon sun over Traigh Baile Aonghais

Looking towards Gortantoid Point from low in the dunes!

Our 30th birthday party

We were a few months late, but we celebrated in style last night at our 30th birthday party, with a pot luck supper, a skills auction, a raffle - and of course a cake. Malcolm Ogilvie gave us a brief history of the Trust. George Jackson then presented Malcolm with a beautiful painting and a bottle of  Botanist gin as a thank you for his hard work and enthusiasm over the years. Thank you to everyone who contributed raffle prizes, food and wine and skills and photos - and to all those who turned up to make the evening a very special occasion to remember. We're looking forward to celebrating many more birthdays in years to come.
Becky

30 years of the Islay Natural History Trust

30 Years is a long time and one to celebrate so this is what we are doing Thursday 4th December at the Natural History Centre in Port Charlotte.  We have been looking through old photos of the centre over the years and wildlife and will have an evening of photos and share memories whilst enjoying a 'pot luck supper'.  A time to socialise with all those who have been involved and joined in our activities and visited us over the years.  If anyone has photos they wish to share then please bring them along or send to us via email.  We are particularly short of pictures from the early years.

There will also be a raffle and for those who would like to bid there will be a silent auction of skills and services provided by many of our committee and supporters great Christmas presents perhaps for those people who have everything whilst supporting the Trust.
So far we have available:

Hands-on Islay wildlife activity session

Personally guided excursion on Islay's geology

Personally guided fungal foray

Islay Botanicals Gin related floral/botanical excursion

Two day course in watercolour or acrylic painting techniques

Half day odd jobs provision

Fiddle lesson with Niall Oliver

We are happy to receive bids prior to the event, emailed or posted but must arrive by mid-day on Thursday 4th.

Hope to see many of you there. 
Fiona

A festival of colour on a dull day

A festival of colour on a dull day

RSPB Raised beach walk 20th November 14

It may have been a dull and gloomy type of day with overcast skies, the poor light sucking out the definition in the landscape and Islay on the edge of the fog bank over Northern Ireland, but, as Becky and I discovered on what was essentially a two dimensional featureless landscape, the 'raised beach' on the south side of the Gruinart Flats, there was a wealth of colour and gems forming a Persian rug below our feet.

It has been many years since I walked the 'raised beach' at the back of the 'Flats' at Loch Gruinart, which holds fond memories of watching to pinpoint Hen Harrier nests and checking Buzzard nests for lapwing chick remains for research projects.  My memory was of high quality peat bog.  Becky had not had the pleasure of walking this ground so it was great to take her up there, bag a few Km squares and revisit this old haunt. 

Much of the Calluna heather along the sides of the escarpment is old, and has grown tall and leggy, flopping over to reveal the open area beneath, I remember from old school ecology lessons in succession, that old heather should flop over and the increased light allow fresh new shoots to develop and grow.  I always wondered whether this was actually true as often once exposed the open peat would be colonised by Mollinia grass which would allow little light and inhibit heather development.  I was therefore pleasantly surprised to see an area of old heather with young shoot growing up in the open canopy of flopped old branches. 

There are bog pools on the top of the raised hill area, the odd deer path traverses the peat, but there is little disturbance to the ground and the peatland vegetation is undamaged and left to thrive.  Underfoot the soft sphagnum mosses provide a spongy carpet, garishly patterned with deep reds, browns, greens and orange.  Sphagnum capillifolium forms red hummocks rising above the flat ground whilst saturated in the bog pools are the soggy 'drowned cat' forms of the green Sphagnum cuspidatum.  On the look out for the less common hummock form of Sphagnum fuscum we did chance upon a small hummock, but not in as good a condition as I have seen before.

Sphagnum capillifolium




Sphagnum fuscum?

Amongst this carpet there were red and black berries like beaded gems, of crowberry and the round and pear shaped juicy fruits of the Cranberry, identified subsequently, a testing taste was wonderful but if identification was as sure when we were actually there we might have tasted more!

 

 



The bushes of the gorse have sprung back into colour within the last month or two and the golden yellow flowers brightened up the dullness of the day.  

Meadow Waxcap

 

 

 

 

 

 

A dose of waxcap fungi on some sheep grazed pasture completed the festival of colour in the dullness of the day.



A talk about Galapagos and the amazing wildlife there

It's November, so it's time for the December Moth!

Trapping last night after a gap caused by the wild and wet weather we've been having, I caught a December Moth, my fourth and Islay's fourth! I caught one in November 2010 and two in November 2013. I like its thick winter coat! I have, though, still not managed to catch a November Moth, which fly in September and October. I hope to get the trap out a few times from now on, because I've never caught a Winter Moth, for which there are no Islay records, though two on Colonsay, and then look forward to the March Moth, which flies from late January and for which there are no Islay records, yet the books say it occurs in the Inner Hebrides! A bit of optimism required, I feel, and reasonable weather.
Malcolm

Sunstar near Bunnahabhan



Sunstar

 This lovely picture of a sunstar found by Lee and Aileen Thickett during their visit in October. "25 years ago (we have been visiting Islay for 33 years) while rock-pooling near Bunnahabhain on 25th Oct 1999 we found a Sunstar Starfish on Rubha Bhachlaig at NR 420747. Despite rock-pooling all over the inner isles and Western Isles we have never found this animal on the inter-tidal anywhere else. Due to a bit of good planning we arrived at the same site on 9th October this year at a time of extra low tide during the main part of the day. We were gob-smacked to find a Sunstar again!!!!! What are the odds against it?"

Late emerging Red Admiral

On a walk round Kinnabus this week we were delighted to see lots of Fox Moth caterpillars, one Ruby Tiger Moth caterpillar, one teeny Garden Tiger Moth caterpillar and this beautiful freshly emerged Red Admiral. I'm not sure I've ever seen an Ileach Red Admiral before! Born and bred here that is!
Becky

Asabus on the Oa

Freshly emerged Red Admiral

Very tiny Garden Tiger Moth caterpillar

Garden Rose Tortrix

I caught this tiny (6–9 mm long) micro-moth in my garden a month ago. I was fairly certain of its identification (unlike many micro-moths, there aren't lots of other species all looking very similar), but have waited for confirmation from the ever-helpful expert, Danny Arnold. Although common and widespread across Britain, this is only the third record for Islay, the previous two dating from the early 1970s. Its caterpillars feed on the leaves of roses, and members of the rose family like bramble, hawthorn, blackthorn, apple and pear trees.
Malcolm

Fungal Foray

It seems to have been a good year for fungi and our local enthusiast, Alistair Hutchison has been digging up some wonders of the fungal world. It's got to the 'you've lost me' stage with the weird and wonderful names he comes up with - but who needs names when you can feast your eyes (but definitely not your taste buds) on this lot?!
Becky

Free-ing the fishes

 

Cuckoo Wrasse and crabs

Now the centre is closed for the winter, it was time to set the creatures from the tanks free back into the sea.  Five dedicated soles came to scoop out creatures, clean pumps, pump out the water and scoop out the sand.  The fish, crabs and lobster all got a feed of prawns before getting fished out and released off the pier.  It took a while to catch many of the little fish in the touch tank, they were so quick to dodge the net!

Our lobster of the season

The Centre will now be closed until June 2015.  We will hopefully have some talks and other events on over the winter.  We will also be very busy organising and planning for next year and development for the future.

This moth uses a calendar!

On 30th September 2010, I caught this attractive moth, the Green-brindled Crescent, in my garden in Bruichladdich. It was the first record for Islay. On 28th September 2013, I caught another - the second record for Islay. Now, on 29th September 2014, I have caught my third (and Islay's third). I find the coincidence of dates quite remarkable.
Malcolm

Free for Kids day!

We had lots of children visiting us today at the Natural History Centre in Port Charlotte. Everyone enjoyed feeding the fish and lobster, holding the starfish and crabs. It's been a busy and fun season and we look forward to seeing you all again next year. Don't forget to tell your friends!

Becky

Art Exhibition

The Islay Natural History Trust is proud to be the host of a small Wildlife Art Exhibition for this week only. Paintings on display are mainly by local artists, George Jackson and Robert Davison, and are for sale. Fifty per cent of the money raised will go towards the INHT. Come and see some excellent portraits of some of Islay's beautiful wildlife.

More moths

This is my 6th year of moth trapping in my garden, and I have been surprised at how many new species I keep getting, including two this week, the Black Rustic for which there are eight previous records on Islay, plus further records on Colonsay and Jura, and Setaceous Hebrew Character, with just four previous records, all on Islay. The former is indeed very blackish, while part of the wing markings of the latter are supposed to look like a character in Hebrew.
Malcolm

Black Rustic

Setaceous Hebrew Character,

Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust on tour!

On Monday just gone the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust gave a great talk at the ICCI as part of their tour of the Islands. Sightings Officer Connor Ryan told us about the natural history of whales and dolphins in the Hebrides, and about recent research results from the area. He also emphasised how important (and easy!) it is to report sightings to them, and showed us how to identify the different species we might see here. I've already submitted my sighting of a Basking Shark off Frenchman's Rocks in August! If you missed the talk they'll be visiting other Islands throughout the month, so if you happen to be there it's well worth attending. Tonight they'll be giving the talk on Coll, followed by Tiree tomorrow, and then Easdale and Seil, Arisaig and Mallaig, Canna, Eigg, Elgol and Dunvegan - see www.HWDT.org for dates and details. I'll certainly be keeping a lookout on my next ferry trip! Mandy.

Bottle-nosed Dolphins