Rockpooling at Bruichladdich

Having recently arrived back on Islay for the summer, high on my list of priorities was, of course to explore some rockpools! At Bruichladdich, this usually means turning over the many stones available at low tide, and often discovering something different with each visit. The weather yesterday was not exactly in our favour, and also seemed to affect the usual abundance of creatures. However, dipping into the shallows, mum and I were excited to find a Comb Jelly (4cm long, but grows up to 12cm), and a Leuckartiara Jellyfish (about 1cm long) which belongs to the Hydrozan medusae group. I have long wanted to see the latter, sometimes wandering down to the shore at night, hoping to pick them out by torchlight. We were happy to be able to contribute a few new additions to the INHT Visitor  Centre touch tank, such as 15 Spined Sticklebacks, and a pretty pink Hermit Crab. Another species common at this location is the Small Brittlestar, which due to their size, will not be kept in our tanks, but are well worth looking for. 

Keep an eye out for our INHT family activity sessions, including our popular rockpooling trips. On Friday 4 July, at 2-3.30pm in Port Ellen, we will be Exploring Sandy Shores. Bring your wellies, and join us! 

Comb Jelly

Leuckartiara Jellyfish

Lorna

Flower Power at Killinallan

It seems that every time I turn up at Killinallan it starts raining, and yesterday was no exception for our flower power session in which we learned all about pollination. We counted 15 species of flower in a metre square including Frog Orchid and Autumn Gentian and discussed how important scent and colour is to bees and other pollinating insects.
Becky

Maisie takes a diversion from butterflies and holds a tiny Shore Crab

Goldspot moth - note its curled proboscis - on Devil's-bit Scabious

Dark Green Fritillary - this butterfly was very obliging and stayed for ages on this Scabious, displaying the green sheen on the underside of its hind wings which give this species its name.

Beachcombing Treasures

  Here is the result of a fun filled family activity session beachcombing on Uiskentuie Strand yesterday - Geeves the Jellyfish! Thanks for joining us everyone. The next family activity session is Tuesday 20 August meeting at Killinallan gate for some Flower Power.

Family Activity Session Tuesday 16th July - change of activity

Please note, due to nesting Moorhens on our usual site, we have had to change the venue for our forthcoming family activity session. As advertised, we will still meet at Bruichladdich pier at 2pm, but will head up to Port Mor for a shorter bug hunt session. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Family Activity Rockpooling

Summer has truly arrived with soaring temperatures, and the sun ever shining down on Islay. On Tuesday I was treated to leading  the second of this year's family activity sessions for the rockpooling. There wasn't a slippy rock in sight (almost) and we delighted, adults, children and all, in discovering Chitons, Prawns and one seriously abundant Shore crab city! It was such a joy to see so much enthusiasm for the abundant Beadlet anemones as well. We also caught more 15 Spined sticklebacks than ever and 2  Father lashers. Thanks to all who came - keep up the great rockpooling!

Lepidochitona cinerea

Lorna

Family Activity Session - Rockpooling

Around 20 intrepid explorers set out for the final rockpooling session this afternoon. The rain arrived on cue as we clambered over the slippery rocks, but it was well worth it. The highlights were plenty of 3 spined sticklebacks (nearly 30 of them), ragworms, baby shorecrabs and shannies, and a worm pipefish. Plenty of lion's mane jellyfish have been reported washed up on the shore, and today they were indeed lining the rocks. We also delighted in the breadcrumb, and estuary sponges, comparing textures and 'squidgyness'. Thanks everyone for spending your afternoon rockpooling with the INHT!

Looking for shore crabs

Brilliantly coloured breadcrumb sponge (left) and estuary sponge (right). Sponges are one of the world's simplest animals as they lack internal organs such as a brain, heart or lungs! However they do have a skeleton, which when washed up, finds its way into our bath tubs.

Species List

shanny
hermit crab
shore crab
3 spined stickleback
worm pipefish
prawn
breadcrumb sponge
estuary sponge
beadlet anemone
flat winkle
periwinkle
rough winkle
topshell
limpet
ragworm (possibly estuary or nephtys caeca)
kelp
egg wrack
spiral wrack
bladder wrack
lithophyllum incrustans

Lorna

Family Activity Session - Woodland Wonders

It was a beautiful afternoon for our stroll through Bridgend Woods today and there was a good turn out of all ages for this activity. We saw Coal Tits, Green-veined White, Peacock and Small White Butterflies, Common Darter, Common Frog, Wolf Spider, Frog Hopper, hoverflies, Buff-tailed Bumblebee and Common Carder Bee. Right at the end of the session a few of us were slightly peturbed by the sight of a giant stinged flying insect. I later identified it as a Giant Wood Wasp (Urocerus gigas). Thanks for coming everyone!
Becky

Orla smells Meadowsweet

Our butterfly was made very rapidly at the end of the session

Hoverfly_1 (Sericomyia silentis)

Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Examining a Common Frog

Some of the Woodland Wonders explorers.

Exploring Sandy Shores at Killinallan

Today's Family Activity Session was Exploring Sandy Shores at Killinallan. Surprisingly on such a lovely day and for what is usually such a popular activity, there were far fewer folk than usual. However we had such good fun that when I thought to ask the time it was 4 pm - half an hour later than we usually finish! We caught Shore Crabs, a 15 spined Stickleback, a Sea Squirt, a Father Lasher, a Butterfish, Opossum Shrimps, Prawns, Hermit Crabs, a Goby and a Shanny. We also saw various species of sponge. Thanks for coming everyone!
Becky

Exploring Sandy shores at Killinallan

Catriona comes to show me her catch

Big Butterfly Count and 'Flower Power' at Killinallan

Twenty enthusiastic youngsters and about twelve adults met at Killinallan yesterday to take part in our Big Butterfly Count. This was for Butterfly Conservation which encourages people to count butterflies anywhere on a sunny day for fifteen minutes at a time and submit their results online. We spent two blocks of fifteen minutes counting butterflies as we walked through the long grass to the dunes. Niall Oliver was in charge of records and reported that the Common Blue was the winner. Other species were Green-veined White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Dark Green Fritillary.

Fiona MacGillivray of Green Bug Productions then explained 'flower power' to us and we had great fun matching leaves and petals to the colours on her rainbow charts. Michael spotted an adder (much to my surprise as the noise level was phenomenal!) and frogs and grasshoppers were regularly hopping from beneath our feet, resulting in squeals of either delight or horror from the children! We finished off the afternoon by counting the number of species of flower seen in a 3 foot square of ground. It was a most enjoyable way to spend an afternoon and a grand finale to our successful butterfly fun day. Thanks to Fiona and to all who helped or turned up to support us throughout the day.

Becky

Dark Green Fritillary - Argynnis aglaja - it came bottom of our count

Counting flowers in a square

A beautiful Frog Orchid - Coeloglossum viride

John demonstrates the height of a Marsh Thistle

Fragrant Orchid - Gymnadenia conopsea

Rainbow Colours

One of many frogs

Family Activity Session - Pond Dipping

I barely thought it worth turning up for today's activity session when the rain started to descend, but how wrong I was. First one car, then another pulled up, all full of eager children dressed in a variety of veritable fishing gear! Then came the minibus and Sheila with her Little Angels. George and Megan donned their waterproofs and joined us up at the ponds where we had a curtailed pond dipping session. We found a dragonfly nymph, a Water Scorpion, Greater and Lesser Water Boatmen and another water beetle - possibly a Diving Beetle, oh and some sort of thin worm too. It was actually difficult to tear the children away from their mud-laden nets after an hour of dredging the pond! Thanks to George and Megan for allowing us the use of their pond and for bringing fresh water when we needed it!
Becky

Catching mud!

Water Scorpion

Looking at our finds

Family Activity Session - Beachcombing Treasures

Eight of us had great fun on Uiskentuie Strand yesterday collecting shells of all sorts: mussels, horse mussels, whelks, tellins, carpet shells and periwinkles. We also learnt about whelk eggs and saw a tiny baby Shore Crab. Later we built a picture from our finds.
Becky

The only mermaid we saw!

Moorland Magic at Kintra

Fiona sent in this piece about yesterday's magic moorland session:

Moorland magic this Tuesday was attended by 10 very enthusiastic participants on a small area of moorland just 100m from the RSPB Upper Killeyan car park on the Mull of Oa. We investigated the hidden range of colour to be found if you get down low and really look, moorland is definitely not dull and boring. The Ling Heather is just beginning to bloom, but despite many flowering plants having set seed there was still a rich range of greens, yellows, pinks and autumnal browns but a distinct lack of blues.
A search for animal life revealed a great variety of invertebrates, spiders, leafhoppers, centipedes, beetles and some impressive grasshoppers including both common green and meadow grasshoppers. Unfortunately the weather was a bit cool and densely overcast so no butterflies although a moth was captured. We also found round-leaved sundews an insectivorous plant.
I am looking forward to next week, (unfortunately), the last activity of the summer when it will be beachcombing on Uiskentuie Strand.

Bug Box with Leaf hopper, Jumping Spider and Meadow Grasshopper

Pond Dipping

It was pond dipping yesterday and it sounds like they had great fun.
Fiona writes:
A very good pond dipping activity today, 9 children, 2 families (visitors and locals), despite inclement weather. Some great catches, mainly from one lad who managed to catch two Greater Water Beetles and a fabulously sizeable Horse Leech which we had looping over our hands (see photos). Lots of water scorpions, greater water boatman, lesser water boatman, pond snails and right at the beginning a lovely little toad which was spotted before anyone trod on it!
We observed all the beetles and boatman breathing through their bottoms and baby leeches sticking to the white trays.
A very enjoyable afternoon with very enthusiastic youngsters.

Woodland Wonders

We had great fun matching colours on our 'Nature's Rainbow' sheets yesterday in Bridgend Woods, with some people being more fussy than others about exact matches! We noticed Sycamore, Beech, Hazel, Elm and Ash Trees. We also saw Grey Wagtail, Spotted Flycatcher, Wren, Chaffinch and Goldfinch. Butterflies we saw were Meadow Brown and Green-veined White and we saw Golden-ringed and Common Hawker dragonflies and Common Blue and Large Red Damselflies. In the River Sorn we saw lots of baby Trout. This beautiful flower is a Common Centaury which I've normally seen growing at the coast.
Becky

Isi with Nature's Rainbow

Common Centaury - Centauruim erythraea

Exploring Sandy Shores at Killinallan

Summer Sandy Shore Session

Baby Spider Crab

Fiona had a record 45 people on her family activity session yesterday! That's brilliant! They saw lots of shore crabs, hermit crabs, butter fish, a lion's-mane jellyfish and a really cute baby spider crab. Thanks Fiona. If this continues we're going to need more fishing nets!
Becky

First of our Family Activity Sessions is tomorrow - 5th July

Out on a Bug Hunt last year

Our first Family Activity Session is tomorrow - meet Fiona at Port Mor at 2.00 pm for Rockpooling!!