Red Clover (Trifolium pratense), Common Eyebright (Euphrasia nemorosa) and Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)

Bug Hunt at Port Mor

We had an excellent turnout at Port Mor today - with around four families containing an awful lot of bug hunters.  Happily there were lots of bugs to hunt, including this very friendly snail, which I guess is not really a bug but it came along for the ride anyway.

Fiona gave us a talk on how to be the right colour to be hard to find if you are a bug, and also how to catch bugs using nets and swishing them through the grass.  When we caught something we put it into bug boxes which had built-in magnifying glasses so that we could see them better.  Then we looked them up in a book to try and identify them.  When we had finished with them we let them all go. 

Fiona has a website, which is very properly called Green Bug Productions which sells her Wildlife Discovery Packs
http://www.green-bug-productions.co.uk/

Ruby-tailed wasp (Chrysis ignita) and Common Earwig (Forficula auricularia)

This is a very beautiful Ruby-tailed wasp that really does have a metallic green head and thorax with a metallic red abdomen - all of which flash in the sunshine.  Although the adults eat pollen and nectar, they lay their eggs on the larvae of the burrow-dwelling Red mason bee - which then eat their hosts alive.  Not very nice

Earwigs are, extremely buggy bugs - this is a view of the underside, or ventral surface as it is called, of one.  Earwigs are very good mothers - not only do they look after their eggs once they have laid them, they look after the baby earwigs once they have hatched - looking like tiny versions of the adults.  Earwigs eat pretty much everything - they are omnivorous, which probably explains why you can find them pretty much everywhere!!

These were just some of the great creatures we caught during the Bug hunt today

Emperor and Cinnabar moth caterpillars

The black and yellow banded Cinnabar moth (Callimorpha jacobaeae) caterpillars were feeding on Ragwort.  It was generally agreed that it was good that Ragwort has some good uses - like feeding very hungry caterpillars - because it is not very good for horses if they eat it.

This is a lovely Emperor Moth caterpillar (Saturnia pavonia) also found on the bug hunt.  It was eating bramble leaves.

It is, as you can see, a very large caterpillar indeed.  When he (or she) was first picked up he squirted some stuff at us, and then rolled into a ball and refused to come out again.  We think the squirting must have been some sort of defense mechanism to deter predators.  It certainly deterred some young bug-hunters!!

Golden-ringed Dragonfly ovipositing

Golden-ringed Dragonfly ovipossiting
Originally uploaded by Sgeir Mhor

We watched this Golden ringed Dragonfly ovipositing on Jura on the 30th June. It was something I'd never seen before so it was very exciting and I thought it would be something other people would be interested in seeing.

Becky

(PS -sorry about the extra 's' in 'ovipositing' opposite. Since I learnt the correct spelling I can't seem to edit it)

Insects on Islay

Yesterday we scoured Islay's east coast for the Purple Hairstreak Butterfly - without success, but look what we found instead!

The top picture is the female Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea), a species which is widespread and common throughout Britain. Much more exciting was the Longhorn Beetle that Elaine found. It was well over an inch long with impressive antennae that are longer than its entire body length in males and equal to its body length in females. Its scientific name is Aromia moschata because it emits a distinctive smell (didn't ask Tim to check this after he'd held it!) and its English name is simply Musk Beetle - a bit of a plain name for such a beautiful creature if you ask me!

The Common Hawker was seen at Claggain Bay and the Musk Beetle at Ardilistry.

Becky

Insects on Jura

The walk to Market Loch, near Craighouse on Jura in July provides ample opportunity to look for dragonflies, butterflies and moths. The top picture is of a male Keeled Skimmer - a species which, in Scotland is restricted to the west coast, particularly Argyll, although there is only one record for Islay from 1961 (probably an under-recorded species). This beautiful dragonfly perches and then often depresses and twists its wings forward so that they lie at nearly a 90 degree angle to its body.

The bottom picture is a micro moth - Pyrausta purpuralis which is an attractive purple and gold in colour.

Becky

Out of his skin

At first glance, this looks remarkably like a lobster - but in fact it is just a lobster's exoskeleton - which we found that our resident arthropod had shed when we opened up the Centre this morning (note judicious use of the Royal 'we' there). 

If you look carefully, the carapace behind the head has split, perfectly neatly, right down the middle, and the segmented tail has become almost separated from the body - enabling the shiny new, and remarkably larger animal, to emerge from his previously cramped existence to a new life of freedom within his skin.  He even extracted himself from his old antennae.  He presumablyfeels a lot better now.

The old exoskeleton will now join our growing collection of similarly remarkable shells from our previous year's incumbents - which have lightened and gone pinkish with age...

Carl

Visitors from far and wide

Rudy Gardin has come all the way from Italy for his holiday on Islay, and sent us this lovely picture of a thistle he saw between Lagavulin and Ardbeg. Anyone know what species it is?

Some things to see at Loch Gruinart

More photos from Chris and Harold Burslem, following their recent trip to the island. Here's another visitor, a Black Tailed Godwit, looking handsome in the summer sun

And just up the road at Ardnave, here's one of the locals...

Bog Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis)

Bog Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis)is very common on the uplands here - forming rather lovely carpets of tiny flowers at this time of year.

Funghi in cattle dung

This was found growing out of a cow pat at Sanaig - but I cannot identify it. I don't think it is the same as Malcolm's Psilocybe coprophila - not least because the cap was around 10cms in diameter and the stem was 8-10cms long...

Carl

Magpie Moth (Abraxas grossulariata)

Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris), Bog Asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum) and Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia)

Magic? mushroom

You've doubtless heard of dung flies and dung beetles, well here's a dung fungus! There are a number of species that grow on dung, some of them difficult to identify, but I'm reasonably certain that this is Psilocybe coprophila. The Psilocybes are also known as "magic mushrooms" for the effect that they have on the person eating them - the term used by the medical profession is "psychoactive". However, whether one would want to eat a fungus grown on such a substrate would presumably depend upon just how much one wanted a "psychoactive" experience!

Malcolm

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)

This was a really bright, and most obliging, male Common Blue butterfly up on the hills above Sanaigmore. There is no colour enhancement of that shot at all - he really was that bright....

Common Sundew (Drosera rotundiflora)

A carnivorous plant the leaves of which are covered in sticky hairs for trapping insects. Found these on a walk up the hill west of Sanaigmore.

Wild Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)

Found near Whin Park on my way back from the Sheepdog Trials. It isn't there any more because I ate it. Delicious.

Seal research team arrive on Islay for four days

What and how many fish do seals eat around Scotland?
The Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), part of the Scottish Oceans Institute at the University of St. Andrews, is being funded by the Scottish Government to carry out a study on the diet of harbour (common) seals and potential competition with grey seals across the whole of Scotland. There have been substantial declines in harbour seal populations during the last decade in some areas of Britain and this project is part of an overarching study to understand the nature of the harbour seal population decline in Scotland.

From March 2010 the Seal Diet Team will be systematically searching the coastline of Scotland to locate populations of seals and collect their faecal waste for analysis.


http://www.sealdietscotland.co.uk/

Meadow cranesbill (Geranium pratense)

Is currently adorning many of the roadside verges of the Rhinns

Flowers in a Bridgend ditch

The yellow one is a widely naturalised garden escape - The Monkey Flower (Mimulus guttatus) while the red one is Redshank, sometimes known as Common Persicaria (Polygonum persicaria). Both like wet places.

Trochulus striolata

A little snail on a leaf. Not being an expert on snail classification I did a sort of identify-a-snail quiz thing and Trochulus striolata, is what came up on www.conchsoc.org viz

- Trochulus striolata (C. Pfeiffer 1828)
Description: 6.5 - 9 x 11 - 14 mm. Shell slightly depressed convex and conical above, flattened below, with 6 convex whorls which have moderately deep sutures. The last whorl is slightly angled at the periphery, and often encircled by a pale and more opaque spiral band. The umbilicus is medium (one-eighth to one-fifth of width of shell); mouth elliptical, slightly flattened below, with a slightly reflected lip below, and strengthened within by a conspicuous white rib. Shell opaque or slightly translucent, with coarse and irregular growth ridges, and hairless when adult, but slightly hairy when young. Colour variable from dark red-brown to creamy-yellow.
Habitat: Woods, hedges, roadsides and waste ground; gardens (widely spread by man). Usually in damp and shaded places.

Port Ellen Girl wins UK UNESCO Biodiversity Competition

Alice Grey from Port Ellen School has been named the winner of a UK wide 2010 International Year of Biodiversity Competition organised by the UK National Commission for UNESCO. Alice’s winning entry was praised by the judges for using jigsaw imagery to show how all living things are linked, displaying a strong understanding of biodiversity.

Christopher Patterson, also from Port Ellen Primary School, was named runner up. His entry was deemed by the judges to be very artistic and colourful with a striking design that would work well as a reproduced logo or postcard.

The winning entries are displayed on the website of the UK National Commission for UNESCO and the competition will also be featured in the next edition of the newsletter for UNESCO Associated Schools International which will be sent to schools in 180 countries.

The competition was judged by Diana Garnham (Chief Executive, the Science Council), Felix Pepler (Creative Education Consultant) and Leo Vincent (UNESCO Associated Schools in the UK). Diana Garnham said: “The competition entries were outstanding and we had a really enjoyable – and difficult – task to choose the winners. There was inspiring creativity and students demonstrated a real understanding of the challenges to biodiversity as well as of the need for us to take action. Well done to all who took part and especially to the prize-winning entries!”

The competition called for children and young people to help raise awareness of the International Year of Biodiversity by creating an eye catching campaign to celebrate and underline the importance of biodiversity. The United Nations has designated 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) to celebrate the importance of biodiversity and highlight the different threats facing this irreplaceable natural wealth across the globe.

As part of its work to promote the International Year, the UK National Commission has produced an information pack for schools entitled ‘Biodiversity is Life’. The pack includes practical suggestions for how schools can celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity and examples of how UNESCO helps protect biodiversity in the UK, including case studies from UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and natural World Heritage Sites which have distinct biodiversity, including St Kilda.

Grey seal

This young grey seal was resting on a rock this morning immediately opposite the MiniMarket. It was completely indifferent to people including two who went within less than 20 m to photograph it. Hopefully, it's a sign the mackerel have arrived in the loch!

Malcolm

The search is on for Islay's first Purple Hairstreak

After a week of typical holiday weather on Arran, the sun finally decided to make a brief appearance and I decided to search for a butterfly I have always wanted to see - the tiny Purple Hairstreak. I won't bore you with the details because I could go on for hours about it, but - fanfare - I saw it! Now, obviously, this is Arran, not Islay, but it has been recorded there before, as well as Colonsay, so why not Islay? It likes oak trees (its Latin name is Neozephyrus quercus - quercus being Latin for Oak) so, get out there looking - I'm not giving any more clues than that because I want to be first to see it!

Those of you who know me will recognize the hand!

Becky

Garden Tiger Moth

Found a lovely Garden Tiger moth whilst trying in vain to make the Visitor Centre sign stand up in the hurricane this morning. Who needs a moth trap? Picture from Wikipedia

Rock pooling

Every Tuesday and Friday afternoon (2 to 3.30 pm) throughout July and August, the Natural History Trust holds outdoor family activity sessions, covering such things as pond dipping, beach combing, bug hunting, exploring woodlands and, as yesterday afternoon, rock pooling. Posters and leaflets advertise where to meet - or phone the Natural History Centre (01496-850288) to ask. They're good fun and can be quite instructive as the leaders try to identify every creature, bug or plant encountered and to answer the excellent questions that children always seem to manage to ask.

Malcolm

Two ferns

Ferns enhance our ditches and woods and are well worth looking at. Some can take a bit of effort to identify as it may depend on the colour of scales at the bases of the stems, or on the shape of the spore-bearing bodies on the leaves, but here are two straightforward ones.
Hard Fern (Blechnum spicant) has simple, unbranched leaves of two distinct types. The ones with broad leaflets are sterile and grow close to the ground, and are quite different from the more upright fertile leaves (those bearing sporing bodies) with their very narrow leaflets.
Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina) looks superficially like many other ferns, with many large leaves growing out from a base. However, the leaves are softer to the touch and more delicate than other species, with the leaves coming to fine points which droop slightly downwards.

Malcolm

Marsh woundwort (Stachys palustris)

Found near the road at the top of Loch Indaal and on the edge of the merse - I think this is Marsh woundwort, although I am not very good at wildflower identification

Carl

Field Mushroom (Agaricus campestris)

The first one of the year - found on the lawn at Lorgba. A small rodent had helped itself to a few mouthfuls, but it still smelt - and tasted - great!

Bar-tailed godwits

We have had an over-summering flock of these waders numbering around 100 birds this year - spending much of their time feeding out on the vast sandflats of Loch Indaal at low tide and then roosting at Gartmain. Godwits have always had a particular attraction for me and I was pleased to see that the flock had increased very substantially in number - I counted 178 birds when I climbed off my bike to check them this morning. The birds that have been here all summer were all in non-breeding plumage - but I noticed that a scattering of the flock today were showing signs of their summer plumage - so they are probably individuals returning from the breeding grounds.

I have never been able to get anything like close enough to the Islay birds to get a decent shot - just one or two soft digiscoped pics a few years back so I contacted our good friend Jim Cassels from Arran to see if he minded us using some of his. Some of us will remember Jim and his wife Angela coming to Islay last November to give a fascinating talk on the Galapagos.

The Arran Naturalists Trust is rather different to the INHT - it does not have its own building and much of its energy is spent on the Arran Wildlife Festival which happens every May.

Check out the links on the right - I am sure you will find then interesting.

Carl

Godwits Photo - Jim Cassels

More wildflowers

Some more of the common flowers of the roadside verges here, Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium), Wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and Bramble (Rubus fruticosus)

Salmon or Sea Trout?

I was at Stinky Corner this evening watching a number of very substantial fish swirling in the shallows as the tide came rushing into the pools next to the road. They were large - I would estimate 18 inches to two feet long, and looked dark on top, and reddish orange below. The concave nature of the tails would suggest salmon, as would the level of activity in broad daylight - sea trout are mainly nocturnal. Fresh-run salmon are silver however - but the colouration I saw may well have been the colour of the bottom reflected on their bodies.

They made an impressive sight - with their dorsal fins regularly breaking the surface as they made big splashy 'rises' and surging up and down creating big bow waves as they went.

Grass, glorious grass....

Let’s not underestimate its value, urge The Wildlife Trusts in their latest press release saying.....


"Whether it’s a rare patch of culm grassland in the south west, or a strip of road verge in the east midlands, a vast array of wildlife relies on grasslands to survive, according to The Wildlife Trusts.
"Many of us may not realise how precious or rare some UK grasslands are, or be aware of the benefits they can bring to people. So, two of the most innovative grassland conservation projects in the UK are explored in the latest issue of Natural World, The Wildlife Trusts’ membership magazine.
"Devon Wildlife Trust’s ‘Working Wetlands Project’ brings together farmers, government agencies and water companies to help restore one of the most wildlife-rich habitats in the UK, culm grassland. Over recent decades, 90 percent of this vital haven for species such as the marsh fritillary butterfly has been lost.
By running training workshops on grazing and cutting techniques, and linking together fragmented patches of culm, Devon Wildlife Trust is seeing considerable success, with 700 hectares of culm bought into favourable condition (supporting the variety of life expected from this type of habitat), since the project began in 2005. On one site alone, marsh fritillary numbers increased six-fold this season. Not only does this restoration benefit wildlife, it should help prevent flooding, as the wet grasslands will absorb water from upstream in times of excessive rainfall.
‘Life on the Verge’ is featured too. A joint project by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trusts, it draws attention to an unexpected habitat throughout the three counties – flower-rich road verges. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, the Trusts are surveying 1,300 miles of road verges, some of which are remaining fragments of limestone grassland. Sometimes described as the UK’s rainforest, limestone grassland can hold up to 40 plant species per square metre.
"People pass road verges every day without so much as a second glance. Yet on them, The Wildlife Trusts have discovered new sites for rare wildflowers like squinancywort and man orchid.
"Paul Wilkinson, head of Living Landscape for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Everywhere we look, in urban and rural areas, there are spaces with potential to become wildlife-rich habitats. The Life on the Verge project is a superb demonstration of this – who would have thought a strip of grass beside the road might be home to some of our rarest wildflowers? Of course, these green spaces have many different owners and so we aim to illustrate to them why it’s so beneficial to encourage wildlife into their patch.
“Devon Wildlife Trust has done a remarkable job of this with their Working Wetlands Project, helping farmers to develop long-term skills for the future. These skills will benefit wildlife and also local people in the areas through, among other things, flood prevention.
“The Wildlife Trusts encourage everyone to take a closer look at grasslands and think about what might live there now, and what could live there if it was managed in a different way. Whether taking up wildlife gardening, surveying a strip of road verge or bringing cattle on for conservation grazing, we can all take action to help create A Living Landscape.”