Basking Sharks

Iain Mitchell sent in these fantastic photos of one of the Basking Sharks he saw when out on his boat on Saturday. No doubt the same ones seen by James Brown. It was the same length as his boat (20 ft).

Becky

Flying ants

There were significant numbers of flying ants out around Portnahaven today - no idea of the species however.  Apparently they have evelved to respond to swarm in certain weather conditions - the females (or queens) flying up to meet with the smaller males for an aerial love-fest after which the males die and the females fall to the ground.  Their wings then drop off and they attempt to start another colony. 

We were covered with them for a while this afternoon - but they are entirely harmless.
Carl

Pollock (Pollachius pollachius) and Atlantic Mackerel (Scomber scombrus)

Caught off Wester Ellister this afternoon and ready to go on the barbeque.  There are two common members of the Pollock family regularly found in the coastal waters off Islay, this is the lythe, usually larger and more palatable than the saithe (usually called puchie on Islay - scientific name Pollachius virens)  The puchie is not as green on the back as the lythe and its lateral line runs straight - you will see how the lateral line on this lythe has a distinct curve upwards.

The familiar Atlantic mackerel is still abundant around these shores in the summer months.  Each female lays around a million eggs when they spawn.  Barbequed straight from the sea like this they are, in my opinion, absolutely delicious.
Carl

Where's Wally?

Somewhere in the middle of this shot is what I think is an Emperor Moth caterpillar (best to click on the image to enlarge it a couple of times). He/she was crossing the road at a leisurely pace between Tormisdale and Claddach earlier today. I got about 10 photos, but the new INHT corporate camera seems to have a mind of its own, so this is the best of a bad bunch. Apologies. It was an impressive sight, however, it's an enormous caterpillar, and the purple spots really stood out in the sun. The caterpillar is active between June and August, and will soon be spinning a cocoon in which to spend the winter as a pupa.

Just down the road was this Small Copper.

Ten Basking Sharks off Laggan point

James Brown of Octomore reported seeing ten Basking sharks today from his boat while off Laggan Point in Loch Indaal.  That definitely qualifies as a whole herd of very large fish...

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

Flowers of the Yarrow vary from white to pink - this is a particularly colourful example found growing in grass next to the road on the Blackrock Strand

Huge cuts to DEFRA budget threaten rural life

I seem to recall flagging up this issue on this blog before as the post election rhetoric about the size of departmental cuts at Westminster was first bandied about.

The coalition is starting to provide a few figures and ideas about behind the intitial headlines now - and it is scary stuff.

This is the headline front page story in today's Guardian - apparently there is serious consideration being given to flogging off NNRs

Here is a quote - "Among the plans being considered by the government, which once declared itself "the greenest ever", are selling off national nature reserves; privatising parts of the Forestry Commission; privatising the Met Office, one of the world's leading research organisations on climate change; and withdrawing grants to British Waterways, which manages 2,200 miles of canals and rivers."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/aug/13/plan-sell-nature-reserves-austerity-countryside

And if it's in the papers - it must be true...
Carl

Small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) - Butterfly Conservation Survey

It is thought that the Small tortoiseshell has been subject to an alarming decline in many areas and we are being asked to report all sightings to Butterfly Conservation

A survey form can be found in the Scottish section of http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/

This one was in my garden this afternoon along with a number of Peacocks and a Red Admiral.

Carl

I digress...

Absolutely nothing to do with Islay Natural History, but indulge me. The Perseid meteor shower was on display in all its glory as I cycled home from work at 1am this morning, an amazing experience. The weather forecast looks decent for Islay again tonight, so we should all get some more good views. More info at the link below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10941034

Porbeagle Sharks - how The Sun sees them

I think that the way that The Sun covered the capture of a big Porbeagle off Islay last week says a lot about attitudes to wildlife....

Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)

The Ringlet is a common butterfly here on Islay and this seems to have been a good summer for them.  They look quite like Meadow Browns, but the spots are smaller, appear on both the fore and hind wings and have pale rings round them.  Males are much darker than females (pictured).  Females do not lay their eggs in batches, but scatter them at random over lush grassy places.  The dull brown caterpillars apparently feed at night, even during the winter, so if you are a real enthusiast you could go crawling around random grassy places in the dark with a torch looking for small brown caterpillars.

Well, somebody must have done it...

Wildlife Photography Competition - Neil Grundy

This is one of several entries to our Wildlife Photography Competition from Neil.  Many thanks for this picture - which is entitled 'Pinks on the Shore'.

Green Grasshopper (Omocestus viridulus)

I think this is probably a Common Green Grasshopper - but would appreciate confirmation.  Thanks to Steve for sending us the photo

Manx Shearwater

A picture of a Manx shearwater passing two of the skiffs on the Pillage as they crossed the Sound of Islay yesterday on their way to Ardbeg.  We had stayed in Craighouse on Jura the previous night and at Tobermory on Mull the night before that. 

More pictures from the pillage are on the Ileach Flickr Photostream accessed through http://www.ileach.co.uk/

Carl

Bats...

Chris called us at the Natural History Centre this morning to report finding what she thought was a Brown Long Eared Bat in her garden at Glenegedale. The bat population, like many species (apart from birds!) is hugely under-recorded here on Islay, and the Trust has been thinking of buying a bat detector as part of a drive to get to know what is out there a little better. If anyone knows of any good bat spots or has any sightings, please let us know!

We've also had reports of an Osprey fishing over Loch Indaal yesterday afternoon, so keep your eyes peeled...

Mark

Fw: Pillage

Minke whale off east coast Jura

350 pound Porbeagle shark caught off Oa last week. Links to pictures later.

Otter at Craighouse this morning







Corrievreckan to starboard, Garvellachs ahead, puffins now commonest auk but also guillemots with young. More distant unident cetaceans.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Fw: Classic Pillage

Heading up to Corrievreckan with Clansman, Highlander and Maggie B. Then on to Tobermory to collect first pillage. Flat calm.
Carl
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Fw: Classic Pillage

Bonxie and unidentified cetaceans off Scalasaig. Small parties Manxies, lots of tysties.


Carl

Little and large

We were over at Port Askaig yesterday when one of the locals asked an innocent question, " Want to see a big Lobster?"
Well here it is! The fisherman reckons that it was around 3.5 kg in weight. It really was a monster. The smaller lobster was just really a "normal" lobster, but it gives you an impression on how big, big is! The next question is obviously how old would it be?
Later on, while out fishing off the Post rocks past Rubh a'Mhail we saw a Basking Shark at close quarters. The fishing was good too...
Ian & Margaret

Rhizocarpon geographicum

The wonderful lichen in the first two photos is Rhizocarpon geographicum or Map Lichen. Being a great fan of maps and all things map related, I love this lichen and enjoy looking for shapes of countries and islands I know in the shape of the lichen on the stone. It's good to see so much lichen on Islay because lichen thrives in areas of clean air - and it certainly thrives here. The other really good thing about lichen is that, unlike some birds, flowers and butterflies, it's here all the time, so we can enjoy many different species all year round - and of course it doesn't move, making it easy to see and photograph.

The flower is the tiny Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis avensis). I love this diminutive flower which, although generally regarded as a weed, is very beautiful and quite showy really.

Both the lichen and the flower were seen today at Sanaigmore.

Becky

Macro-moths and micro-moths

 Moths are divided by the experts into macro and micro. The best moth identification book (Waring & Townsend - Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2nd edition, 2009) just deals with all the macro-moths. There are illustrations of about 500 micro-moths in another book (Manley - British Moths and Butterflies. A Photographic Guide, 2008), but this is only some of them and identification of the difficult species involves peering at their genitalia through a microscope. There's nothing a true lepidopterist won't do in pursuit of his hobby! And just when you're thinking that micro-moths must all be smaller than macro-moths, then think again! There's a considerable overlap in size.

Anyway, after that rigmarole, here's a picture of a 1.4-cm-long micro-moth (upper photo), rejoicing in the name of the Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis heparana) - and thanks to Danny Arnold for the identification. And there's also a picture of a 1.4-cm-long macro-moth (lower photo), the Purple Bar, which I hadn't caught before.

Malcolm

"Lucky" white heather

The heather is just coming out nicely now, and among one large expanse was this white-flowered plant. I found the following on a mythology page on the internet:
"The idea that white heather is lucky was popularised by the Victorians and their love of Scottish traditions. In 1884 Queen Victoria herself wrote about her servant Mr Brown, who "espied a piece of white heather, and jumped off to pick it. No Highlander would pass by it without picking it, for it was considered to bring good luck." White heather's luck may have been attributed to it because of its scarcity, in the same way that four-leaf clovers brought other Celts luck. Other interpretations include the more romantic notion that white heather grows over the final resting places of faeries, or the idea that in a country of many ancient battles, white heather grew on patches of ground where no blood had been shed. Indeed white heather's luck appears originally to have been associated mainly with battles; in 1544 Clan Ranald attributed a victory to the fact they had worn white heather in their bonnets, and Cluny of Clan MacPherson attributed his escape after Culloden to the fact that searchers had overlooked him whilst he slept on a patch of white heather."

I can't confirm that there is the final resting place of a faerie where I found it!

Malcolm

Red Flowers

Red Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum), Greater Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum), Fuschia megallenica, and Knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa)

Tachina grossa

Found some excellent pictures of the fly Tachina Grossa taken in the Netherlands, including a splendid close-up of its head.  Sadly my own shots were all out of focus.  The fly was found in Bruaich Jerich behind Port Charlotte.

Malcolm was given some dead specimens in 2005 from Gruinart House.

The fly is parasitic on large, usually hairy, caterpillars - of species such as the Fox moth and the Oak eggar.  The larvae feed on the caterpillar and then the adult fly emerges from the pupa.

Photo Leyton Williams-Davies;  Headshot - Piet Spaans

Carl

Common Frog (Rana temporaria)

Frogs are common here on Islay and we do our best to keep it that way by rearing a steady stream of young frogs at the Field Centre for release back into the wild - where the vast majority will be eaten by a bewildering array of predators who like young frog. 

This adult example narrowly avoided my garden shears while I was manicuring the lawn this afternoon and stayed around long enough to have his portrait taken before hopping off into some very attractive long wet grass.

Unidentified insects

I am going to have to hit the books down at the Centre to try and find out what these two are.  The orange headed fly was seriously large - at least as big as the largest Bumble bee.  It was quite scary.  I wasn't sure whether to take its picture or run for cover.  Hence the blurry image.

The wasp-like insect on the left could be a species of Sawfly (perhaps Mellinus?) whereas I am proud to say that the big chap on the right is Tachina grossa - the largest fly in Europe.  No wonder I was scared.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachina_grossa

Carl

Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io)

An outrageously beautiful butterfly.  They look dark when on the wing.  Often rest with their wings open, as this one was doing in the garden this morning.  When newly emerged, as this one surely is, the colours are incredibly bright - but they fade with age and the ones that emerge in the spring after hibernating are sometimes quite scruffy and almost drab.

They lay their eggs on nettles.  This one seemed to have a particular attraction to a large bed of Silverweed.
Carl

Charlock (Sinapis arvensis)

Growing abundantly at Octofad

Wildlife Photography Competition - - Ali Bosmans

Ali, who is from from Belgium, has submitted this picture of an Ardtalla cowpat complete with toadstool entitled 'Nature Doesn't Mind' - Cheers Ali!

Hoverfly - Syrphus vitripennis or Syrphus torvus

Ref: http://www.commanster.eu/commanster/Insects/Flies/SuFlies/Eriozona.erratica.html

Carl

Conops flavipes?

I think this is a member of the family Conopidae, or thick-headed flies, the larvae of which are parasites on bumble bees.  The maggot eats the abdomen contents, breathing through its skin and then its hind spiracles until the poor old bee collapses.

The adults eat pollen

Found on Ragwort in Bruaich Jerich

Some information:
http://www.insectoid.info/flies/thick-headed-flies/conops-flavipes/

Carl

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)

This spectacular butterfly is probably a female.  It was resting up at Bruaich Jerich bhind Port Charlotte this afternoon.  The food plants are sorrel or docks, and this example is so bright that it had probably only recently emerged. 

I have not previously noticed the purple irridescence on the hind wing of a Small copper but it shows up quite well on the photo here.

Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) and Lesser Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)

Everyone knows the rather blousy white-flowered Bindweed that can be a real pest in gardens, but not so well known is its rather less vigorous cousin the Lesser Bindweed which has much smaller flowers that are blush pink and only about an inch across.  I noticed some next to the path down to the beach from the Field Centre this morning.
Carl

Wildlife Photography Competition - Tom Coussee

Thanks to Tom for entering this picture of a rainbow across Loch Indaal from Port Charlotte.

Some more moths

The first moth trapping night for quite a while. Although the experts say that catching in light rain is OK - indeed can lead to more moths being caught, I tend to avoid nights where the forecast is for rain, which means a lot of them recently.
Anyway, here's a selection from last night, starting with the Barred Straw which looks as if it only has one pair of wings, but the rear pair are there, just held out of sight under the forewings. Then there's a Brimstone (as yellow as the Brimstone Butterfly (which doesn't occur this far north), the Common Rustic and finally the Common Wainscot, including a head-on shot which looks quite fearsome. It's probably not quite in focus but was taken through the side of a curved plastic pot!
Malcolm

Roe Deer

Two young Roe deer were tight to the fence at the Gearach as the peloton from the Ride of the Falling Rain pedalled past yesterday - they got a bit spooked and crashed about a bit, as deer do when they think they are cornered - but we were gone before they could do themselves any damage.

The shots are from Gruinart a couple of years back.

Carl