2013 Design a Butterfly winner

Congratulations to Daniella Murray, age 6, of Bakewell who is our 2013 Design a Butterfly winner. Paul Kirkland, Director of Butterfly Conservation Scotland, was this year's judge of our competition. He said he was very honoured to judge the competition and that it was a difficult decision but he thought this 'party' butterfly was 'great fun'. A Greenbug Production Scottish Wildlife Colouring Book is winging its way now to Daniella. Well done!
Becky

Mauve Stinger bioluminescence

Thanks to John Cameron for bringing in these jellyfish which he subsequently released. He had been watching these jellyfish with Ethan Maceachern, who was fishing at the slipway in Bowmore with his Dad Robert around 8.30pm on Sunday and they observed them 'glow in the dark'. I was very interested to hear his story because Lorna and I had spent some time trying to 'rescue' numbers of this jellyfish on Tiree which had been or were being washed up.

They are known as Mauve Stingers or 'Nightlight' Jellyfish because of two properties they possess: one - a painful sting, not only in their 8 tentacles, but also in their speckles, two - because of their ability to glow in the dark by producing luminous mucus from surface cells when they are knocked or disturbed by waves. This jellyfish can grow up to 10 cm in diameter and is very variable in colour. It can be stranded in great numbers on beaches, as observed by Lorna and I on Tiree.
Becky

Mauve Stinger (Pelagia noctiluca)

Ramble at Kilchiaran 23rd September 2013

I'm pretty sure that yesterday's ramble consisted of the most widespread bunch of ramblers we've ever had: one couple from Switzerland, one from Australia and two from Yorkshire! We started the ramble in glorious sunshine and finished just as the mist which prevented our service plane from landing descended! The spring tides meant the tide was farther out than I've seen it here before but, a month since our last ramble, the flora was much depleted. A Stonechat family greeted us and later bade us farewell and a small flock of Choughs offered a conversation point as Claud and Brigitte are familiar with the Alpine Chough which lives at much higher altitudes on the continent. A wonderful last ramble. Sadly I forgot to put my card in my camera so don't have any photos! Thank you to all for coming.
Becky

BIRDS
Stonechat, Chough, Raven, Hooded Crow, Starling, Buzzard, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Twite, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Gannet, Rock Dove, Cormorant

BUTTERFLIES AND OTHER INVERTEBRATES
Small Copper, Peacock, Crab Spider sp, Garden Spider, Drinker Moth caterpillar, Millipede

FLORA
Self-heal, Common Nettle, Creeping Thistle, Thrift, Yarrow, Dove's-foot Cranesbill, Meadow Buttercup, Water Mint, Devil's-bit Scabious, Ragged Robin, Hawkbit, Red Clover

LICHENS AND FUNGI
Xanthoria parietina, Anaptychia runsinata, Ramalina siliquosa, Ochrolechia parella, Yellow wax cap and various other unknown fungi spp

Bottle-nosed Dolphins in Loch Indaal

Thanks to Kevin Wiggins for these excellent shots of Bottle-nosed Dolphins which he has seen several times in Loch Indaal.

No ramble today Monday 16th September

Due to adverse weather conditions we have regrettably had to cancel today's ramble at Killinallan. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Sea spider at Salum (Tiree)

Sea spider at Salum_2 a video by Odd Wellies on Flickr.

Although Lorna and I found this last week on Tiree, this wonderful sea spider could be seen on Islay. We have been looking for them here for years. Having found one on Tiree, it seemed too good an opportunity to miss posting!

Mists and mellow fruitfulness

There's little point in photographing mists, of which we've had quite a lot recently, but the mellow fruitfulness of autumn is well to the fore. Here are hawthorn and rowan berries waiting for the thrushes to arrive. But don't anyone dare try and say that they are forecasting a hard winter as some country 'lore' pretends. The berry crop is a reflection of past growing conditions going back a year or even more.
Malcolm

Hawthorn

Rowan

 

Tracking invasive non-native plants

A new (free) app for smartphones (iPhone and Android) has recently appeared, called PlantTracker. It has been developed by the Environment Agency, Bristol University and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology to help plot the distribution of 15 highly invasive non-native plants in the UK, including the very well-known (?notorious) species like Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam, Giant Hogweed and Rhododendron, but also some that may be less familiar but no less potentially damaging like Water Fern, Floating Pennywort and Piri-Piri Burr.
There are images and descriptions of all 15 species and, when you encounter one of them, you can get the location using your phone's inbuilt GPS (you don't need a phone or internet connection for this, only the automatic satellite link), add details of how much there is and any further relevant information like habitat, take a photograph if you feel confirmation is needed, and then, when you've got the necessary connection, you can e-mail the information to the organisers. You can also enter records manually on their website at: planttracker.naturelocator.org.

Here's a Himalayan Balsam plant I found today. I shall not only be submitting the location, but I shall probably talk to the landowner about getting rid of it. There were quite a few more plants and the potential for them to spread where they are is high.
Malcolm

Invertebrates galore!

It's been such a good year for butterflies on Islay and with the return of the sun, mum and dad and I had a walk to the ruined village of Olistadh and then on to Kilchiaran and what some insects we beheld! Here is a selection of the bounty of the day. I've never seen so many Small Coppers all in one place, but the highlight had to be the Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar slowly crossing the path on its way to find somewhere to pupate. The first I've ever seen!
Becky

4-spot Orb Weaver spider - we watched anxiously as a bumble bee, caught in its web, fought for freedom. Not wanting to intervene, we watched the spider approach its prey, the bee struggle, the spider get closer - and finally breathed a sigh of relief as the bumble bee extricated itself and found its freedom. Phew!

Black Darter

Buff Ermine larva

Common Darter

Drinker Moth larva

Elephant Hawk Moth larva

Rosy Rustic

Small Coppers mating

White Ermine larva

Foreland Brick and Tile Works

Upon Malcolm's suggestion months ago (!) I was keen to visit this former works, once an important industry for making drainage tiles on the island in the nineteenth century. It was a short (and wet) walk, but we saw lots of insects, including this impressive male Common Hawker and a hoverfly I later identified as Sericomyia silentis. Alan Silverside has an excellent page on his website about this species, and I quote therefrom:


With a body length generally of about 16mm, Sericomyia silentis is one of our largest hoverflies (family Syrphidae).
Hoverflies are classic Batesian mimics – harmless but closely resembling bees or wasps (order Hymenoptera). S. silentis is a magnificent but rather fearsome-looking insect that could easily be taken to be a large social wasp (Vespa species). As shown below, it hovers, but it also has a rather 'busy' manner as it moves from flower to flower, again like a bee or wasp.
It is a species primarily of peatland areas and its distribution in Britain matches the distribution of its habitat, i.e. it is most common in the north and west and is much more local and scarce in central and south-east England.
The larva is of the "rat-tailed maggot" type, so called because it has a long, rear, tail-like, extendable breathing-tube, enabling it to live submerged in deoxygenated aquatic sediments. Larvae of S. silentis evidently occur in the rotting vegetation and semi-liquified peat of moorland ditches and flooded peat-cuttings; Verrall (1901) quotes correspondance recording the discovery of larvae that proved to be this species, found where vegetated peat turves had been thrown back into a pool in the cut area.

For his webpage, see http://bioref.lastdragon.org/Diptera/Sericomyia_silentis.html

Foreland Brick and Tile works remains

Sericomyia silentis

 

 

 

Male Common Hawker

Old diary entry

Here at the visitor centre, we possess a few lovely old diaries, full of people's observations and comments about their Islay holidays. Glancing through them, I found this entry dated September 3rd-8th 1990 which is relevant to today's date, so thought I would share this extract:

'Arrived on another glorious Islay day. Islay will always have a special place in my heart. Its beauty especially when the sun shines never ceases to amaze me. Fourteen years I have been coming to Islay and I intend visiting for another fourteen years and more!
         It has been quite a wet week on Islay but the quiet peaceful way of life is so relaxing that the weather never really matters. It is so good to drive about at your own speed without the hustle and bustle of the city traffic. The beaches are still as beautiful. '

There are also numerous lists of flora and fauna encountered, which I will perhaps share another time.

Lorna

Photos from Nicolien Brandenburg

Some weeks ago a very enthusiastic young lady came to the Centre with lots of flower questions. We spent a long time in the library studying her photos and the various flora guides. I asked her to send me some photos and include a portion of her email (unedited) below as it is such a delightful read. She went on an expedition up Beinn Bheigier with her family, which she describes so well:

All of the flowers in these photo's were found on Kindra,  made during our trip 'Walk on the Wild Side' to Solder's Rock.

 

Beinn Bheigier was exiting, as halfway up we had to leave behind Sifra, her body could not cope. When we did reach the top we were stuck in a rainstorm! We managed to get to the first ridge, but didn't find the second one. We were pressed for time. On our walk down we lost the track, and ended up in the heatherbushes.

 

Eventually we found Sifra and the track, and proudly carried on downhill to our parked car. YES!!! WE MADE IT!!!

 

Thankyou very much for the splendid day at the museum and hopefully you will make use of our pictures!

Eyebright

Garden Tiger Moth

Heath Speedwell

Heath-spotted Orchid

Purple Loosestrife

Red Bartsia

Wild Thyme

Scots Lovage - Ligusticum scoticum

Professor Steven Mithen talk tonight

Fungal foray

Thanks to Alistair Hutchison for these fungi photos taken near Laggan on Sunday. It's defnitely that fungal time of year again.
Becky

Egghead Mottlegill -

Panaeolus semiovatus var. semiovatus -

This species, which grows on animal dung is extremely variable in size from just a few millimetres up to 150mm depending on the amount of nutrients available to it.

Possibly some form of slime mould (very similar to that seen on yesterday's ramble)

Yellow Wax Cap - possibly Hygrocybe ceracea

Bàgh an Dà Dhoruis

Apologies for any mis-spellings in the title - my map is so worn that I can no longer read it in places! *Thanks Armin - now corrected!* Lorna and I had a long walk to this beach on the north coast of Islay on Saturday. It was a most glorious day with just enough breeze to make walking comfortable and keep the midges at bay! We saw lots of wildlife, with caterpillars being our highlight this time. This beach is perhaps my favourite beach on Islay (I know I've said somewhere on The Oa is, but I've just changed my mind!) It's pretty inaccessible too, which means it's never mobbed and has lots of volcanic sills as well as views of Colonsay. Now all the thousands who read this will be heading to the north of the island . . . A wonderful walk!
Becky

Bombus hortorum - Garden Bumble Bee

Broom Moth caterpillar

Emperor Moth caterpillar

Satyr pug caterpillar

Ramble at Sanaigmore, 26th August 2013

Every ramble is special and unique with its own blend of personalities and sightings, none of which is really within anybody's control and it is this element of surprise which is so exciting about our nature rambles. Today's was so full of wonder and excitement that it has definitely made it into my own personal top five in the INHT ramble charts! Thanks to all who came. A special mention should be made of the inexhaustible Whitney who had asked me to make her a chart to tick off everything she saw. This I did, complete with a points system (which, it has to be said, was revised en route - the harebell obviously getting more points than anything else!) She managed to clock up 1333 points by the end of the ramble and hopefully learnt something as she went! Well done, Whitney! Thanks too to Ann who gave an impromptu geology lesson and pointed out the differences between phyllite ("a type of foliated metamorphic rock created from slate that is further metamorphosed so that very fine grained white mica achieves a preferred orientation." Wikipedia) and greywacke ("a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar and small rock fragments." Wikipedia) Other highlights were the otter (a first for 8 out of our 13 ramblers), a slime mould and a Painted Lady butterfly. Something for everyone then! (Except for the elusive Chough!)
Becky

BIRDS
Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Starling, Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Oystercatcher, Shag, Linnet

FLORA
Bird's-foot Trefoil, Meadow Buttercup, Silverweed (leaves),Common Storksbill, Monkey Flower, Water Forget-me-not, White Clover, Red Clover, Lady's Bedstraw, Daisy, Mouse-ear Chickweed, Common Hawkbit, Eyebright, Spear Thistle, Creeping Thistle, Lesser Burdock, Common Nettle, Common Ragwort, Autumn Gentian, Common Centaury, Self-heal, Wild Thyme, Pineapple Mayweed,  Red Bartsia, Marsh Willowherb, Yorkshire Fog, Fairy Flax, Harebell, Yarrow, Curled Dock, Cut-leaved Cranesbill, Water Mint, Harebell, Purple Loosestrife, Cat's-ear

INSECTS AND INVERTEBRAE
Painted Lady, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Green-veined White, Harvestman, Cranefly, Large Yellow Underwing

MAMMALS
Otter

LICHEN AND FUNGI
Xanthoria parietina, Red Waxcap, Yellow Waxcap, Slime Mould sp

Red Waxcap

Slime Mould

The Centre Lobster

lobster 2013_2 a video by Odd Wellies on Flickr.

Watch our lobster having a mussel meal!

More moths

I've been trapping moths in my garden all summer, usually a couple of times a week, and catching an average 100 moths a night. Up to about a dozen common species can make up at least 75 or 80% of the total catch, but the remainder sometimes include moths I've not caught before. Last night, there were no less than three of these. The Bordered Beauty has only been caught five times before on the island and the tiny (7 mm long) Ancylis badiana only three times (one of those was by Becky two years ago). The Crescent has been caught about 20 times before, just not by me!
Malcolm

Bordered Beauty

Ancylis badiana

Crescent

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.

Ramble at Kilchiaran, 19th August 2013

We had a great turn out for today's ramble, with all ages and interests represented. It was a welcome challenge to keep being asked about Islay's geology and to have various types of rock pointed out to us by our younger ramblers who repeatedly showed up my lack of knowledge on the subject! Thanks to all for such enthusiasm!
Becky

BIRDS
Herring Gull, Common Gull, Hooded Crow, Buzzard, Rock Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Rock Dove, Sand Martin

FLORA
Marsh Woundwort, Lady's Bedstraw, Harebell, Tormentil, Bird's-foot Trefoil, Dove's-foot Cranesbill, Water Mint, Meadow Buttercup, Lesser Spearwort, White Clover, Red Clover, Common Milkwort, Self-heal, Pineapple Mayweed, Mayweed, Eyebright, Red Bartsia, Common Nettle, Marsh Thistle, Spear Thistle, Creeping Thistle, Hawkweed, Daisy, Forget-me-not sp, Foxglove, Marram Grass, Curled Dock, Thrift, Mouse-ear Chickweed, Meadow Vetchling, Butterwort, Common Centaury

INSECTS
Green-veined White, Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell, Bombus pascourum (Common Carder Bee), Bombus lucorum (White-tailed Bumble-bee), hoverfly spp, 

LICHENS
Xanthoria sp, Anaptychia runsinata, Ramalina sp, Ochrolechia parella

Marsh Woundwort

Malcolm tells us about geese and their droppings

We listen avidly