Out west

We went away for a week. We've not done that for a while. We went to a wee village on the banks of Loch Fyne. I was quite excited about this as there are a lot more species of lichens in the remnants of the temperate rain forest. However, not everything went according to plan, as the previous post might indicate.

I did find plenty of lichens, which of course I'm still working through, not quite as tricky as bryophytes, mostly because the AI is not bad and getting better at lichens, but it's pretty hopeless with mosses, so it takes hours to even start to identify them.

No, I don't know this one....

Thuidium tamariscinum, I think. This is the one that carpets the west.

I've got myself set up with the chemicals required for lichen hunting, and a way of safely transporting them, although I'm yet to use them. Maybe tomorrow as I have a few samples to check out.

Anyway, there were plenty of fairly obvious lichens that were relatively easy to identify; no chemicals necessary. Lobaria pulmonaria was everywhere in the right habitat. 

Lungwort Lobaria pulmonaria

 

There  is one place near home that it grows, but I found it in any places there, without really trying. I also managed to find its relative Lobaria virens, which I hadn't found before.

Lobaria virens

 

As it turned out there were some insects that I came across that were considerably more exciting than these lichens, well I prefer things with legs when it comes down to it.

Scathophaga calida, a not especially common littoral fly.

A rummage on the beach by the rental house was even more interesting. A centipede and a millipede tick first off. 

Strigamia maritima, a common centipede of the high tideline which I really should have recorded before.

Cylindroiulus punctatus, a common enough millipede which again I had previously ignored.

I'd turned over quite a few rocks and stones, bits of wood and other detritus along the strand line. Then I turned over a stone, much like others, but the substrate below was more compact, perhaps a tad less liable to be inundated. And there were beetles! I haven't even attempted to the Staphylinids that were there, likely Aleocharinae, they'll probably be a nightmare to identify. However, there were also some tiny (c2.5mm) Carabids. St first I thought they were Aepus marinus, but fortunately I took a few specimens (and Wikipedia has the incorrect species illustrated for A. marinus BTW).  When I put these under the microscope yesterday I found that they were the closely related Aepopsis robinii, these are even less common, particularly in Scotland, with just 8 records on the NBN.

This image does not show the elytral shape well, see lowest image, however, the eyes are comparatively large and the elytra are glabrous apart from the sensory setae.

A live one, but a good job I took the specimen.

Showing the rounded apices to the elytra, so there is a notch between them, Aepus marinus, the confusion species, has straight apices to the elytra so there is no notch. Other differences - smaller eyes and fine hairs on the elytra.

 

There were about fifteen of these under the one stone. 

Under the piece of wood where I found the Cylindroiulus there were also some odd white things. These vaguely rang a bell, but I could not recall what the connection was; Burray maybe. A post on the P-SL FB Group and I was reminded of Ensign Scale Insects, I had seen, and collected one or two in Burray in the past, actually at the bottom of BH's garden. However, my photos raised a bit of consternation as my photos could not be ascribed to a UK species. It then turns out that PTS has found what is probably the same species elsewhere on the west coast. It may be that these are a North American species of Arctorthezia.

 

Arctorthezia species perhaps occidentalis

Of course I'd failed to take a specimen, so I need to return...

There's more to post about this outing. The birds were pretty good, we saw seven Harbour Porpoise way up the loch, and Harbour Seal. I found one or two plants of interest and it was scenically very different from home. But I need to sort out more photos first....

Good-bye old friend...

There have been occasional mentions of "the hound" in this blog, with even a photo or two over the years. Of late, fewer mentions as she has not been up to the rigors of longer walks in my searches for things wild. Yesterday, at 15 years and two and a half months the inevitable occurred.

Heading out for The Shunan and maybe Bosquoy.

Cora and I enjoying a joke (probably one of us farted!)

Into the museum.

 I arranged to visit the National Museum Collection Centre (part of our National Museum of Scotland). It is an amazing place, and many thanks to AW for spending time talking to me about various things entomological. I went in order to check out a couple of moths in the collection which I believed had been mis-identified. Well, probably correctly identified at the time, but now these identifications are considered unsafe. Criteria change as knowledge grows. And I also took along a bag of specimens to donate. The museum is keen to have firsts for Scotland and most northerly finds etc.

Anyway, here's the tray I went to look at:

Yponomeuta spp National Museum of Scotland Collections, many thanks to AW.

I've already got a reason to go back as I've been going through some old Orkney beetle samples. Unfortunately my prior labelling was not up to scratch and I worked through some specimens I'd previously identified, but not labelled as such :-( Anyway, sorted and specimens labelled and now ready to be taken to the museum next time I go.

Bisnius puella

Photo slightly awry for some reason. This last image is to remind me how to do these. I kept counting six punctures in each dorsal series, and that takes you off into other genera in both Lott and Duff keys. However, I think there are at least 7 punctures, see red arrows. So Bisnius puella. This the second Orkney record, thanks to BR for that info - NBN not up-to-date with these.

 

 

Platystethus arenarius worth going through the pots as I had found the first Orkney record of this species in 2019, now adding two more to the record. Quite a small beast 3.2mm.

Tachyporus hypnorum, awkward things to identify, this genus, as the colours vary within species. Elytral setae are the way to do them, but with old specimens the setae break off (have broken off) making it trickier. A common beetle across Orkney.

 

A bit of sitting in the garden photographing birds and the Bank Voles again. 

Bank Vole

Blackbird

Blue Tit (taking a poo)

Chaffinch

Coal Tit

Great Tit

Woodpigeon

 I've lichens and stuff to post about but I'll post this and follow up shortly I think.

New boots and ...

Buying new outdoor footware is a bit of a nightmare. Expensive and getting a comfortable fit is something of a challenge I find. It's hard to tell in the shop. My very comfortable Scarpa boots are now not much good on the hill as the soles are rather like the tread on car tyres that are close to the legal limit. So a trip to Perth was required the other day. I've ended up with Scarpa again, but a very modern design. So far warm and comfortable, but time will tell. Past boot experiences have not always ended well. The pair I wore for the John Muir trail ended up on the cooking fire about half way around as I developed a pathological hatred for them due to the pain they were inflicting. I continued in trainers, but the next day we had to cross snow... I'm just about to eBay my clipless Addidas mountain bike shoes (and the Shimano reversible pedals) as off the bike I might as well wear slippers. No trouble with the cleats, I quite liked them, but it's back to clips on the pedals, and I'm hoping the new Scapas will work well with that set up. Green mobility is pretty essential to all this species recording.

Birding has been interesting with another Woodcock (second patch record) and various comings and going with Fieldfares and a few Redwing. The Oystercatchers returned early, but then disappeared again with the cold snap and the snow. Mistle Thrush continue to sing and were joined by Song Thrush singing in the last few days. A Dipper was singing on the Ruchill. The kite roost has been around 90+ and Kestrel and Merlin have been seen during the counts. 

I've discovered that birding patchwork is still going and is working in a more communicative way with a blog, I might join in again. Inland Scotland would be my league. 

https://patchworkchallenge.blogspot.com/

 

Invergeldie estate, the hills across the glen have a proposal for 19 wind turbines many of which will be 200m tall. Then a second proposal a little beyond them is for 12 wind turbines up to 180m tall. Information here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/saveglenlednock 

We walked up from the very churned up "car park", I wonder if the problems have been caused by Taiga who are carrying out the ground works and deer fencing for the planting of many trees on the estate? We got up to the dam and there very distantly was a Golden Eagle. If the turbines are built the estimate is that they will kill 12 Golden Eagles over their 40 year life. I've been looking into the other impact of turbines on Golden Eagles and the implication is that they will move the Golden Eagles out of the glen as the species is intolerant of turbines. This paper is interesting - 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ibi.12996

You can read it here, but not download it without paying quite a lot of money.

There are more and more proposed wind farms for the Highlands. So much for the Scottish Government's biodiversity promises. It looks as if one of our most iconic species will be driven out, or at least the population will be significantly depleted. (I don't believe the Scottish Government really understands biodiversity, they seem to be happy to "mitigate" the adverse impacts by "increasing biodiversity" with tree growing projects etc. So iconic species are lost and replaced with a number of common species thus "increasing biodiversity". IMHO they've completely misunderstood the concept. )

The snow was quite heavy a few days previously and the view above the Hub at the community woodland was wintery.

The Hub and hills beyond, Comrie Community Woodland.
 

 The camera traps have been out at the woodland.

Somewhat tantalising as I've never seen one of these.

 Brown Hare, again

 I've been lookjng at lichens and mosses etc again. I find them hard, but bringing small samples home and putting them under the microscope improves my identification chances.

Stereocaulon, probably S. veuvianum but I didn't take a sample of this one and need to go back to check some details.

 This one was a bit easier.

Graphis scripta

Peltigera collina, which I was surprised to find I had seen previously. (note the rhizines are tufty and almost like coppiced Hazel (are these "simple?)

 I struggled to identify this, although I think it is quite distinctive. I suspect a lichenophile will have glanced at the first image above and identified this to species instantly, rather in the manner I'd pick out a Brambling from a Chaffinch flock. Thanks to CF confirming it. One of the problems with keys is that they are often pedantic and ignore how species "look" to focus on small, sometimes hard to understand, definitive features. This is a product of how keys function. Keys are often obscured by the technical language they use requiring a trip to the glossary every other sentence. Again this is understandable, technical terms are required and once learned are very helpful, just the learning for each different Order can take a while. However, it is not helpful when the key and the text are out of kilter and contradict each other. Dobson's Lichens is an amazing piece of work and my edition, 7th revised 2018, is well thumbed. Peltigera are generally considered to be a tricky genus. There is a table prior to the key that puts P. collina in the "Upper surface matt to glossy" section. The previous group of species are in the Upper surface scabrid or tomentose (at least in part), section. However, the first couplet of the key immediately following this table: 

1. Upper surface tomentose or at least scabrid in parts - 2 (tomentose = covered in fine hairs) (scabrid = rough and scurfy)

- Upper surface glossy or slightly matt, not tomentose - 9 

 And then P. collina keys out at 4!!!!

Additionally, in the species description P. collina - Lower surface almost white with light tan veins and simple rhizines. On my specimen the "light tan veins" were very, very hard to see. And are those rhizines "simple"?

 The new Introductory guide to Lichens does not really get you to species very easily, but the top tips for identification ae handy and the photographs are often larger and generally clearer. Dobson is still an amazing piece of work, the new book Yahr and Stoakley is a very useful addition to the lichen hunter's library. Used with the various websites and FB Groups you will eventually get there (and Observation.org can be very helpful if you are prepared to use AI), but along with the need to carry caustic chemicals around the countryside (I don't) there seem to be a lot of barriers to lichen proficiency.

And mosses - 

Racomitrium lanuginosum
 

Best I don't get into how tricky I find these.... Give me a Bembidion or a Stenus (genera of carabid  and staphilinid beetles well know for being tricky) any day! But I am continuing to attempt identifications....

This post interrupted: Tae sup  wi' a Fifer - 

James and guests were, as in a previous incarnation, excellent.

I put out a single Heath trap with a blue LED two nights ago. It was raining a bit but the temperature had increased, it seemed worth a try.

Chestnut (2)

March Moth

Pale Brindled Beauty (10)

Spring Harbinger.
 

 Next trapping should be at the community woodland, just waiting for the right conditions = not so much rain.