A good day

Yesterday evening Louise called me outside to look at a "small yellow moth", expecting a Brimstone I was a bit unwilling but stirred and was pleased to be surprised by a much smaller moth indeed, one of my favourites, Acleris bergmanniana. The weather being grim and the light being poor I potted it to photograph this morning.

This morning photography completed I took the moth to the small walled garden to release it.

Acleris bergmanniana.

I was half hoping I might get some photos of the moth on plants and it duly obliged landing on some nearby vegetation as I released it. However, as I was getting the camera ready something caught my eye. I'm quite interested in the "picture-winged" flies and have added Palloptera satuum to the county list from the garden. However, this was something a little larger and a lot more striking, certainly a species I'd not seen before.

I managed to get a shot or two taken before chickening out and potting the fly, just in case.

Fortunately I had a decent image. The problem then was to identify the beast. Initial investigations led me first to Herina frondescentiae, but looking more closely I decided that wasn't right. The next thought was Euleia heraclei, the celery fly, but I wasn't sure. I'd already tweeted the image and brought it to the attention of the county recorder. I had stuff to do so went and did stuff. 

A while later I had a Twitter message that the CR thought the fly was Philophylla caesio and had made that suggestion to Ian Andrews. By some weird coincidence Ian had a specimen of that very species right in front of him and replied to confirm. This is perhaps not the most likely beast to turn up in my Orkney garden, there are just three Scottish records in NBN and the closest is a little south and east of Inverness. NBN says - "Philophylla caesio is a species of fly in the family Tephritidae, the gall flies. It is found in the Palearctic. The larvae mine the leaves of Urtica". So a new species for the county, and although I didn't identify it myself I'm still pretty pleased.

Philophylla caesio, release picture,

I should have kept the specimen really but I try to avoid killings things if I don't need to.

Apparently today was international seabird day. So, here are some gratuitous Puffin pix.

 

Atlantic Puffin.

And a Razorbill and a Fulmar or two.

 Razorbill.

Fulmar.

The stuff to do - go for a walk. Also picked up a click beetle which I haven't got around to yet.

Moth traps are out, including at Wee Wood and a wander around an hour or so ago found a record 19 Ghost Moths lekking and mating, 50 - 100 Silver-ground Carpet and plenty of Noctuids bombing about. A good day indeed.