Beetles.

If I'm not careful I'll have forgotten what I was going to say. An eventful week so far, as I think I resigned. Slightly vague, but anyway my job's getting advertised so I must have. I have some beast of a form to fill in to do it properly and finally. Relative poverty will be a relief.

More time to do the things that I really love doing, identifying stuff, taking photos and thinking; not enough time to think in the job. I've a list of books to read. Maybe I've got a book to write, but I probably won't get around to it.

A week when I finally found some beetles, pictures below. I caught a very tatty Acleris hyemana, which I'd not seen prior to last autumn. There was a bit of an aurora, but it was disappointing to view, it didn't meet the expectaions of the data.

Spring must be here as I saw a Rook carrying a stick fly across the garden on Monday. And there have been Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls on The Shunan.

Harpalus rufipes I hope, can just about make out the hairs on the dorsal surface of the tarsi.

 

Agonum fuliginosum - found under the same stone as the Harpalus.

Sitona linealis, now considered more likely to be obsoletus, Pea-leaf Clover-root Weevil, (thanks MG for re-identification) five of these were attempting to swim in the cattle trough.

I habitually check the various water troughs etc around the patch. Finding five S. linealis swimming in a trough was a surprise. I usually just find one or two of these a year in our flower garden or around the greenhouse. I fished them out, let three go and took the two home to check, they were in a state. In fridge, in water, in a tube, one at the bottom. A day later I take them out and look at them under the Celestron. The one at the bottom gradually comes around and walks off, impressive.

Moth trapping has not been very productive. At the weekend it was too clear and I caught no moths. I did however, catch an unfamiliar Sylvicola. There are four species and the one I usually catch hundreds of is easy as it has no dark tip to the wing apically, punctatus. Out of the trap at the weekend came one with a dark wing tip. Choice of three species that should be ok, no. Help online suggested it would be a female, pity as it is easy to identify males of one of the other three species. However, in Scotland two species are rare, or at least they were twenty or so years ago when Hancock wrote the key, might not be the case now. It probably is Sylvicola cinctus, it is just possible it isn't though and anyway I made a mess of extracting the genitalia, so I suspect I'll never know.

Sylvicola, cinctus but no dark mark in the middle of the hind tibia, not that I can see.

Acleris hyemana.

Having said I wouldn't trap for a week I did. In a hurry for work I emptied the trap in the kitchen and the one moth escaped. Fortunately I was wearing a white T-shirt which it liked. The first trapped moth of the year.

Elder daughter requested spider removal from the bathroom. A small (probable) Eratigena duellica which I misidentified initially was captured and removed to the garage.

Eratigena duellica.

Home and the rookery from down the hill.

 This week I have been enjoying Adam Curtis's extraordinary "Can't Get you out of My Head". A guide to understanding the world we live in. I'd not knowingly come across his work before, I had because he used to be a researcher for Esther Rantzen back in the early 80s. I will, once I've finished this quite long series (BBC iPlayer) be exploring his back catalogue, the film Hypernormalisation is also available on the iPlayer I think.

Again, listening to Don Letts - so start with UNKLE's latest single, "Do Yourself Some Good", follow it with The Teardrop Explodes ("Bless my cotton socks, I'm in the news.) and complete a time travelling trio with a song from 1967, Excerpt from a Teenage Opera by Keith West and Mark Wirtz, which I had not heard for a very long time. The Don also much enjoyed "Can't Get you Out of My Head" apparently.

Other recent listening includes - A Winged Victory for the Sullen and Nils Lofgren. 

It is tempting to comment on the Sturgeon/Salmond situation. The local FB "radical" group, recently taken over by Sturgeon supporting nationalists, it appears, is full of conspiracy theories; er, isn't that what Alec is alleging, a conspiracy? In defense of Nicola I don't feel inclined to believe someone who has taken a job with Putin's RT propoganda channel, a man of dubious integrity IMHO. I'm not a fan of nationalism but politicians rarely apologise; points in favour. Whether she will survive or not will be interesting, I suspect that she probably will, however, this is damaging SNP polling prior to a slightly significant election. In London a wide spectrum of polliticians will be rubbing their hands in glee and cheering this on with enthusiasm. Oddly, the SNP website crashed with the numbers attempting to join the party, perhaps that might be explained by this very good piece about the whole debacle here.