Fumitory and egrets

A bit pre-occupied with various jobs to do and stuff at the moment, life getting in the way of life. The weeks flash by and time evaporates, seemingly. Anyway, picking up the theme of identifying fumitories from last week I had a bit more of a delve along the barley field margins and found there was rather a lot of two species. Fumaria officianalis is straightforward but the ramping-fumitories are hard. Anway, I took more photographs and the local experts pronounced expertly, for which I'm most grateful as the keys are either wrong/misleading, or quite hard to underestand. Thanks to JC and D-MM for their help.

Purple Ramping-fumitory, Fumaria purpurea.

Whilst looking at and for fumitories I bumped into Corn Spurrey, which shamefully I don't recall seeing before. I also found this leaf mine on Red Dead-nettle which I think is the larva of a Dipteran, 

Corn Spurrey, Spergula arvensis.

Mine of Amauromyza labiatarum (most likely) on Red Dead-nettle, Lamium purpureum.

Even identifying Red- Dead-nettle is a tad more challenging than I thought, but this plant is very hairy so I think that ID must be correct. There are a few similar species that I was previously unaware of though.

Red Dead-nettle, Lamium purpureum.

The light traps haven't produced anything much of note, this micro being of most interest perhaps.

Agonopterix nervosa.

Although I was confused by this Common Rustic (it will be that species), the ones here don't generally look like this, they're usually blacker and sit with their wings more spread. I asked for help and then I dissected it, a female, so difficult (with my dissection technique) to prove M. secalis, not Confused or Dusky Brocade, anyway.

Common Rustic, female. (Looking like this it really won't be M. didyma.)

The light trap also contained the usual beetles and craneflies for the time of year, plus the 100s of Limnephilus marmoratus and Large Yellow Underwings.

I'd missed Sitona obsoletus in the spring, but climbing on the house walls at night recently.

Also on the walls this:

It's a tiny Dipteran, probably Tachydromia umbrarum, but it might be T. aemula which is recorded for the county in the local database.

The event of the week occurred today. It had been a weirdish day for various complicated reasons, partly connected with doing my civic duty as a Scottish citizen (no that does not mean I'm an independence supporter...). After checking out the Great White Egrets x2 reported from Loch of Banks yesterday, and refinding them on Loch of Sabiston, one of them conveniently turned up on The Shunan this evening. So, although I saw this species yesterday, I went looking for it following news being put out. But as it was a standard patch visit when I saw it today I can count it as "found". It is also a "patch" tick, a "from the garden" tick and a "from the kitchen" tick (I didn't even have to stand on the table). The first "found" tick for a bird for two years.

Great White Egret, The Shunan.

I had hoped to be on North Ron this week or next for a bit of seawatching, but that's not going to happen as the stuff of life previously mentioned needs doing. Great Shear and two other "big" shears there today. However, the GWE find on patch is full compensation. Also this week, on the greater, 3km sq, uber-patch, there was a very likely Reed Warbler, it was an unstreaked Acro anyway. Not a common bird here, I'll be in single figures for unstreaked Acros in my time here. An uber-patch tick, I might well count it for that purpose, I'm swithering a tad as I didn't entirely nail the ID from Blyth's or Marsh.

The late season silage cut has produced hundreds of gulls on the fields around the house, mostly Common Gulls, and as yet nothing of real note. I did like these juveniles standing and feeding together though.

Black-headed Gull (left), Common Gull (right) both in juvenile plumage, 1cys.