Normal service interupted

Three weeks without a post, life getting in the way more.

We've been away, a fortnight south looking for somewhere to live. More on that in a future post, hopefully, not wishing to jump the gun. Even in Scotland house buying and selling; or in our case selling and buying can be tricky. Fingers are crossed that this is a plan that works in an uncomplicated kind of a way. The logistics of this are fairly formidable as we are going quite a way south and of course there is the Pentland Firth to consider.

Anyway, we met the girls and roamed around, Perthshire mostly. We had a couple of B&B nights in Aviemore, a lodge for a few days near Aberfeldy, pretty much in sight of the recent murder location, and then went a bit further west.

We bumped into the busy Bs handywork on three occasions.

Eurasian Beaver felled trees.

I made a few nocturnal sorties out to try and see them but it was a bit early in the year, they are easier to see in the summer apparently.

However, I was successful photographing Roe Deer which I don't think I've got photos off in the past.

Roebuck.

Doe Roe Deer.

The best new species during the week were the moth Rhopobota ustomaculana, which mines the leaves of Cowberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea. I found this species by reading the Micro-moth Field Tips books, and searching for Cowberry when we went to the Birks of Aberfeldy. Having found the plant, I searched and found the leaves glued with silk and within there was a caterpillar (which I failed to photograph). 

Rhopobota ustomaculana

 The original target species was Phyllonorycter junoniella but I didn't find that.

This rather nice shieldbug was on the outside of the lodge at night.

Bronze Shieldbug Troilus luridus.

Also on the outside of the lodge were a few moths. Depressaria radiella, Chestnut and three Agonopterix heracliana/ciliella, of which on dissection one proved to be A. heracliana, and the other two were most probably that species.

I played around with Obsidentify trying, fairly successfully, to identify various fungi, ferns and mosses and we went to see the Fortingall Yew, probably the oldest tree in Europe estimated to be around 5,000 years old. Sadly, it is a shadow of its former self having been vandalised, mostly in the 19th century by souvenir collectors.

Dipper.

American Wigeon

I took the hound for her morning walk. Wandered to The Shunan. I had brought my scope and the birding camera/lens combo with me, I don't always. A lot of wigeon again, this time grazing in the field up the slope. Scan, drake wigeon with a nice white blaze on the forehead. Suspicions aroused, check to see if it could be a hybrid. Not a hybrid, nice drake American Wigeon, patch tick, nice. Hound bored.

They all flew down on to the water after a bit.

I have had one before on the 3km patch, but this is the first on the home, 1km patch. Unfortunately not visible from the house or garden. (Well, I might try from the bedroom window tomorrow...)