Beetles and other beasts

Had a bit of success with digiscoping today at Skiba Geo.

And some careful looking,  sweep netting and bush bashing also provided some nice beasts.

 Ctenicera cuprea

 Eggs of Gastrophysa viridula

 Gastrophysa viridula - female with the male legging it.

 Cocksfoot Moth, there are millions of these around at the moment.

Phyllobius viridicollis

and this one is most likely Phyllobius pomaceus.

The last two beetles are pretty decent records I think. Plenty more stuff awaiting id of course, and I've got two actinics out, despite the forecast for rain. I've been getting in to craneflies and caddis recently both tricky... but excellent help available. Currently awaiting judgement on what might be a really good cranefly record, we shall see.

Meadow

 

My Emperor Moth cats are growing, 2nd instar now I think.

Pilot Whales

Long-finned Pilot Whales near Kirkwall, Orkney. Unfortunately it is thought one of these animals is injured, thus the behaviour. If you listen carefully above the wind noise and Oystercatchers you can hear them blowing.

Spectator

Rain

It rained yesterday, I can't remember when it last did that here. I'd turned the MV off when I went to bed but left the two actinics going and they produced new moths for the year.

 White Ermine

Common Pug

The moth traps also included some invaders including a few Tipula oleracea, the Empid, Empis stercorea and two species of caddis, Stenyphylax pernistus, but there was another one as well which I need to try and key out.

I have a pile of beetles to key out, the wet weather was not encouraging for searching in poo but I did have a brief poke around at Birsay Links where there were at least three different Aphodians. There were some huge larvae in the poo as well so I suspect a more thorough search might produce a Geotrupes, the weather is supposed to cheer up this afternoon, thick mist at the moment.

Poo

I'd offered to help at a bio-blitz tomorrow afternoon but it's been cancelled. Pleased because what I'd really like to do is head for the poo fields on the coast and have a delve about. Last weekend we went here:

The field of dreams....

And amongst the many Aphodius depressus and sphecalatus/prodromus (I'm still not sure about these) there was a single Aphodius lapponum, NFM, dead chuffed. (It took a bit of work to key it out though.)

Agrolinus lapponum (more taxonomic jiggery going on). The orange thing on the end of the elytra is a parasitic mite.

Also during the week a photo was posted on FB of a large dung beetle on Westray. After a bit of help and (a little controversy perhaps) an ID of Geotrupes stercorarius was made. I'd not realised that any Dor Beetles occurred here so I was a bit amazed. Then I was informed there was a 1901 record and five or six more recent ones and quite a wide variety of sites (all the same recorder - no not the 1901 one -  who clearly has the knack for, and determination to, search for and find these). I'm quite surprised one hasn't come to light here or been found in poo I've been digging around in - but I'm on a mission now...

The moth trap yielded a Dark Sword-grass in the week. And we're all lit up this evening with three traps running. Just out now to check the MV.

Managed to get away from work in order to twitch today's Woodchat on the industrial estate at Hatston late afternoon. Whilst I've seen loads abroad, and one in Ireland, I'd always dipped previously in UK. The light was a bit rubbish and I couldn't get the mantle colour but I think this was an adult female. 

 The primary patch is easy to see so race senator.

Top image Canon but other two digiscoped.

Tree Spugs and other things

It's been cold and finding insects, especially hoverflies has been hard work. I've not had the moth traps out for a while and trying the night before last I caught only Hebrew Character, wait for warmer weather.

Right on cue on 1st May the Tree Spugs arrived and this year there have been a pile of them and they've stayed around. Maximum flock size has been 14 (recorded once) and 13 on one other occasion a week or so later. It may be that they left last night as none so far today, just when an attempt was to be made to ring some... so it goes. (They did return, or new ones arrived and one was present on Sunday and two on Monday.)

Tree Sparrows

And here's the info about their occurence since 2014. Prior to that we had a single long-staying individual that remained for the best part of three years having arrived one May.

Graphs taken from BirdTrack data.

Insect stuff to post later, including a very exciting beetle...

I'd put a water bucket in the pony field as when I went down to feed Blue during the wedding we went to he and Google had wrecked the electric fences and they were both in the one field with G apparently guarding the water. Three days later when things were sorted out I went to bring the bucket in and there was a Carabid in the bucket, sitting above the water, I stuck it in a pot. When I looked at this beast I was puzzled  it looked like a big Loricera pilicornis with no antennal hairs and I couldn't recall anything that looked like that. It sat in a pot for a week before I paid it due attention, it still puzzled me. Not surprising as it turned out to be Pelophila borealis, a Shetland/Orkney speciality with just a very few records elsewhere in Scotland and a record from Wales.

Somewhat damaged from my hauling it through the keys.

Earlier image.

 Dilophus febrilis - Fever Fly.

Millions of this fly have been massing.

Evening walk

A mission to capture some snails for a colleague's lesson tomorrow resulted in some nice beetles including Bembidion tetracolum, Silpha atrata, an Elaterid that will require a bit of work but may be Hypnoides riparius and NFM the weevilLeiosoma deflexum. As well as a couple of Pterostichus melanarius and a Pterostichus niger.

Leiosoma deflexum

Hypnoides riparius

Also first hoverfly of the year, sheltering in the Wee Wood, Eristalis pertinax.

Weekend stuff

Get home on Friday from work and it's sunny and quite warm so sit down on one of outside seats, having a bit of a blether with Louise when I notice the Rooks are a bit agitated, mmmm what's that huge bird that they are pursuing across the field? By'eck tis an eagle. Get some details with the bins but it is soon out of view behind the neighbour's as it heads north. Sprint (that's an approximation, unfit 60+ year old sprint that would be more like an ungainly amble), around into the back garden over the gate (that's lying flat) and into the steading yard. There it is, now pursued by various gulls with geese scattering hither and thither. More half decent views as it heads for the moor but enough to get that it's a 2cy White-tailed Eagle - patch tick (and it was in the pan-listing square), nice.

We had a wedding to attend on Saturday and that took most of the day. A brief wander down the track did produce this though.

 Wooly Bear (Garden Tiger cat).

There was the moment at the wedding I went for a walk around outside and walked in with a micro-moth on my shoulder, it escaped in the gents and I had no pots, but I did have the macro camera - but that's a bit weird in the toilet maybe? Chickened out of flash photography in the wee room, it was a bit flighty anyway, so no id, darn.

Sunday had a slow start, the garden is still full of redpolls, a couple of those cold, dark Commons as well as the more normal Meally and Lessers. And I failed to get any half decent pix of any of them.  Moth traps to do (oh yes, I'd purposefully not drunk anything so that I could nip home and put the traps on). Traps were good except for the Tipula rufina that escaped without its photo being taken (included another Red Chestnut).

 Three of these Stenophylax pernistus (no gen det but confusion species do not occur here).

Red Chestnut

First Garden Carpet of the year.

Ophion sp (maybe, other genera are available) I have recorded Ophion parvulus here which does look like this superficially - these are tricky, will try a post on Moth Trap Intruders with some other angles. They parasitise Noctuid moths, quite large beasts. First one of the year.

Eventually we head to Palace and walk the beach first. I'm keen to try and find littoral carabids and whilst Louise was looking for groattie-buckies I was turning stones over at the high tideline. There were lots of this Staphy and they were quite photogenic. I didn't take a specimen though, however, thanks to Kerbtier.de I got cloesish and a post on UK Beetles FB page got a result.

Cafius xantholoma - NFM

There were various other bits and bats on the beach - the cow poo is now crawling, I resisted the temptation to put a large chunk of it in a bag - that would have been a week's work just to ID the Staphs (retirement job).

We headed back along the beach and then up on the cliff in the Marwick direction, it was calm and grey with the sun starting to come through. Sat down once we'd got a bit of height and scanned. These are the days when you know it's ideal for cetaceans but never see them. I have continued to fail to see a live Risso's Dolphin here, they are not uncommon. Anyway, today was a good day and as I scanned with the little scope a large black back with a mighty scythe like fin emerged from the deep. Over the next 40 mins or so we watched this small pod of Orca (perhaps four) apparently fishing just off the Brough of Birsay before they gradually headed round the corner and out of view.

The afternoon was spent finding the first carder bee of the year in the garden and photographing various (most probably unidentifiable) Dipterans.

I'm thinking the few dark hairs make this Bombus pascuorum.

Crane and C. latecincta

Here are some pictures that got missed off the other post, Yesnaby is a magic place so two visits in one day was no hardship.

 Crane at Yesnaby

 Brown Hare at Yesnaby

Later in the day we went back for a walk. The sun was shining and Chrysolina latecincta was showing well, I found six in the end.

Chrysolina latecincta is an Orkney speciality. It's found just at Yesnaby, along the cliff top where the vegetation has been eroded away. There are a couple of records for Unst in Shetland and it's also been found in salt marsh at Loch Etive.

Discus rotundatus was on the beach.

 The stone fence posts are a real feature, I especially like this row on the cliff edge.

Quite pleased with this image.