I almost stepped on this wee fella - thankfully I spotted it from the corner of my eye and stopped in my tracks. Then squatted down on my haunches, camera to the ground - quite oblivious to the small crowd of bemused tourists approaching me from just downslope!
On close inspection, there's a prominent pale wart on the rear ankle, the 'metatarsal tubercule' if you want to get all technical. This tubercule tells us that this is a Palmate Newt (Lissotriton helveticus) and not the very similar-looking Smooth Newt. Both occur on Skye, but Palmate is far more likely in acidic conditions.
From memory, I seem to recall that the throat itself was unspotted, though there was some limited spotting on the underparts. But by this time, I was far too busy hustling away from the fast approaching pack of Chinese guests who are currently being a pain in the arse staying here, to think about taking any more pics.
Managed a huge haul of three Mottled Grey to the light trap last night. Also a couple of those scary bastard Ophion things. Evil buggers.
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| Mottled Grey - note how it has evolved to be almost perfectly camouflaged on my rather dashing curtains... |
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| Something like Ophion scutellaris, maybe? These things terrify me |
Light trap is on again tonight, be lovely to find my first Hebrew Character, Clouded Drab or Common Quaker of the year when I check in the morning. Surely it's not too much to hope for? We shall see....
Oh heck, I've forgotten the toons again! Ok, so I've been listening to Steve n Seagull lately and this beaut came up on YouTube's Autoplay selection. Now, as background, Metallica were my entryway into metal way back in the summer of 1990 and the Master of Puppets album changed my life. This is not an overstatement, it opened my eyes to metal. They're shite nowadays, obviously, but back when I was 18....
So. Combine banjo playing rednecks and Metallica and what do you get? You get this!
So. Combine banjo playing rednecks and Metallica and what do you get? You get this!
Also, whilst I'm using that swearword 'seagulls' combined with Metallica....
Both are amazing. My life may be changing in unforeseen ways. Hick, where'd I put that dayam banjo? Billy-Bob Jnr, gone git me ma banjo, boy!
I think that's fine for Ophion scutellaris Seth. Have to be a bit more careful in the summer, but scutellaris and obscurus are the only two that should be flying at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tim, I've whacked up some more detailed pics on FB showing 1) gap between ocelli and eyes 2) T1 detail 3) hind coxa and tarsus and 4) I also counted the antennal flagellomeres as requested. Still awaiting confirmation (or not...) from Gavin Broad, but looks good to me too. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteGavin agrees with scutellaris too, a new one for me. And Skye!
DeleteIndeed "Big 4" corporate rrrawk station fodder. Once upon a time they were the antidote. When I was a nipper my mum visited a friend and left me with her son in his bedroom where the floor space was 2/3 LPs. That was my introduction to Black Sabbath, although it was also my intro to reggae!
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