February Round-up

Despite all of the distractions mentioned in the previous post (plus a whole heapload more that went unmentioned), I did actually manage to get out and about by myself a few times during February. I largely restricted myself to the southern part of Skye and adjacent Lochalsh, the one exception being an overnighter into the Nairn/Grantown area. I managed a modest twelve lifers in February, mostly micro-fungi, lichens and a couple of pine-associating aphids, all of which kind of sums up my enthusiasm for natural history shenanigans in cold and wet conditions. But I did end the month with a huge surprise addition to my pan-species list. 

Overwintering Coleophora laricella case on Hybrid Larch twig. It's about 2mm long

Microscope pic of a Leucoptera spartifoliella larva, teased out of its mine on Broom

Microscope pic of a Trifurcula immundella larva, also from a Broom mine

Female Lathrobium brunnipes sieved from mosses - a new beetle for me

The underside of its abdomen showing transverse suture line

I spent some time reacquainting myself with a few of the more eye-catching lichens that festoon native trees in this part of the world. Many species are to be found in Skye's temperate rainforests, I really ought to try and wrap my head around a few more of them because they are hugely dominant in many places. 

Pannaria rubiginosa alongside the moss Plenogemma (Ulota) phyllantha

Pectenia atlantica with the tiny green lobes of Normandina pulchella on the thallus, Lobaria pulmonaria above it and Frullania dilatata below. A very typical scene on gnarly old Hazels up here 

Leptogium burgessii with frilly edges to the apothecia

Leptogium cochleatum - a new lichen for me and seemingly very common at Leitir Fura

Plants are one of my keener interests in the world of nature. Sadly February is not an especially great time of year to go looking for them, though of course there are a few that are worth seeking out. My overnighter to the mainland saw me drop in to Urquahart Bay Woods near Drumnadrochit. It's a fine site with plenty of early spring interest. White Butterbur is the main draw (for me) but carpets of Snowdrops and Wild Daffodils all add interest. It's still a bit too early for much else but the Bluebells should be spectacular in a few weeks time and I found fresh Ramsons sprouting in several sheltered spots.

Chrysothrix candelaris at the entrance to the woods

White Butterbur is very common across the woodland floor, though never very far from the river

Snowdrops are always a delight to find, especially when growing in large numbers

There were also quite a few clumps exhibiting flore pleno flowerheads

Pick-a-back-plant is naturalised throughout several areas of the woodland. Not a good thing to see

A pair of Dippers perched in a tree (kinda...)

My first Northern February Red of the year. I didn't realise they occurred here!

Seeing as I was only 20 minutes from Inverness, I called in to the Botanic Gardens once more. Another male Hasarius adansoni, a spectacular jumping spider from overseas, was the undoubted highlight. It was too brief and too fast for my camera to capture, so I have no pics for you this time. Sorry 'bout that.

Phyllonorycter leucographella is positively abundant on Pyracantha just outside the hothouse

I wandered through Garten Woods for a couple of hours, having the place largely to myself apart from the occasional dog walker or jogger. It's a beautiful site, though a few sections are currently being 'harvested', meaning that a couple of tracks were closed off to the public. Not that I tend to stay on the main tracks anyway.

Stunning habitat, just look at the ground layer! 

I heard Crested Tits calling somewhere through the trees, but most of the time I was walking with my eyes down looking for a forest-loving moss that I know grows here. Pretty soon I found my target, and then shedloads more of it soon after.

This is Ptilium crista-castrensis, otherwise known as the Ostrich-plume Feathermoss; so it's a bit of a mouthful whichever name you choose to use. Apparently this fine moss occurs throughout much of Scotland, including right here on Skye, but I've only ever seen it here in Garten Woods. Not that I pay much attention to mosses at the best of times. Yet another failing that I ought to address at some point soon. There were plenty of fallen branches, many of them having the lichen shown below attached. It's really quite a substantial thing and the maps show it to be widespread throughout much of Scotland. 

This is Pseudevernia furfuracea, a large lichen and a lifer for me

Seeing as I was in the immediate vicinity of the R.Spey, I took myself down to the riverside and checked a few posts and rails for sunning stoneflies. It didn't take long to find what I was looking for, another Northern February Red, but this time at a site where I expect to see them.  

Female Northern February Red Brachyptera putata at a classic site

In previous searches along this stretch of The Spey, I've found these stoneflies on fenceposts, fence railings, wooden benches and on tree trunks. Only the females are fully-winged and the species is endemic to Britain, being almost entirely restricted to the Scottish Highlands. So if you want to find it, get yourselves up here early in the spring and check wooden structures alongside The Spey. Good luck!

I stayed in Grantown-on-Spey that night and explored the surrounding area and up to Kingsteps at Nairn the following day. Kingsteps is a lovely area of sandy soils, dunes and saline pools. It's also the only place in Britain where Saltmarsh Goldenrod occurs. I don't think anyone knows how this alien plant arrived here, but it's doing well for itself in a few ditches. My quest to see 2500 living species during 2025 means that I can't include dead plants. Happily for me, there was a lovely flush of new leaves in amongst last year's dead stems.

Sexiest pic of Saltmarsh Goldenrod new growth that you're likely to see today

I had hoped to add Californian Brome to the yearlist, but I just can't identify it in a purely vegetative state. Particularly strimmed vegetative state. One for the summertime, methinks. Baltic Rush was easy enough though, there's acres of the stuff out here and a few stems were still nice and green, hence countable. After that, I spent a bit of time with some small pines. I didn't key them through, they are clearly planted, but I think they were Corsican Pines. A quick peer into the needles revealed a few waxy grey aphids and a smartly spotted green one too. I fumbled a few psocids, but secured three grey and one green aphid for later inspection. I've never looked at pine aphids before, so whatever they were they'd be new for me. I also noticed some heavy fungal spotting along dead needles, they went into a pot too. 

The needle fungus and one of the waxy aphids

Back indoors that evening I had a closer look at what I'd found. The aphid had moulted, becoming a wax-free shiny brown colour. Happily this allowed me to check a few measurements of the shed skin to confirm the identity. 

Hugely cropped microscope pic of a freshly moulted Schizolachnus pineti

Despite being brown and wax-free, this aphid will soon begin to turn grey and waxy giving rise to it's vernacular name of Grey Waxy Pine Needle Aphid. Mmm, catchy... The green aphid was pretty cool looking too. And fast, for an aphid I mean. 

This is Eulachnus agilis and also a new beast for me

This smart beast is known as the Spotted Green Pine Needle Aphid. Whoever came up with these aphid names needs to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror. Apparently these two species often occur together, Schizolachnus in small colonies and Eulachnus typically as single examples. Which fits perfectly with the ones I found. There are several identification guides to Britain's aphid species. I already have Aphids - Aphidinae by the RES, but that only covers about half the British species and it won't help me with the pine-loving species. Maybe I ought to add to my library, it's been a while.... 

The needle micro-fungus gave me the complete run around. I figured it was one of the pine needle splits, and I knew these had been split (ho ho!) into several cryptic species. I found a key and, after way too much to'ing and fro'ing, came to the conclusion I was looking at Lophodermium conigerum. 

Lack of transverse banding of any colour, hyaline edges to the eruptant tissue, plus other features

Much to my surprise, I discovered that this was not a lifer for me! I'm buggered if I can remember going through that key before, but I guess I must have? Apparently I ticked it here on Skye in Feb 2020.

A random riverside stop later that day added a second endemic stonefly to the yearlist

Huge nymph of Perlodes mortoni, my second British endemic of the trip!

Things quietened down for most of the rest of February, a very distant Humpback Whale being the most excitement I experienced (lass of previous post notwithstanding...) until news of a large whale broke on the 27th. Now, my car isn't totally well at the moment. I booked it into the local garage fully four weeks ago, today was the day they could fit me in. Four weeks! Anyway, I was sans car when news broke of a mother and calf Humpback showing really well in the flat calm seas just off Raasay. That's a 25 minute drive away. Grrrrr... So you can imagine my shock when news also broke of a fully adult Sperm Whale also loafing about in the waters just off Raasay. A flippin' Sperm Whale FFS!!! Oh my days, if only I had my car! I took a slow wander down to the local shore, an Otter and Common Seal offering very scant consolation indeed. But then the garage called me back, 20 minutes later and I was on the road and positively flying towards the first of various potential viewpoints across hopefully the right bit of water. The reports kept coming in, the Sperm Whale was north of Braes, close to Raasay. I tried a couple of quick pull-ins and scans but I simply needed to be further around the coastline. Sadly, the road heads inland and over mountains for some miles. I floored it and headed for the cliffs at Gedintailor, a spot that offers good views over a decent amount of water. I hoped it was a good decision, it should put me in about the right vicinity. 

Leaping out of the car, I quickly set up my scope and almost had a heart attack as a Common Dolphin instantly popped up right in my field of view. Blimey, if only the whale would be that easy! I started to scan, soon noticed a tourist boat ripping full whack in my direction and figured they knew where the whale was better than I did. Scanning around some more, the sea in my scope view suddenly parted as an absolute leviathan-sized head and dorsal hump emerged, accompanied by a huge forward angled blow. HOLY FUCK!!! Before me lay the biggest animal that I've ever seen, a full adult male Sperm Whale!!! I was quite literally shaking with astonishment and excitement! It slowly sank out of sight before surfacing once more in much the same area. No blow this time though, so I assume the previous appearance was after a long dive. I simply could not get over the size of the beast, it was like a submarine had risen up before my eyes. I watched it for ages, then figured I ought to take some pics. I grabbed the camera only to watch it die of a flat battery. Shitbags, not now! Resorting to my phone, I tried holding it up to the eyepiece of my scope, but really struggled to get it to align properly, to focus properly and for it to stop shaking (that'll be my hands, I can't really blame the phone for that!) I managed a few very poor images, followed by some even worse footage, then I gave up and just watched it some more. 

Below are two terrible video clips of the Sperm Whale, and trust me these are the best two clips I managed! What I didn't manage was any decent pics or clips of the pod of 20 or so Common Dolphins that were jumping and swimming around the whale. No idea what was occurring, I guess they were attracted to its calls and came over to investigate??? 

I know, I know - the videos are pathetic. Of all the times for my camera to die on me. But hey, I've seen a Sperm Whale :)

Apparently it's a male, there's a distinct 'step' from the dorsal hump down to the long head. Females tend to lack this, or so I've been told. Sperm Whales typically eat Giant Squid, along with regular big squid, cuttlefish and octopus. Plus fish. Not sure there are too many Giant Squid in the waters around Skye, so I hope it makes its way towards better hunting grounds. Rather sadly, it had a long length of fishing rope wrapped around it's head and dorsal hump. The Large Whale Disentaglement Team were en route, but seeing as they are based in Cornwall any rescue attempt would be a wee while yet. The whale didn't seem to be particularly hindered, unlike both of the Humpbacks which became entangled just last month. Sperm Whales are known for erratic and dangerous behaviour when approached, and the rescue attempt was abandoned the following day due to deteriorating sea conditions. Hopefully they'll be able to safely remove the rope tomorrow without too much undue distress to the whale. I actually have no idea how they plan to make the attempt on a free-swimming, fully grown Sperm Whale. Best of luck to them, and to the whale. 

At the end of January I posted that I'd seen slightly over 500 species so far for the year. Remember, my target is to hit 2500 species by year end. I boldly stated that 700 could be a bit optimistic but that I'd definitely smash 600 by the end of February. Well, smash it I certainly did. By eight. So, lots of work required in March! There are the super-low tides at the end of that month, and various plants will be springing into life. Given a few warmer days I'll start seeing more and more flies (currently there are a handful at the lit windows of an evening, providing it isn't blowing sideways rain all night which it certainly has done of late). I think I must have a few days holiday left to take before the financial year ends, so maybe I'll head a little further afield than usual and incorporate a mini adventure into my time off. I'll stay in Scotland, but I shall maybe drum up a few early season targets to try for.   

And I'll also try to post more regularly, that way you won't have to put up with marathon reads like this one. Right, music time! Big boots and short skirts you say? Whale you say? Oh hell yeah, this one sure takes me back to my MTV days