Bucketful of Jelly

I'm writing this between shifts, so it's gonna be a very short post. Today the chef told me there were a lot of jellyfish in the loch. The housekeeper's niece is helping out today seeing as she's just finished her exams and in need of some money. She looked at the chef, looked at me and said "ooh can we go see them? Can we? I want to catch one!" So we went and had a quick look, saw quite a few Moon Jellies drifting by and decided to come back after the shift had finished to see if we could catch any.

Moon Jellyfish plus a net-wielding grinning weirdo

We managed to pop quite a few jellyfish into a bucket, plus a couple of Sea Gooseberries which are ctenophores rather than true jellyfish, the first I've seen for a couple of years or so. I saw a larger ctenophore swimming against the current (jellyfish generally swim/drift with the current) but it didn't come close enough to be netted. It didn't look quite right for Beroe cucumis, which I've seen before but not for a good few years. I wondered if it was a new species for me and went online to see what the options were. Not many!

After work, I changed into casual clothes and returned with my net and bucket. A short while later and I'd snagged myself a ctenophore, it was another of the one I hadn't seen before. The pics of it in a white bucket were awful, so I tipped it into shallow water, shoved my camera underwater and hoped for the best

This is Bolinopsis infundibulum, aka the Northern Comb-jelly and a lifer for me. 

In life the cilia beat with a gorgeous shimmering colour, seen as greens and purples and partially captured in the third image above. This individual was around 8 or 9cm in length, but they can approach double that size. This is my third species of ctenophore, finding two on the same day (at work!) was decidedly unexpected.

Incoming tide with the hotel's slipway in the background

I have eight minutes until I'm back on shift, but I have tomorrow off work and the weather is meant to be glorious. Stay tuned folks! 

Second for Scotland

Yesterday I spent a good while on and around Dunnet Head at the very northernmost tip of mainland Britain. I saw some good stuff and had already worked out a couple of provisional working titles for this blogpost, something like "I've Dunnet" or maybe "That's Dunnet" or some such pun-tastic drivel. I headed back to Skye today and, whilst passing, called in at a couple of sites near Inverness, one of which is a certain alleyway that I've been known to frequent before (dodgy character that I am...) And good though Dunnet Head was, I've accidentally topped it by finding one particular plant. So I'll do the Dunnet blog another time, first up let me tell you all about today's alleyway shenanigans. 

A few years ago I found myself wandering down an overgrown alleyway that runs between a steep wooded embankment and the back of a long row of gardens. It's impossible to see into the gardens because of a tall stone wall that runs the entire length of the alleyway. The alleyway itself runs for maybe quarter of a mile and (thankfully) not many people use it. I'm comfy enough acting like a weirdo in an alleyway, squatting down to take pictures of the 'weeds' or maybe of the wall. But I'm also normal enough to realise that my presence could be somewhat disconcerting for young ladies, old women and gung-ho teenagers, any and all of whom would need to pass within a metre of me. Hence I'm thankful there is very little footfall after the first hundred metres or so (which is when most folk peel off into another alleyway that leads towards the shops). I tend to loiter several hundred metres away, which is where the all of interesting plants grow anyway.   

Anyhoo...

There used to be a clump of Rockery Saxifrage growing in the alleyway, I looked for it last year but couldn't find it. Today I thought I'd have a more thorough look (still couldn't find it, I suspect it's perished) and before long I spotted what looked a bit like a Fortune's Holly-fern bearing a cluster of purple-coloured vetch flowers; what in the heck was I seeing?! I took a closer look and was still flummoxed, the flowers were very definitely vetch-like, but the leaves were totally unlike those of any vetch I've ever seen. I tried to recall what Everlasting Pea leaves looked like, but I was pretty sure they had slimmer leaves and tendrils, which this plant lacked. I still had no idea what it was, other than something in the pea family. I took a few pics.

With Dandelion and Ivy-leaved Speedwell for scale

Detail of the flowers

The colours of the flowers blew me away. The blues and purples and lilacs were strongly reminiscent of the bizarre colours on the Sand Lucerne plants that I found in The Brecks last year. Sand Lucerne is of hybrid origin, which explains the crazy colours, so I wondered if this plant was of hybrid origin too (though Sweet Pea x Fortune's Holly Fern seemed more than a little unlikely). I went online for help.

This may seem a bit daft, seeing as I live in NW Scotland, but one of my favourite botanical websites is The Flora of East Anglia. It was my first port of call, as I stood next to my mystery plant hoping to avoid gaggles of schoolgirls or dog-walking grannies whilst I tried to determine the 'vetch thing' in front of me. This is the page that deals with the Everlasting Peas. It did not show my plant. I tried pink flowered peas but that was no use either, although it did make me think my plant was a Lathyrus, or something akin if not. As an aside, if you're at all interested in British plant identification, bookmark the Flora of East Anglia website, I guarantee it'll come in useful even if you live or botanise elsewhere. 

Stem is square in cross-section and largely glabrous and there are leafy stipules

I jammed into a gardening website dealing with various ornamental Lathyrus and pretty soon figured I had my plant. Lathyrus vernus aka the Spring Pea, which would make sense seeing as it was flowering in the middle of May. I checked a number of websites, all of which seemed to back up this provisional identification. What I didn't have with me was a copy of Stace, or anything else that would allow me to key the specimen through. Plus there was only one plant, I didn't want to pick a bit for later. I checked the BSBI Database to see how widespread Spring Pea is in the Inverness area....one Scottish record from near Edinburgh two years ago. Shit a brick!  

I decided to ask for help. First of all I uploaded the record onto the BSBI Recording App, stating the identity as Lathyrus vernus. Then I emailed Andy Amphlett, the BSBI Recorder for the vice county. I told him I'd uploaded the record but that the ID could well be wrong and it would need checking by a competent person. Happily Andy just so happened to be in Inverness at that very time and within a few hours he'd come back to me saying that he and Liz had seen the plant for themselves and that it was indeed Scotland's second record of Spring Pea, a new plant for all of us and the VC! 

Lathyrus vernus at its second Scottish location

I fully appreciate that many (of my 4 or 5) readers are not botanists, and that of those that are, many will be quietly tutting to themselves whilst reading this. "That Seth fella is getting all excited about garden escapes again. Plastic rubbish. Slum botany (grotany) at it's worst". Yeah yeah, I can hear ya! I guess I just don't make a very big deal of it when it comes to the finer distinctions of a plant being wild or a plant being marginally naturalised. After all, one plant does not a colony make! But it is naturalised, as an individual at least. I find this sort of botanising really exciting. Yesterday I found a Petunia growing outside a toilet block in Golspie (I botanise in all of the best places...) and that was hugely exciting too. 

Botanising just doesn't get any better than this! 

I feel as though I'm at the pinnacle of cutting edge botany. Petunias and rare garden escapees, I mean where on earth do I go from here?? (The garden centre, I hear you say - very bloody funny). Well the next blog will feature only native wild plants, including a couple of highly prized species. Something to look forward to. Possibly.

It's tenuous, I agree, but did somebody say peas? Here's to all those that diss slum botany, ha!

Annual Pilgrimage

I've not been particularly active of late, usually just quietly chilling in my room between shifts (for which read laying on my bed in stupefied exhaustion) rather than going out and finding stuff. But I have stumbled my way towards freedom on a couple of occasions this month. A few days ago I hit the woods at Leitr Fura which look absolutely glorious now that the Bluebells are out.

Both Speckled Woods and Green-veined Whites were commonplace along the woodland ride and I was pleased to see three Orange-tips fluttering along the grassy margins. I hadn't realised Orange-tip occurs here, it isn't a common species on Skye. A quick check of some Cuckooflower revealed a single egg tucked away on the petiole of an unopened flowerhead.

Green-veined White nectaring at Cuckooflower

Same Green-veined White, but can you spot the Orange-tip egg?

Huge crop of the Orange-tip egg

Weird factoid for you: there isn't any green on a Green-veined White, it's an illusion created by a mixing of yellow and black scales. You can thank me later if that ever crops up in a pub quiz. 

I continued through the woods for about two miles before eventually nearing a series of small caves which hold Killarney Fern. I visit these plants each year, next year I think I'll bring a machete with me. The 200 metre wide band of brambles that grows between the track and the caves is now heavily interwoven and proved to be an almost impassable obstacle. Some time later, scratched to buggery but with the brambles overcome, I slid down the small cliff, traversed the jumble of rocks beneath, found the first cave, duly saw the small patches of fuzzy felt that are the Killarney Ferns, took a breather and did it all in reverse again. I do question my sanity sometimes. 

Cave entrance and the Killarney Fern within. Underwhelming is the word you're looking for...

The wooded area beneath the cliff always puts me in mind of a lost world; I half expect to encounter indigenous tribes or dinosaurs roaming through the moss-laden trees. Rock Veilwort and Wilson's Filmy-ferns were as weird as it got, but I'm certain there are a host of unexpected species quietly lurking down there. 

Beech Fern Phegopteris connectilis

I have a few favourite ferns, Holly-fern and Ostrich Fern of course. But Beech Fern is also a favourite of mine, largely because it is infrequent enough to be a genuinely pleasant surprise every time I stumble across it, but also because it's pretty darn easy to recognise. Despite the name, I don't think it particularly associates with Beech, however it does share the same fresh green colour of newly opened Beech leaves. The basal pinnae are reflexed backwards, with each subsequent pair of pinnae slowly swinging forwards until the apical third of the frond comprises entirely forward-facing pinnae, it's a very distinctive look. It's also the only British fern (as far as I know) that has winged pinnae, meaning they are attached to the rachis for their entire width. Add the blackish stipe and habit of forming small patches and you have yourself a readily identifiable fern. If only they were all that simple!

All four lowland Luzula species that occur on Skye were well represented along the woodland rides, Hairy Wood-rush typically keeping to the shadier parts of the tracksides with Great Wood-rush being a dominant component of the verges. Field Wood-rush is now going over, whereas Heath Wood-rush seems to be in fresher condition. I did attempt a few images of the flowering parts but the results were decidedly mediocre. Spiked Wood-rush also occurs on Skye, but only along the more exposed mountaintops, I've not encountered it yet this year. I'll do a detailed post on Luzula soon. 

Heath Wood-rush with one nicely open flower near the base of the ovoid head

I noticed that a lot of Alder leaves exhibited feeding signs caused by a larval micromoth. It didn't take long to find the culprit, typically positioned on the underside of a leaf

This is the case and feeding signs of Coleophora serratella

Coleophora serratella is a common species of moth that feeds on a range of trees and herbaceous plants. There are several coleophorids that feed on Alder, but up here the choices are lessened and the general form of the case, combined with the deep chestnut colour, lead me to believe this is C.serratella. I'm pretty sure I'll be pulled up on my IDing process once a certain person reads this post, but I've no intention of rearing through and then gen detting every larval Coleophora I come across. 

Edit: I got away with it lightly, his only comment being "I do question my sanity sometimes" - yeah, don't we all...

I had to work part of my second day off this week, hence no overnighter to Speyside this time. I did sneak across the bridge seeing as I was so close to it anyway, dropping in to the extensive Greater Cuckooflower colony at Ardelve. It really is a very attractive plant!

A sea of Greater Cuckooflower Cardamine raphanifolia

Presumably this is a garden throw-out that has taken hold in its ditch, though I can't see which garden it has come from. Apparently there's an 8ft by 5ft patch of the stuff at the top of the shore at Portnalong here on Skye, though I've never looked for it, plus two more patches further north along the Scottish coast, all of which are believed to be garden escapes. After that it's a long way to the next nearest patch. A lovely plant and well worth seeking out if there's any near to you. I think it will be in flower for a good while yet. I had an unsuccessful hunt for Orange-tip eggs, but there's a heck of a lot of habbo to search! 

I've had to swap my days off this coming week. Not sure what the plan is just yet, but it won't include much time spent indoors!

Keeping myself amused with the deliveries....small minds and all that