bout 10 found compared to 35 in 2010. One of the main objectives of undertaking the survey over so many years was to see what the variation in the number of fungi appearing annually would be, though whether this can be attributed to annual weather patterns or other forces will take a bit more work than my track walking survey. I continued to find new sites for the fungus re-found last year Hydnellum gracilipes, and on a few days 2-3 new sites a day were being found. As mentioned in the last diary, I was unable to help myself delving into overhanging “curtains” of heather (left) and other vegetation, mainly in old wee quarries by the tracks, and occasionally I was lucky to find a few small, pink fruiting bodies. I don’t have a final total yet but there must be between ten and twenty new sites this year, I just need to find it outside Abernethy now!I continued to check local spruce woods for the rare Bankera violascens but w
ithout luck, but was rewarded by finding a few other unusual fungi like this shaggy parasol (Lepiota rhacodes right) and a small morel like fungus which turned out not to be a morel at all but a fungus from the same Ascomycete family (a large class of higher fungi distinguished by having their spores formed in asci, or spore sacs; the sac fungi, and comprising many orders, among which are the yeasts, moulds, mildews, truffles, morels, etc) by the n
ame of Cudonia circinans (left). A couple of fungi experts visiting to see H. gracilipes, helped with this one, otherwise I would have been stumped. The bog on the butterfly transect that gave me a soaking also produced a very strange fungus on one September walk. Avoiding the deep hole from the last diary, I took a more usual route and was amazed to find what looked like a fungus growing in completely waterlogged sphagnum. There were several fruiting bodies so I lifted one out for a c
loser look and yes, it did look like a fungus, again, probably from the Ascomycete family. A little light lit up in my head as I remembered finding something similar when out with the Orton team several years ago (1994) in sphagnum on the edge of a lochan. Thankfully, the visiting experts also helped provide a name which sure enough popped up on the Orton list as Sarcoleotia turficola (right). Amazing.The last few weeks of
the butterfly transect provided some of the best weather of the survey period with some sun but without the strong winds which seemed to accompany most of the other sunny transect days. The big problem was that there weren’t many butterflies on the wing in September but it did give the Scotch argus an extended flight period, a last emergence for a few green-veined whites and the only red admiral of the year. So, for a survey that started on the 1 April and ended on the 28 September, walks were managed on 21 weeks with 3 visits having to be repeated after walks were aborted due to poor weather. The table left gives a comparison year by year of the species and numbers seen. September always seems a long way off when the walks start in April but it is amazing how the weeks fly by. Let’s hope for better weather in 2012.The transect again provided something new for Abernethy – a wee
shieldbug. The new camera was put to use to capture a good image of the beastie resting on a fallen birch leaf but just in case more identification information would be needed, it accompanied me home until I could carry out a check on the brilliant bugs website (http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/ ). Its size was slightly smaller than the regularly encountered birch shieldbug but a bit of searching took me towards it being Picromerus bidens due to the very prominent spike like projections on its pronotum, but just to be sure I loaded a photo onto iSpot (http://www.ispot.org.uk/node/217256t.org.uk/node/217256ot.org.uk/node/217256 ) where 4 people agreed with my identification. Once my check had been completed the bug was returned to Tulloch Moor, close to where it was found. The following day we had a frost and the first pink footed geese were passing overhead.With the Abernethy tooth fungi field work completed I made a visit to Rothiemurchus to look for Hydnellum gracilipes. The walk out to the edge of the Lairig Ghru was enjoyable but nothing was found. A similar outing to the pinew
ood on the edge of the Nethy golf course was unsuccessful but provided me with one of the biggest bird surprises I have had in recent years. Having walked a couple of tracks I decided to follow a sort of unofficial path running by the fence on the edge of the golf course back to the car. A large brown shape caught my eye close by the fence and when I realised what it was, the camera was out in an instance to capture a photo just in case the GREAT SKUA should fly away! I needn’t have worried, the bird was obviously hungry and very tired and I was able to take off my jumper and wrap it round it and take it home. Initially I wasn’t 100% sure that what I had caught was a great skua so I called on the help of local bird ringer Keith and between us and by checking measurements with those in the Handbook of the Birds of Europe, we were happy that the identification was correct. With Janet’s help the bird was fed and 
watered, cat food followed by expensive slices of best haddock, and placed in a large box for the night. More food and water during the following morning and it was time for the bird to take its chance again in the big wide world. It was released at Broomhill Bridge on the River Spey. A bonny bird and probably a casualty of the tail end of Hurricane Katia which battered the west of Scotland with winds of 70+ mph. See Liam Dutton’s weather broadcast at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14879075 to see where the bird’s problem might have started. According to the Bird’s of Badenoch and Strathspey this is possibly only the 4th record for the area of this “pirate of the seas”.The 22 September was a sad day. After 100,000 miles as a companion it was time to say cheerio to our faithful wee blue Fiesta V907. With lots of work needed as wel
l as a new engine flywheel we decided the best course of action was to scrap the car. The deed was done mid-morning when the car transporter arrived to pick it up and within minutes the car was loaded and gone. The next day we weren’t too sure this had been a good decision. Friday morning had been spent looking after grandson Archie and mid-pm we were heading home via the A9. There were lots of vehicles on the A9 and I said to Janet to watch the antics of a “white van man” behind us who was undertaking a very risky overtake particularly as there was a bus heading south on the opposite side of the road. Completing the overtake the van ended up behind us. I was certain that being in such a hurry the van would be heading for Inverness and I was very surprised to see it follow us off the A9 at the junction north of Aviemore. As we approached the slip-road junction onto the A
95 I slowed to a stop to let a car from Aviemore pass when there was a very loud bang and “white van man” had managed to run into us! Thankfully the car from Aviemore missed us but we were both a bit dazed by the impact. The police were called and details taken and we were assured that the van driver was at fault. An insurance check found the chassis had been damaged along with a jammed boot and other bent panels and the car was “uneconomical to repair”, and so started several weeks of phoning and messing about to sort out some new transport. Whilst a value is given for the vehicle we have yet to find out whether a value will be given for inconvenience. White van man’s vehicle wasn’t damaged! Watch this space.Robins started to sing again during the month and the numbers of blackbirds in the garden increased. With few berries on the rowan trees redwings have just been passing through. The visiting pine marten has continued to entertain and Sue and Clifford managed to get some excellent video footage. If I can reduce the file size I will try and add it to one of the next diary entries.
Just up the road and along the Speyside Way, Scottish and Southe
rn Power have started to dismantle the never ever used pylon power-line running from Boat of Garten to Aberdeenshire. This is part of the package which will allow them to replace the pylon line running from Beauly to Stirlingshire (following part of the A9) with a new set of huge pylons to channel power from the less than efficient wind turbines wrecking the north of Scotland to power houses and businesses south of the border. It was amazing to see how quickly the engineers worked in releasing the cables from the pylon arms prior to the cables being wound in. The guy, bottom right, really is 
working from a ladder just hanging from the arm of the pylon! Once the cables have been removed the pylons will be “felled” before being airlifted to a central site for dismantling. Hopefully I can photograph a bit of this work for the next diary edition. Whilst making my way to photograph the pylon engineers I found this rather odd looking ball-like growth on the ground (left). A photo has gone off to iSpot to try and get a name, so again, watch this space. In France and Italy something similar is worth a fortune, but I think this is a poor relative although a favoured food of wild boar and badgers.Happy reading
Stewart & Janet
Cairngorms before the snows
Aspen leaves an indication of autumn
In memory of Uncle Bill (Wee nip) who passed away this month
All photos © Stewart Taylor
