My brain isn’t very good with Latin, it’s
embarrassing at the start of my talks to admit that I will struggle with
scientific names of plants and animals covered during my presentation. Thankfully, most have common names so it is
quite handy to be able to add the scientific name somewhere in the Powerpoint
slide. But getting my tongue around
leucophlebia (as in Peltigera) or Sphaerulina (as in S. leightonii) sends the
brain into panic mode and some word, new to science, usually flows from my
mouth. A couple of months ago though
Janet and I learnt a new bit of Latin – Placenta Previa, and though the words
are relatively easy to pronounce, they had us very worried. They relate to a development during pregnancy,
and when daughter Ruth told us this had happened towards the end of her
pregnancy, we knew that she was entering dangerous territory. As the baby develops, the placenta provides
blood and nutrients via the umbilical cord which is usually located near the
top of the uterus. In this case, the
placenta is low down and blocking the birth route for the baby and any bleeding
before the end of pregnancy could have quite serious implications for both
baby
and mother. With less than a month to go
Ruth was told she must give up her job and rest as much as possible, and,
because when she was at home she was a long way away from Raigmore
Hospital in Inverness ,
we all thought it safer that she spend her day-time hours with us in
Nethybridge. Because of this condition
the baby has to be born by caesarean section and so the hospital set a date
that we would all be aiming to reach without any mishaps. Worryingly, we were also told that local
doctors and ambulance crews had been alerted as to her condition. So Lewis, Ruth’s partner would deliver Finlay
and Archie to school and playgroup on his way to work and we would run Ruth
over to Firwood before picking up the boys allowing Ruth as much rest as
possible. We even managed a bit of pond-dipping whilst Ruth relaxed (above). And it worked: at 6.45am on 21
June we arrived at Ruth’s and after a group hug Lewis and Ruth headed off to
Raigmore Hospital for an 8am appointment whilst I delivered the boys to school
and playgroup.
The long awaited phone call came at about
1pm to say that Finlay and Archie had a baby brother (Harry) who was doing well
but Ruth had had a three hour operation following the c-section because of
complications. Only after the baby was
delivered did the delivery team realise that Ruth actually had Placenta Accreta
where most, if not all the placenta is embedded in the wall of the uterus – a
life threatening
condition due to massive blood loss immediately following the
birth. The atmosphere in the delivery
room went from happy chatting to deadly serious as more doctors were rushed in
to cover the emergency. Three hours and
four litres of transfused blood later and Ruth was moved to the high dependency
ward where eventually she was able to see wee Harry. It was a further two days
before brothers and grandparents were able to meet up with the new parents. For the next few days the boys were at school
and playgroup before they broke up for the summer holidays and a couple of days
after that Ruth was allowed home from hospital to start what looked like a long
recovery.
Driving back and forth to Insh I was noticed
lots of flowering spikes of lesser butterfly orchids (LBO’s) making themselves
obvious in the Flowerfield Meadow by the B970.
Just in passing there seemed to be many more than in previous years and
a quick phone call to Andy the Cairngorms
National Park
 |
| Lesser butterfly orchids |
the road there seemed to be many more small white orchids, the spikes of
which I would count once the LBO’s had been surveyed. In between times I had been putting the
finishing touches to a talk I was due to give in Boat of Garten village hall and, after putting
the boys to bed one night I thought it best to do a timed run of the talk so I
knew everything would fit within the time allowed. Try as I would I couldn’t get through it as
the eye-lids kept closing after every five or so slides – I would just have to
hope it would be alright on the (following) night. The next day the orchid count started and
with marker canes and tapes the walks back and forth across the field
began. By lunchtime the count was
already higher than the previous best and with
 |
| Small white orchids |
a bit of a push at the end of
the afternoon the whole site had almost been counted. Andy would return the following day to check
the areas just outwith the main count area and I would do the same to count the
small whites. The display this year was
so stunning that folk in the know and passing visitors regularly stopped to
look over the roadside fence. A late
afternoon visitor was Flowerfield neighbour, David Hayes (of Landmark fame),
who, like myself and Andy kept stopping just to take in the amazing display and
take yet another set of photographs.
David, like the field’s owners, has watched over the field during the
last three decades and neither could remember anything quite like this years
display. When asked about the small white orchids we were all in agreement that
ten or fifteen years ago there were probably less than a dozen flower spike,
this year I counted 1500! At the end of
the afternoon all the counts of the various LBO sections were totalled and came
to an incredible 4345 flowers – no wonder folk were stopping to admire. Amazing!
Over
the next couple of days the two LBO fields in Tulloch were counted
(25 flower spike in each) and I took neighbours Bill and Rita to see the Flowerfield
display. Laura also came over to visit
Ruth and Lewis, Harry and the boys and late in the evening we nipped along to
see the orchids which, amazingly, were perfectly back-lit by the setting
sun. On the way back to Firwood we also
popped in to see how the common twayblades were faring at the Nethybridge gun
club site so, if present, they could be marked to avoid trampling. Once again there were just two young flower
spikes developing and a wee cane with red and white tape was installed to try
and protect.
 |
| Common twayblades |
As the orchid count finished I had an
appointment to see my doctor and for the fourth time I was given a course of
pills for the dreaded Lyme Disease. A
bite, high up on my right arm had started to develop the red ring and though
not 100% certain that I was infected (blood test not conclusive after a couple
of bouts) it
was thought best that I took the two pills a day for fourteen
days. Thankfully I don’t seem to suffer
side effects from the pills, so I was happy to take them just in case. Early on in the month I was quick enough with
the camera to get a photo of synchronised feeding by two red squirrels at the
box feeders, little did I know what would be next in the synchronised feeding
line. Regular visits from our pine
marten continued into June and alarm calling from the garden birds early one
morning alerted me to the possibility of a marten at the feeders and sure
enough, as I peeked out from the bedroom window an adult and one youngster were
each at a feeder. Camera assembled,
wellies on and a pyjama clad Taylor
Two bird surveys were completed this month
but with little luck with the weather.
The weather folk said the evening was to be dry, and for the most-part
it was, but for the hour of the last woodcock count there was light rain. Apart from trying to keep dry whilst looking
upwards, the woodcocks still performed their roding flights, but with the
cloud, darkness descended early and late evening bird song was almost none
existent. As I made my way back to the
car, of course, the rain stopped. Next
day the data was forwarded to the BTO and the end of season report is now
awaited. The 9th June turned out to be a
brilliantly sunny day but at 5am it was misty.
Would it be misty higher up where I was to do the Breeding Bird Survey,
yes it was.
The usual birds were heard and being a mainly managed grouse moor,
once the first 200m of woodland had been left behind, the main birds continued
to be meadow pipits, a single red grouse and a distant golden plover. The cloudberries though were in full flower
and only found on the higher sections of the transect, but always worth
stopping for a photo. Blaeberry was also
in full flower but the cool, misty conditions meant that there were few bees to
record apart from a few hardy blaeberry bumblebees (Bombus monticola). Later in the day, with the sun going full
belt, it was hot enough to go in search of the tiny Osmia uncinata bee, though
just one was seen. Perhaps the most
unusual record for June was 21 whooper swans flying over on the 8th,
quite a late record, the birds possibly having been held up with cool weather
further south during May? I also managed
a short interview for the Out of Doors programme on Radio Scotland Cairngorms National Park
Mark
hadn’t really touched on the important “wee things” that make the Park
internationally important, so this visit/interview was to try and rectify that
– though we only had one hour! I thought
a visit to Tulloch would meet the brief and allow me to show him the two rare
mosses, green and brown shield-moss growing close together but they didn’t make
it and the programme clip featured a few of the rarer aspen lichens
particularly the tiny Sclerophora pallida pin-head which initially he had great
trouble seeing. I think he failed to
appreciate that what he saw in the short time he was out with me, would be
quite difficult to replicate in such a small area and in such a short period of
time elsewhere within the Park. Slowly
forward.
 |
| Sclerophora pallida pin-head lichen |
As we counted the Flowerfield orchids
something unusual came into view. The
meadow is brilliant for many plants, not just the orchids and at this time of
year (though now probably affected by the summer drought) blue scabious flowers
and the “spiky” field gentian take over from the orchids. As I was walking back and forth I noticed
quite a lot of spikes of spring sedge (Carex caryophyllea), a plant that appeared in the last
diary. Nothing unusual in seeing the
sedge but I then noticed several of them had large, black balls attached to the
“flower” heads –
parasitic fungal smuts which I found out belonged to the order
Ustilaginales. These fungi develop as
small, thick walled “balls” which typically grow over some of the seeds on the
infected plant and on maturity develop into a black, smutty mass in amongst the
other seeds on the flower head. Once
seen it’s amazing how many you find as you walk, and from one patch I collected
several infected sedges for further investigation. Once home some of the black, smutty mass was
scraped from the seeds and the spores checked under the microscope; the
Internet providing an initial name of Anthracoidea caryophylleae.
However, this is a complex group of fungi and
the specimens will need to be forwarded to experts to confirm. Worryingly, I knew that this intriguing group
of possibly under-recorded fungi, was going to stick in my mind, and would be
yet something else to keep an eye open for on my wanderings. Help!
Finding odd fungi remained with me on another outing when I was visiting
a small stream to wet a couple of lichens I had just collected for
checking. Brittle lichens travel better
when wet. As I dipped my cupped hand
into the
water I noticed lots of small, round, brown blobs in the gravel at the
bottom of the shallow stream. Intrigued,
I poked around the blobs and found they were attached or growing from a submerged
piece of wood and looked to me like an under-water fungus. So, into the tube with the lichens went a few
of the fruiting bodies and after processing and sending the photos to expert
Liz the name of Pachyella badingtonii emerged.
Thanks Liz. And with two more
unpronounceable words it’s time to end as we began.
 |
| Anthracoidea caryophylleae and spring sedge |
 |
| Anthracoidea caryophylleae spores - thick walled in places |
 |
| Under-water fungus Pachyella badingtonii |
Problems uploading but solved by using Google Chrome.
Enjoy the read.
Enjoy the read.
Stewart and Janet
Out of Doors Radio Scotland
Highland Biological Recording Group website
BTO Woodcock Survey
 |
| Ringed plover Loch Ericht |
 |
| Cottonwool galls (Andricus quercusramuli) on Pityoulish oaks |
 |
| Spot the black-headed gull |
