Bird nesting with a difference!

Outings with the Kentish glory lure continued, nine outings accounting for a few hours of watching the hanging lure.  Despite several woods looking suitable only one outing this month produced any contacts with the moth and this was a repeat visit showing that a single visit might not always produce a positive outcome.  However, the site where the moth was seen was pretty good and despite 

Kentish glory moth attracted to the pheromone lure

one visit comprising a rapid fly-by the second encounter was the best of all outings with the moth being around the lure for about two minutes and actually landing on the lure on two occasions with possibly a mating attempt.  Between 26 April and 10 May I made 7 outings comprising 36 location checks of which 6 made contact with the moth.  Gabby Flinn who organised the lure-based survey reported that it had been a huge success and many more locations for the moth had been recorded.  A few days after my last outing I was heading north again to the green shield-moss site near Beauly mentioned last month and decided to take the lure with me which, if successful, would greatly expand the moth’s range.  The moth didn’t appear but, as I wandered the wood other species of interest were found.

On my last visit to this wood an old orchid flower spike was identified by expert Ian as a bird’s-nest orchid, not a common orchid in our part of the UK but checking other records we found it had been recorded not too far from my site.  On this visit I returned to the general area where the old spike had been found and managed to re-find it.  A search of the wider area managed to find another.  As I 

Bird's-nest orchid old flower spike

The basal leaf of the goldilocks buttercup

checked fallen birches for the moss another spike was found and I wondered if this wood might be quite important for this orchid.  As I searched around for more spikes a plant leaf (I know, all a bit sad!) set off a wee light in my head.  A few days earlier local botanist Andy had sent round pictures of a flower, flower and stem and the distinct basal leaves of the early flowering buttercup – goldilocks (Ranunculus auricomus), and to me the leaves I was looking at were the basal leaves of this plant.  No flowers as yet, so photos and a single leaf specimen was taken to check.  After a bit of debate and emails to plant recorder Ian we were all happy that this was goldilocks, and this was a new 10K square (hectad) for the plant.  It was also nice to see primroses flowering and the un-furling fronds of beech fern.  The orchid finds though hadn’t finished and as I checked a fallen willow tree for lichens and mosses, there were two more old bird’s-nest orchid spikes.  Considering I was finding so many old spikes, the ones that had survived the winter and visits by grazing deer and other animals, how many more might there have been during the growing season?  Another visit would be 

Goldilocks buttercup in flower top and
a very young bird's-nest orchid  bottom

necessary in a few weeks time to find out so watch this space.  A couple of days later I visited a site near Grantown on Spey to see flowering goldilocks buttercups to help with future encounters and to see if there was anything showing at a known site for a couple of bird’s-nest orchids from the past, and, at just a couple of inches tall, something was growing that indicated at least one survived, and giving me an idea of the timescale needed to revisit the other site.

Work with aspens also continued through May with several visits made to complete the heightening of the stock fence, install a people sized access gate, and complete the repair to a section of the fence after the stag incursion!  These repairs involved installing a new corner straining post (thanks Davie and Danny local fencing contractors), tightening all the wires and slowly adding wooden markers to 

Lifting the aspen transplants

minimise bird collisions.  I also spent a couple of mornings in the RSPBs tree nursey lifting young aspen transplants which they had donated to the new aspen wood project.  Twenty-five trees were lifted, bagged and a bit of water added to the plastic bag to help the young trees get a good start in life once planted.  This was repeated eight times so that a total of two hundred aspen transplants were 

The aspen planting team and the transplants in situ

ready to transport to site to be planted on 11 May by a team of aspen project volunteers.  The planting day went well, and the final task was to add a small cane and short spiral tree guard to each transplant to protect against any hare de-barking attacks.  Fingers were crossed in the hope that the growing season would progress well and the first ‘new’ wood via the Cairngorms National Park aspen project would become established.  In addition, just over one hundred tree shelters were installed over young aspen suckers in an important aspen/hazel wood in Tulloch to protect against grazing by deer and 

sheep though I find this work more stop-gap than really positive when a temporary fence would allow a new wood of a few hundred new trees to become established rather than just one here and there.  Slowly forward.  Adding the wooden fence markers progressed far enough into the month to welcome the arrival of the first cuckoos with one male making good use of taller fence posts as perches whilst being mobbed by a worried meadow pipit.  The new trees just needed the odd day of rain to ensure a good start in their new location, especially as temperatures reached 22⁰C mid-month.

Adjacent to the new aspen planting plot are two mid-aged aspens on RSPB ground where two wooden fenced plots had been installed to allow natural sucker regeneration, though few have yet to become established.  Outside these plots though, there has been a major eruption of new sucker growth and RSPB supplied me with some tree shelters to ensure a few of these were given a good chance to develop into mature trees.  Around one sucker I had to remove a bit of vegetation to allow the tube to sit level with the ground and as I moved the leaf litter a couple of small cup fungi appeared one of which I popped into a tube to check once home.  I left the fungus for a couple of days on a glass slide to drop some spores and then between books and the internet I arrived at the 

Tarzetta scotica specimen top and spores x1000 oil bottom

name Tarzetta (meaning ‘little cup’).  The books said Tarzetta cupularis but there was also a reference to Tarzetta scotica so I sent photos of the fungus and the asci and spores to Brian at Kew for guidance.  “If the spores are regularly 12 microns and thinner, you should consider having Tarzetta scotica.  Kew hasn’t got any recent Tarzetta scotica specimens from Scotland (post 1950) so a specimen would be appreciated if it turns out to be that” was Brian’s reply.  So, back to the microscope and the 22 measurements taken, were all 12µ (micron symbol) or less so the specimen was popped in the post to Kew and was later confirmed as T. scotica.  NBN Atlas shows just 4 UK records for this fungus and none from Scotland but the data available to NBN might not be quite up to date.  Tarzetta cupularis on the other hand has over 300 records so quite a nice wee find.

I get quite annoyed when I see mile after mile of road verges cut particularly if heavily in flower at the time.  Cutting at the end of the flowering period would be better, but they get cut again then anyway!  Is this management (if you can call it that) helping our populations of dandelions?  It has been noticeable in the last few years locally that the spring bloom of this group of plants (there is more than one dandelion) is increasing and, in places, equalling the mass of yellow we saw on verges 

in Yorkshire a couple of years ago.  Perhaps cutting vegetation helps the dandelion by removing local competition just at the time the plants are creating their amazing circular seed-heads.  As the seed is knocked off or blown around perhaps more of it is making contact with the ground – ideal germinating conditions.  This got me wondering about how many seeds are produced per plant and by delving into a few books I found that this can range from a couple of hundred to over two thousand.  I also read that a field an acre in size can produce 240,000,000 seeds if the plant population is dense.  Something to think about next time you blow the seeds from a dandelion flower-head to tell the time!

The annual surveys continued through May with the early morning start for the BTO breeding bird survey near Grantown.  The start is usually early enough for the first of two outings to just catch the sun rising and despite telling myself not to stop, I’m always tempted to photograph the lone birch 

trees with sun rising behind them particularly if there is a bit of mist in the area close to the River Spey.  So, once again, the camera was out to capture the amazing scene.  The one-kilometre survey square is a mix of spruce and Scots pine plantation, a bit of rough grazing and bog, and agricultural land either side of a minor road.  So, the species list is fairly standard for this mix of habitats as shown below.  Over the years 38 bird species have been recorded. 

Species	Early Visit		Species	Early Visit
Pheasant	4		Swallow	10
Buzzard	3		Willow Warbler	16
Curlew	2		Wren	6
Redshank	1		Song Thrush	10
Snipe	2		Mistle Thrush	4
Woodpigeon	30		Robin	2
Great Spotted Woodpecker	1		Redstart	1
Jackdaw	5		Tree Pipit	1
Carrion Crow	1		Meadow Pipit	1
Goldcrest	3		Chaffinch	17
Blue Tit	2		Greenfinch	5
Coal Tit	7		Goldfinch	4
Skylark	1		Siskin	2
Sand Martin	1		Siskin	2
Number of species 27

The bird survey route is utilised also for a ‘wider countryside butterfly survey’ monthly, from May until September but with a lack of good areas of flowering plants nothing too unusual has been 

Speckled wood top and narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth bottom

recorded.  Over the last three years speckled woods have been seen showing a steady spread in-land from the Morayshire area and on the survey on 26 May finding two narrow-bordered bee hawk moths feeding on bird’s-foot trefoil was quite a bonus.  The woodcock survey was also continued by the BTO for another year due to the decline being recorded in the number of breeding birds in the UK and the first outing was on the evening of the 7^th and the second of three on the 24^th with each count lasting for 75 minutes  With sunset times downloaded from the internet the first count started at 9pm, 15 minutes before sunset and the second at 9.30pm and good numbers of contacts were recorded on both visits (19 and 12) probably mostly of the same bird roding round its territory, but also a few 

sightings were two birds were seen chasing, indicating the edge of a couple of territories.  On my way in to the count location I walk close to the River Dulnain and I was totally amazed by the sheer quantity of flowers on the riverside bird cherry trees, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a profusion of flowers, hopefully an indication of a bumper crop of berries later in the year.  As promised last month, we made a return visit to Dunearn Wood by the River Findhorn to see which spring flowers were starting to appear and we weren’t disappointed.  Woodruff was in flower and the fronds of oak 

Mountain melic top, woodruff middle and oak fern bottom

and beech ferns were fully unfurled displaying the subtle green colour of new growth.  An unusual grass had me puzzled until I realised I was looking at quite a rare grass locally – mountain melic (Melica nutans).  A good population of common wintergreen was found by a fishermen’s hut as we stopped for lunch before making our way back towards the car.  After our river walk we headed to Logie Steading, just across the river from Dunearn but a few miles by road, to see how their amazing garden was coming into flower.  It didn’t disappoint and, as we admired a mass of flowering honesty I noticed a wee fly with a very prominent proboscis.  Not a broad-bordered bee hawk-moth this time but a fly I had waited a long time to see a bee-fly (Bombylius major).  Sadly, as quickly as it had appeared it was off and there wasn’t a chance to get a photograph, so you will need to click on the link below to see a photo.  Walking back to the car we popped in to see Giles in his antique furniture repair shop and Janet, despite saying we were just going in to say hello, saw a beautiful pine cupboard Giles had restored and as we said cheerio we loaded the cupboard into the car to add to the dozen or so other chairs, tables, dressers bought from Giles over the years.

A visit to Nairn was timely as we said hello to our first sandwich terns whilst further along the beach we were probably saying goodbye to a couple of nicely coloured bar-tailed godwits.  As we made our way back through the dunes to the track a small, white flower caught my eye and thinking it was the 

Sandwich terns top, bar-tails godwit middle and scurvy-grass bottom

only specimen I spent quite a while taking photos and making notes.  I needn’t have bothered because round the corner of the next dune was a brackish pool surrounded by the same plant -common scurvy-grass (Cochlearia officinalis).  In the harbour we found starlings looking for food on the shore and whilst we watched them we became aware of a pair of swallows landing on the muddy shore and trying to pick up beaks-full of sandy mud and flying over our heads to stick the mud on woodwork under the shop-front veranda.  There was quite a bit of the ‘mud’ on the pavement and we weren’t too sure they were collecting the right type of mud to make a nest.  A visit a couple of weeks later proved us wrong.  Also on this visit the pair of mute swans that nest annually just where the River Nairn meets the water from the sea were feeding in the harbour and proudly showing off their family of 

seven cygnets.  Despite temperatures in the 20’s in Nethy Bridge Nairn was experiencing a ‘haar’ or sea mist; one minute there were blue skies and views out to sea and the next everything disappeared in the mist.  Following the River Nairn back towards our car Janet spotted a couple of impressive yellowish, scaly bracket fungus on a fallen ash tree which were later confirmed as Dryads saddle (Cerioporus squamosus).  That evening saw me heading off to do my annual count of breeding birds on a local loch, one of my favourite outings of the breeding season – provided the weather is okay.  This year black-headed gulls were again in residence and there was a bit of a racket as they spotted 

A black-headed gull evening and an almost full moon

me settling down to check what was where.  My best estimate was about 300 black-headed gulls with about 70 of them on nests.  A couple of water-rails were squealing, and it was nice to see a pair of tufted duck along with the usual mallard and teal.  Redshank and common sandpiper were seen briefly and snipe occasionally displaying overhead.  As the sun began to set it was time to head home but not before admiring an almost full glowing moon.  A relaxing evening with twenty bird species seen or heard and just time for a sunset photo as I headed back to the car parked about half-an-hour away.  Brilliant.  The following night I was hoping for a clear sky as I’d made a note in the diary that 

Full moon and Jupiter (bottom right - just!)

the moon would be almost full, and Jupiter would be quite close to it in the night sky.  By about half-past ten the clouds had cleared and sure enough there was the moon and close by was a brilliant Jupiter though my camera failed to capture just how clear it was.  I’m always amazed by just how quickly the moon is moving across the sky, get the camera and 400mm lens focused on it and centred and within a couple of minutes you have to set up all over again.

Janet has been quite busy preparing for the Aviemore craft fairs and Nethy Bridge Spring Gathering and installing canes all over the garden as the plants started to erupt and require support.  As last year, the onion sets were installed in their individual cells in the seed trays back in February, planted out in 

Janet and craft tent and green-veined white

late April and were all looking good by the end of May so fingers crossed for a good crop.  Orange tip and green-veined white butterflies were seen in the garden and when moving a plant-pot a New Zealand flatworm (Arthurdendyus triangulates) was found – and not for the first time.  This introduced species preys on our native earthworms for its meals, so not the most welcomed guest to the garden.  The worm ended up flatter than when I found it!  A nicer find from a similar location was a couple of leopard slugs (Limax maximus) and nice to read that they feed mainly on fungi, dead plant and animal matter and not the veg in the garden.

That’s it for another month, still trying to catch up!

Stewart and Janet

Rare Inverts in the Cairngorms Project

https://www.buglife.org.uk/rare-invertebrates-in-the-cairngorms

Bee-fly information

https://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/bee-fly

Giles Pearson

https://www.logie.co.uk/steading/giles-pearson-antiques/

Strathspey Weather

http://www.strathspeyweather.co.uk/

Parkswatch

http://parkswatchscotland.co.uk/

Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group

http://www.bscg.org.uk/

Mapmate recording database

http://www.mapmate.co.uk/

Fungal Records Database of Britain and Ireland (FRDBI)

http://www.fieldmycology.net/FRDBI/FRDBI.asp

BSBI – Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland

https://bsbi.org/

A lucky encounter with a diving osprey whilst looking for orchids

Photos © Stewart Taylor

Pheromone fun

A chance meeting with Gabrielle Flinn late in the month determined the outings for the rest of April.  Gabrielle is the Project Officer for the Rare Invertebrates in the Cairngorms project and when I met her at the Nethy Bridge post office she asked if I would be interested in looking for the Kentish glory moth (Endromis versicolora) with the help of a pheromone.  She showed me a small glass phial filled with something that looked like white polystyrene but was really a material that held the scent (pheromone) of a female Kentish glory moth when she was looking for a male to mate with.  To go around potentially suitable sites for the moth with a night-time operated moth traps or to physically look for the day-flying males would be hugely time-consuming undertaking.  Using the pheromone in comparison required the volunteer (me and many others) to select a suitable looking area of birch woodland, ideally with an element of young trees, hang the glass phial from a birch branch with a length of string, and sit back and wait for 20-30 minutes.  It has been calculated that the males can sense the pheromone from up to 1 km away and, with an opportunity to mate, the males home in on the phial.  I first encountered this moth via my moth trap (non-killing) when first arriving at the Loch Garten Reserve in 1976.  The trap was operated almost daily during the April to October period on the edge of Tulloch Moor and in an area where birch was the main tree species.  During all those trapping nights the Kentish glory moth was only recorded as follows: 1976 x2, 1977 x2, 1978 x4, 1979 x2 and 1980 x1.  Between 1981 and 2009 (the last record during my employment) the moth was recorded just four times.  I was therefore very interested to see how the pheromone would perform.  My first outing was on a bit of a breezy day but quite warm and in the area of woodland close to where I previously ran the moth trap.  The three 25-minute sessions failed to attract any males but at 

Pheromone (small white tube) on string with visiting Kentish Glory

least I had decided the best set up for hanging the phial – directly on the string rather than in a mesh bag.  Two days later I was back in the same area but with nothing recorded during the first two sessions.  At the third location I had just hung the pheromone and unscrewed the lid when I was aware of something whizzing past me, orange being the main colour I picked up and was fairly certain that this was a male Kentish glory.  I needn’t have worried because within a couple of minutes it was back and was circling the pheromone, almost, but not quite, landing on it.  Amazing, and my first contact with the moth in decades. Two more sessions failed to find anymore but at least I was happy that the methodology worked.  I made two more outing by the end of the month and again I had a male appearing within minutes of setting up the pheromone with this one actually landing on the lure but not trying to mate with it.  Via the six sessions a male was recorded twice and, unusually, it was found in damp to slightly boggy birch woodland.  My last outing on the 30^th had me wondering what was flying close to my first couple of locations and I was fairly certain these were day-flying emperor moths.  From the five locations the moth was recorded just once actually visiting the lure as I was taking it down.  It will be interesting to see what turns up in May, but what an interesting wee recording project so well-done Butterfly Conservation Scotland and Canterbury University for working to produce such an effective pheromone.

Searching of old locations of Wilson’s filmy-fern continued with two outings taking me toward Loch Ness.  Without the use of GPS location technology way back in the 1970s both of these old locations (1971 and 1975) only had their 6-figure grid references, giving a potential search area of 100 metres square.  Not a big search area but with both old sites being on the side of rocky outcrops the search outings could have provided a bit of fun!  The amazing Pass of Inverfarigaig was the first location visited where trees on both sides of the single-track road were hanging thick with lichens, some in the rare UK category.  The fern prefers to grow on the north, shady side of rocky sites so, once parked up, the slow wandering up and down the steep rocky ground started.  A funny ‘growth’ seemingly 

The 'odd' plant a young herb robert!

growing from the mossy covering on top of a boulder had me puzzled – was it part of the moss itself, a liverwort or a plant?  Photos taken, a small sample was removed to check once home and by keeping the moss moist a little more growth was achieved.  The hairy leaf led me towards it being a plant and when out and about I was fairly certain that I had found a seedling herb robert (Geranium robertianum) and this was confirmed when I re-visited the location a few weeks later.  Likely looking rock ledges higher up from the road failed to produce the fern and, assuming the original finder of the plant, the great botanist Mary McCallum Webster, wasn’t a rock-climber, I continued to check the rock faces and ledges that were reasonably accessible.  After a couple of hours, I was beginning to think this wasn’t to be a ‘re-find’ day and after a quick bite of lunch thought I would check out one 

Wilson's filmy fern, plant with single sori bottom photo

damp rock face not too far from the road.  Once or twice a similar looking moss had me fooled and it was whilst trying to decide whether what I was looking at this time was a fern or a moss (having only seen the fern once before) I spotted something that dispelled all doubt – a distinctive spore bearing sori.  This was a small population, lacking the masses of sori seen during last months outing, but the dark leaf veins were present as were the leaf edge teeth so all I needed to do now was use modern technology and GPS the location.  However, with the location being on the side of a rock outcrop and also being in the bottom area of ‘The Pass’ the GPS was only giving an accuracy of +/- 25 metres so a description of the ledge location was also made.  One down, one to go.

Just a few days later I was back in the same general area but this time a little further north at Creag nan Clag, a very impressive conglomerate rock outcrop.  This type of ‘rock’ is made up of rounded fragments comprising small pebbles to large boulders bound together in a finer particle ‘cement’, usually silt and clay known as a matrix.  At home the weather had warmed up a little, so much so that I was fooled into making this outing a little under-dressed.  At the site the wind was quite strong and 

The conglomerate type rock/boulders

from a north-easterly direction meaning the higher I climbed the colder it became, particularly as the gully I was walking into was facing the wind.  My lightweight waterproof jacket would have been an ideal companion on this particular outing!  Walking into the gully the rock face to my left was 

Green spleenwort top and fertile Wilson's filmy fern bottom

checked but with very little plant life apart from along the base of the conglomerate.  Maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes) was quite regular but also a single clump of green spleenwort (Asplenium viride) with its characteristic green stem/all green appearance.  An odd-looking lichen turned out to be Leptogium gelatinosum.  Eventually a damper section of rock was reached and without too much searching there was Wilson’s filmy-fern with 5 distinct small populations many 

Alectoria sarmentosa subs sarmentosa

Purple saxifrage

displaying lots of sori.  By now I was just about frozen, despite there being sun outside the gully so time to head down to try and warm up.  Along the main rock face it was nice to see lots of the early flowering purple saxifrage along with Peltigera britannica and, the lichen this rock-face is famous for, Alectoria sarmentosa subspecies sarmentosa, hanging down from just one section of the rock-face.  There was also lots of purple saxifrage all nicely in flower.

Mid-month there was a reminder that spring/summer was on its way.  Whilst out in the garden a light buzzing sound around my head led me to automatically swat whatever it was and found a nicely flattened fly stuck to my hand.  To me this looked like a mosquito but thought this was a little early for them to be on the wing, so I took it into the house to have a closer look under the microscope.  All the features indicated a mozzie so I sent off a couple of photo to expert Stephen who informed me 

The banded house mosquito

First small tortoiseshell in the garden

that yes, it was a mozzie going by the name Culiseta annulate, the banded house mosquito.  Interestingly, I also found out that this mosquito is on the wing from spring to autumn and then the adults hibernate in building, caves or hollow trees and is one of 33 species occurring in Britain.  That other horror of the spring to autumn months also put in its first appearance – the tick, with two found on my body on the 15^th.  Time to dig out the tweezers and bottle of TCP.  The first small tortoiseshell butterfly was in the garden on the 11^th, a willow warbler on the 20^th and a local tree pipit on the 22^nd.

A little time was spent checking out a couple of important known sites for the green shield-moss (Buxbaumia viridis).  The first one was a trip over to Deeside to visit the NTS Mar Lodge Estate where, once again, a fallen conifer had produce over 100 capsules.  The number was down just a little from 2017, possibly due to enrichment from rabbit droppings being deposited on the trunk which is 

Green shield-moss and rabbit dropping!

Elgin shoot moth (Rhyacionia logaea)

allowing moss and plant growth to develop quite rapidly, making areas unsuitable for the moss.  It was also possible to see several capsules having been knocked over again, possibly due to rabbits though there was also evidence of red squirrels feeding on Scots pine cone seeds as well.  NTS staff have noticed an increase in the rabbit population in the area of the fallen tree.  Whilst counting the capsules a green woodpecker was heard quite regularly, a rare bird in these parts, and a small, but colourful moth which seemed quite happy to rest and have its photo taken, turned out to be the Elgin shoot moth (Rhyacionia logaea), a moth with just 8 UK records on the NBN Atlas.  However, local expert Mike, who helped identify it, said it was a species that he encounters quite a lot and is obviously heavily under-recorded, though there are two records from close to Braemar the latest being 2002.  Currently though it has only been found in conifer woodland in north-east Scotland 

ST at the fallen willow top and the good population of new capsules

where their larvae feed on buds and shoots of Scots pine and Sitka spruce.  The second outing to check for capsules was to an ancient fallen, but still mostly alive goat willow in the RSPBs Abernethy Forest.  A bit like the Deeside conifer, the capsules on this willow are to be found on several different parts of the tree.  Interestingly, a new group of 20+ capsules have appeared this year helping to boost the population to 64.  The moss was first found on this willow in 2009 when the tree was still upright and has been growing there ever since.

An outing to see the green shield-moss growing on a substrate and several tree species not previously known to support the moss also provided other good records.  In this woodland, near to Beauly, fellow green shield-moss ‘hunter’ Sandy had found several capsules growing on a bracket fungus 

The circular Fomes bracket fungus top and the moss capsules bottom

growing from a fallen birch tree.  Both tree and Fomes fungus were in the mid-stages of decay and possibly the reason why the fungus was providing a suitable growing habitat.  In the same woodland Sandy had also found the moss growing from dead sections of a hawthorn and a whitebeam, both new tree hosts.  On my way into the wood I managed to find another location on a decaying fallen birch tree, and close to the whitebeam, more capsules on a fallen goat willow, so obviously a good wood for the moss.  The outing also provided my first records of willow warbler and chiffchaff for the year and another location for the small, but distinct, larch ladybird (Aphidecta obliterate), a ladybird I often find without a larch tree in sight.  However, it does also like Scots pine.  Under the 

The slime mould Trichia decipens as found top, and under the
microscope bottom

Slime mould spores x1000 oil

hawthorn, I could see a distinct patch of something coloured orange and on closer inspection found it was one of the slime moulds, but with very distinct small, round balls on top of small stalks.  The bulk of the orange colour had been created by the mass of bodies ejecting their spores, one to take home for checking later.  Under the microscope I could see the typically round spores of a Myxomycete (slime moulds are not actually a fungus which was new to me) so one to check with slime mould expert Bruce who pointed me in the direction of Trichia decipiens a slime mould linked 

to deadwood which was probably just buried under the soil.  An old orchid flower spike close by also sparked a bit of interest so photos were taken and once back home plant expert Ian confirmed that it was a bird's nest orchid.  A good find and something that would prove even more important a few weeks later.

Work on the new aspen wood last mentioned in the March blog continued, though a few problems with fence posts not remaining secure caused quite a bit of extra work.  Because the deer fence is within an area used by black grouse, lots of marker ‘droppers’ had to be added to the wires to make the top part of the fence more visible to deter the grouse from flying into the fence.  Returning one day to carry on with the dropper installation, I was aware the fence wires on one section were very 

ST cutting up the fence droppers top and a cuckoo perched on the fence
just after their installation

slack and several of the droppers had been knocked off, tufts of hair telling me that a red deer had been inside the fence and had caused the bulk of the damage when trying to get out.  I learnt later that there were actually five red deer in the plot, goodness knows why when the grazing available outside the fence was at least as good as that inside.  So lots more work involving a new corner straining post installed by the fencing contractor and tightening up the wires once again.  The marker droppers also posed a problem having given up ever getting them, two months after ordering them.  Small runs of specially cut timber sizes usually do take longer and with time pressing to get the fence finished I ordered 150 posts that had been made to create a wooden garden fence.  The one problem was that I needed to cut them all in half to get them to the right size for the job they were going to have to do.  Eventually they were taken to the fence site and I began the long job of stapling them in place.  With the time to plant the young aspens getting ever closer it was essential to get the fence finished to deter more deer trying to get in.  This work though was to continue into May.  An easier and more enjoyable job was planting tatties, kale and onions in the veg patch all installed by the end of the month.

A visit to Tulloch Moor to check old stems of bog asphodel for a common, but rarely recorded fungus turned up something else.  The first was fresh frog spawn and on a dry knoll a nest of narrow-headed wood ants (Formica exsecta).  There were few ants active on this cool day but the grassy structure of the nest made the identification quite easy.  Lots of heather beetles (Lochmaea suturalis) were seen as was the fungus growing on dead stems of bog asphodel going by the name of Microdiplodia narthecii, a new species for the RSPB Abernethy Reserve.  In the woodland along the edge of the 

Microdiplodia narthecii fungus top and spores bottom x1000 oil

boggy area a large section of deadwood caught my eye, so I thought it would be worthy of a visit.  As it turned out there was little of note until I spotted a small beetle running around which, quite helpfully, stayed still for long enough to have its photo taken.  Once home I checked my fairly basic beetle book to see if I could identify it from my photo but in the end I sent a copy of the photo to expert Stephen to see if he could help with a name. It was a beetle called Lordithon but was one of 

The Lordithon trinotatus beetle and pine needles to aid ID

two and the only way to sort out was by getting a reasonably accurate measurement of the its length.  However, there wasn’t a specimen, so Stephen utilised something in the photograph adjacent to the beetle, several Scots pine needles.  Over a few minutes Stephen arrived at the average width of a pine needle and by using this measurement worked out that the beetle was 6-7mm in length leading him to the name Lordithon trinotatus, another new species for the reserve.

An outing with Janet to a woodland by the River Findhorn was a real eye-opener, adding to my list of important sites along this amazing river.  The woodland walk is on the Darnaway Estate and is known as the Dunearn Burn Walk and gives a couple of options depending how far you want to walk.  As we left the car park I got quite excited when I found common wintergreen (Pyrola minor) growing by the path and even more so when ancient oak trees came into view some of which had small populations 

Common wintergreen

of lungwort lichen (Lobaria pulmonaria).  However, all around were the remains of felled beech trees and I had to assume that these had been removed to help the oaks regenerate, favouring important native trees against the non-native beech, as this tree is classed in this part of the UK.  This removal work proved even more important as the path took us into and area of oak and ancient hazel with the hazels hanging thick with lungwort and Pannaria rubiginosa with the strange common name of brown-eyed shingle lichen possibly because it can also be found growing on rocks.  As Janet enjoyed her packed lunch sitting enjoying the view I was off down the steep slope (very steep in places) seeing what else was growing on the hazels with enough promise of more interesting lichens should I 

Woodruff and fungus top and Puccinia punctate  asci and
spores bottom (x1000 oil)

manage to return and spend the day checking more of the oaks and hazels.  Making my way back up to the path there were primroses in flower along with a distinctive plant with circular whorls of leaves growing up its stems – woodruff (Galium odoratum).  There were also bluebell leaves but no flowers as yet.  Some of the woodruff plants had an obvious dark-brown fungus growing on their leaves which turned out to be Puccinia punctate, a fungus I had only seen once before growing on a close relative of woodruff, fen bedstraw (Galium uliginosum) and not recorded from the Darnaway area.  It was only once home I realised that this part of the River Findhorn is designated as The Lower River Findhorn SSSI the web-link (below) gives details about the positive work being done to help the oaks, hazels and their dependant flora.  A site that will warrant another visit soon.

A shout from Janet late one evening saying “come and see this” usually makes me pick up my camera (if working away on laptop in next room) and dash through ready to photograph whatever might be visiting the peanuts on the deck outside.  Most often it is for a pine marten, but, on this occasion, it was a hedgehog which had climbed up on the log with the dish of peanuts and was happily munching away.  So happily was it munching that it allowed me to quietly and slowly open 

the door onto the deck, without it running away.  Flash and glass don’t go well together so by opening the door I was able to get a decent photo of this unusual and first time witnessed event.  The un-flustered hedgehog carried on munching as I closed the door but then seemed a little unsure about how to get down from the log!

On my way back from my outing to look for the filmy fern I popped in to the RSPB Loch Ruthven Reserve and, as we had seen a thawing of the ice covering small pools and lochans needed for the frogs and toads to mate and deposit their spawn, lots of both species were regularly seen on the 

Whooper swans top and mating toads bottom at Loch Ruthven

move.  Between the car park and the bird viewing hide the path was covered with toads making their way to the loch and also males looking for females to mate with.  I had to warn several visitors to be careful not to tread on them as they made their way along the path and also point out mating pairs and singletons heading for the water.  A couple of whooper swans were also on the loch and Slavonia grebes were also in residence but a long way from the viewing hide.  A wander up to some of the rock outcrops high above the loch failed to find any more Wilson’s filmy fern but, overall not a bad day.  However, the fun and games that day hadn’t quite ended.  It was daylight this time when Janet shouted to “come and see this” and on the ground, under the old apple tree, were two great tits, 

Battling great tits

locked together as they probably battled for a female or nesting territory.  One bird was on its back and the other lying on its side with claws well attached to the chest of the other bird.  Several photos taken I decided to venture a little closer to have a closer look and check that the bird on its back was still alive.  They were obvious oblivious to my approach and it was only as I bent down to try and pick them up did they become aware of my presence and break up their fight.  For quite a while afterwards one great tit was very vocal so perhaps this was the ‘winner’?

Strange to by writing a blog for the month of April in late June but with lots on the go delays have built up.  However, hope you enjoyed the read.

Stewart and Janet

Rare Invertebrates in the Cairngorms

https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/projects/rare-invertebrates-in-the-cairngorms/

http://ww2.rspb.org.uk/community/ourwork/b/scotland/archive/2017/05/10/rare-invertebrates-in-the-cairngorms-hunting-for-kentish-glory.aspx

Mary McCallum-Webster

http://womenofscotland.org.uk/women/mary-mccallum-webster

https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000060204

More details about banded house mosquito – Culiseta annulata

http://influentialpoints.com/Gallery/Mosquitoes_and_Biting_Midges.htm

Lower Findhorn SSSI information

http://gateway.snh.gov.uk/sitelink/siteinfo.jsp?pa_code=1104#Site_map

http://gateway.snh.gov.uk/sitelink/documentview.jsp;jsessionid=0575d19a76c4872ba84f04f4f0eff4fef6feaf50a314e75853b1ff750491aa88.e38KahaMax4Rai0Oax8Sb3mLbxf0?p_pa_code=1104&p_Doc_Type_ID=3

Strathspey Weather

http://www.strathspeyweather.co.uk/

Parkswatch

http://parkswatchscotland.co.uk/

Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group

http://www.bscg.org.uk/

Mapmate recording database

http://www.mapmate.co.uk/

Fungal Records Database of Britain and Ireland (FRDBI)

http://www.fieldmycology.net/FRDBI/FRDBI.asp

BSBI – Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland

https://bsbi.org/

Lochnagar in the distance on the drive over to Deeside

I did say it would be warmer to have lunch in the Logie cafe!

Red squirrel feeding on birch sap after top was cut from tree

A chilly day hunting for ferns

Photos © Stewart Taylor