Dalgety Bay - The Beast from the East

Well, that was quite a thing. Off work but unable, mostly, to get out. Nevertheless when I did get out it was a kiss from the princess. Not for all those weather casualties, of course, but it did bring some "patch gold" as farmland birds were forced into the tiny patch of exposed grass in my square. My first Dalgety Bay Golden Plovers showed up after not seeing one in the previous 20 years. Yellowhammers, Skylarks, Reed Bunting, Snipe. A bonanza. Churlish to complain about the lack of Little Auk, LT Duck, Scoters, Fulmar, Gannet ... and where are those Fulmars? They should be here anyway!

Here's some pack ice in the bay - very bizarre

There's really too much to cover in individual shots so here's a small collection from the kelp bed sweep

Watery wonderland

Water-loving things

One of my favourite things from yesterday was the hydroid Obelia geniculata, which even had a developing medusa like a little homunculus sitting in one of the "cups". From a Laminaria blade.

Obelia geniculata

Musical accompaniment -edit: E.S.T. Seven Days of Falling (snow). A bit of mellow genius

Numbers:

451	*	fungus	Laboulbenia vulgaris	A fungus
452		coleoptera	Pterostichus strenuus	A ground beetle
453		bird	Gallinago gallinago	Common Snipe
454		flowering plant	Chamerion angustifolium	Rosebay Willowherb
455		fungus	Trametes ochracea	A fungus
456		lichen	Hypogymnia tubulosa	A lichen
457		bird	Alauda arvensis	Skylark
458	*	diptera	Nanocladius dichromus	A chironomid fly
459		bird	Anthus petrosus	Rock Pipit
460		bird	Rissa tridactyla	Kittiwake
461		bird	Uria aalge	Guillemot
462		bird	Alca torda	Razorbill
463		bird	Pluvialis apricaria	Golden Plover
464		bird	Emberiza citrinella	Yellowhammer
465		bird	Emberiza schoeniclus	Reed Bunting
466		bird	Anthus pratensis	Meadow Pipit
467		chordate	Ascidiella scabra	A sea squirt
468		alga	Membranoptera alata	An alga
469		alga	Corallina officinalis	Coral Weed
470		mollusc	Cerastoderma edule	Common Cockle
471		mollusc	Doris pseudoargus	Sea Lemon
472		cnidarian	Dynamena pumila	A hydrozoan
473	*	annelid	Eulalia viridis	Greenleaf worm
474		echinoderm	Ophiothrix fragilis	Common Brittlestar
475	*	alga	Halidrys siliquosa	Sea Oak
476	*	alga	Palmaria palmata	Dulse
477	*	cnidarian	Obelia geniculata	A hydroid
478	*	alga	Rhodomela lycopodioides	A marine alga