Skye - Warming Up :)

The weather has taken it's own sweet time, but it finally seems to be properly warming up. Spring has arrived.

Having said that, I've hardly been out and about to make the most of it, work and an annoying leg injury have been getting in the way, though the leg has thankfully pretty much sorted itself out again now. Yesterday I spent several hours wandering the woods and even made use of my butterfly net for the second time this year!

Five minutes at a sunlit tree trunk was profitable, I skored my second species of odonata for the square. Not second for the year, second species ever! Still to see the other one in 2018.

Large Red Damselfly - woo-hoo!!!!

I've been making some headway with hoverflies too

Cheilosia illustrata

Eristalis arbustorum

Rhingia campestris - "does my nose look big in this?"

 Portevenia maculata - absolutely miles away from Ramsons à la Ali style (well, maybe 12" away...)

Pedicia rivosa - a smart cranefly that I found in the light trap one morning

But it's not all about flies. Found a log covered in this highly impressive species

Dryad's Saddle - about ten of them on a rotten log. This was the largest specimen.

Aceria macrorhyncha - Sycamore Nail Galls, first I've seen up here despite there being masses of Sycamores on site

I've suddenly accrued a bit of a backlog - forty pots' worth, in fact! Mostly flies, bibionids and hovers forming a fair proportion of them. Good news is that there's no midges as yet. Doubtless I've just jinxed myself by saying that. 

I've hatched a mad plan to hit 750 by end of May. I'm on 677 at the moment, so "just" 73 to go over the next eight days. Ha, not a chance but it'll be interesting to see how far I get. It took me until mid-June to hit 700 last year, so I'm slightly ahead of that. But, as feared, I'm starting to spend more and more time out of my square. I did claw back Red Grouse for my Skye List this afternoon (previously only seen locally on Raasay), sadly it was up a mountain miles away from Uig.