Slowing down

After a couple of very good weeks I only managed to add 4 species this week. This brings me to 984 for the year at Thorne. Nothing this week even nudged me into getting the camera out so not even one photo with this update.
Hopefully next week will be better. And I will at least try to get something photographed.

Dalgety Bay - tiny dancers

It's been a period of small things - not least small gains. About one a day I think.

The most surprising and pleasing was the Cis pulled from Piptoporus (though I think it isn't called that any more). The fruit body was full of fresh-looking round holes so I knew there was something inside and I knew that I had read something about that something. It all gets very vague sometimes.

Anyway, according to the 2006 Nature of Fife inventory there were no species in the family recorded from Fife, though I see from NBN that one other Cis species has been recorded from 1958. Was this not known? Was it discarded as dodgy? Who knows. Anyway. Cis bilamellatus is a cracking little thing so I'm giving it all the space pictorially. This is the fourth beetle I've recorded recently which comes in comfortably under 2mm!

Numbers:

1356		fungus	Erisyphe trifolii	A fungus
1357		fungus	Erisyphe ranunculi	A fungus
1358		spider	Pardosa amentata	A wolf spider
1359		coleoptera	Tachinus rufipes	A rove beetle
1360		fungus	Podosphaera clandestina	Mildew on Hawthorn
1361	*	coleoptera	Ocys harpaloides	A ground beetle
1362	*	coleoptera	Ptenidium pusillum	A feather-winged beetle
1363	*	coleoptera	Cis bilamellatus	A minute tree-fungus beetle
1364	*	diptera	Agromyza nana	Agromyzidae

More mushrooms and moths

Considering how late in the year it is getting another very good week at Thorne with 25 added.
Mushrooms are popping up all over the place - although no sign of any waxcap's yet.
Also a good run of new moths for the year. This has probably been helped that, with the shorter days, I am now getting to work before the security lights turn off.
Among the new moths were some sigh of migrants

                                                 Vestal.
The Vestal was nice to get but no sign of any major migrant rarity. Crimson Speckled would be good!

Also a good range of Autumn moths including

                                                    Merveille du Jour

Horsey Corner - the big moth dip

There were a couple of exceptional days of moth migration in southern and eastern England recently, and for various reasons I missed both of them. Very frustrating, as some of the moths not too far away were fab - Crimson Speckled etc. Still, it's turning out to be a good moth year overall, now up to 491 species, far more than I thought I'd get at the start of the year. Add in a few aphids and what more could you want? A Yellow-browed Warbler has just made an appearance in the garden.

Green-brindled Crescent

Recent additions:

1949	Fannia canicularis	Diptera	Fanniidae
1950	Gammarus pulex	Crustaceans	Freshwater Shrimp
1951	Elipsocus hyalinus	Hemipteroids	Psocoptera
1952	Pseudolyciella stylata agg.	Diptera	Lauxanidae
1953	Leistus rufomarginatus	Coleoptera	Carabidae
1954	Agriotes acuminatus	Coleoptera	Elateridae
1955	Leptoglossus occidentalis	Hemipteroids	Western Conifer Seed Bug
1956	Glebionis segetum	Vascular Plants	Corn Marigold
1957	Allophyes oxyacanthae	Lepidoptera:moths	Green-brindled Crescent
1958	Macrolepiota procera	Fungi	Parasol
1959	Chortodes pygmina	Lepidoptera:moths	Small Wainscot
1960	Monopis obviella	Lepidoptera:moths	Yellow-backed Clothes Moth
1961	Medicago lupulina	Vascular Plants	Black Medick
1962	Entomobrya nivalis	Springtails etc	Collembola
1963	Entomobrya intermedia	Springtails etc	Collembola
1964	Neuroterus albipes	Hymenoptera	Smooth Spangle Gall on Oak
1965	Fenusa dohrnii	Hymenoptera	Symphyta: Tenthredinidae
1966	Phyllonorycter stettinensis	Lepidoptera:moths	Leaf mine on Alder
1967	Stigmella glutinosae	Lepidoptera:moths	White-barred Alder Pygmy
1969	Hylemya variata	Diptera	Anthomyiidae
1970	Neuroterus quercusbaccarum	Hymenoptera	Common Spangle Gall on Oak
1971	Neuroterus anthracinus	Hymenoptera	Oyster Gall on Oak
1972	Phyllonorycter quercifoliella	Lepidoptera:moths	Common Oak Midget
1973	Drepanosiphum platanoidis	Hemipteroids	Common Sycamore Aphid
1974	Phylloscopus inornatus	Birds	Yellow-browed Warbler

Skye - All about the Verts

At this stage in the game I certainly didn't expect that five of the last eight additions would be birds, but that's how it's panned out. To be fair, I also have a fair selection of small stuff beaten from trees  this morning which I've yet to check (pretty sure none of them are birds though...) Spent a lot of time pishing in the woods for the YBW without success, though a late Willow Warbler was a bit of a shocker. 

No pics today, so here's the additions as a simple list:

1184* (not 1183 as mentioned last time) - Yellow-browed Warbler - was here for 2 days

1185* - Fungus - Fomitopsis betulina Birch Polypore - suddenly appeared on a Downy Birch

1186 - Bird - Fieldfare - 1 overhead

1187* - Bird - Barnacle Goose - 15 low overhead

1188* - Bird - Brambling - 1 overhead

1189 - Bird - Stonechat - 2 in a weedy field

1190* - Fungus - Stereum rugosum - loads on Hazel, scratch it and watch it 'bleed'

1191 - Fungus - Groundsel Rust - finally! Been checking since January!

(* - new for square)

Should smash 1200 pretty soon, but those three weeks spent touring southern England have massively reduced my chances of attaining the hoped for 1350 species this year. We'll see. 

Update -
1192* - Fungus - Phoma (Stagnospora) samararum on Ash key wings
1193* - Fungus - Phomopsis pterophila (Diaporthe samaricola) on Ash key seeds

Later Update -
1194* - Moth - Ectoedemia argyropeza - tenanted mines on fallen Aspen leaves

found a bunch of Aspen leaves with the rather obvious 'green islands' of Ectoedemia argyropeza in them. Turns out to be entirely new to Skye and, rather surprisingly, new to me too. I was sure I'd seen this before, must be thinking about green islands on something else. Anyway, pics - huzzah!

Dalgety bay quickie - The Call of Chthonid

Quickie update because I'm stoked about finding my second pseudoscorpion, common though it many be, and the smallest beetle I've ever ID'd (or am ever likely to?). The pseud was sieved out of woodland litter and just as I was thinking I'd finally added the one species I expected to find it turned out I may be looking at the possibility of recording TWO pseudoscorpions. IF I can find the other one that is...

The Rugilus came out of the woodchip pile and was about the only thing that did so far. There's an as-yet-undetermined Sepedophilus but I think that's the only other. (edit: Rugilus last recorded in the county pre-1900 and apparently few Scottish records)

Litter at the high tide of last week's storm dropped about 100 beetles in one tap, and I haven't even begun to get to the bottom of that though most were a black Aphodius. There's probably enough there for my expected 2-a-day until end of October. Two a day is about as fast as I can go on these I suspect. On a good day.

Having discovered two species of Ptiliidae I was happy to enjoy looking at them undetermined until I discovered that all the keys I needed were there in German but also in a very nice translation into English with pictures courtesy of Mike Hackston. 0.7mm of beetle is not a lot, and they were dwarfed under bark by the springtails they were beside (Neanura). The leaf-litter Atrotrichus was a whopper by comparison at 1.1mm and the heavyweight of its genus in Britain!

Common chthonid

Rugilus orbiculatus

Ptinella aptera

Spermotheca in situ - check the "trumpet" on the right had side

Numbers:

1351		diptera	Polietes lardarius	Muscidae
1352	*	coleoptera	Atrotrichis intermedia	A feather-winged beetle
1353	*	coleoptera	Ptinella aptera	A feather-winged beetle
1354	*	pseudoscorpion	Chthonius ischnocheles	Common chthonid
1355	*	coleoptera	Rugilus orbiculatus	A rove beetle

Siberian Skye

I'm finally returned from three long weeks PSLing the heck outta the southern counties of Englandshire. First port of call (after bed...) was Uig Wood. And that's where I bumped into species number 1183 this morning, a simply superb Yellow-browed Warbler, pished in from the rain and wind and straight onto my 1KSQ List. 

Somehow, Skye's first Yellow-browed Warbler wasn't recorded until 2016 (2 birds) and my bird today still counts as a local Mega. No pics, I was far too busy enjoying this sprite of a bird for that (oh alright, so I couldn't digi-bin the fast-moving little bugger else I'd already have whacked up an image...)

But it's good to be back. I hope to implement some of the stuff I've recently learned now that I'm back on patch. Watch this space, guys - The Gibster is back! 

1183 - Yellow-browed Warbler (hell yeah)

Dalgety Bay - Barking up the right tree

So after a week in warmer climes it's back to autumn leaves and chilly air. I spent a lot of time reading the Coleopterists Handbook while I was away so that definitely coloured my activities when I got back!

The main recent batch of records came from a sycamore that keeled over during a storm earlier this year It has so far produced Rhizohagus dispar (first county record since 1853), Agathidium nigripenne (first county record), Acidota crenata and some springtails, and I still have other specimens in the bullpen.

After finding galls on beech I decided to check a nearby oak ... wait, that's a pretty pointy oak! Nuff said.

The sieve's been getting some action too. Mostly leaf litter and a bit of soil/sand, but there's a pile of woodchip I have my eye on.

(just saw Seth's updates on PSL website. No wonder he's not adding much to his Skye list! Looks like good times)

Fallen sycamore

Rhizophagus

Agathidium nigripenne

Hartigiola on beech leaves

Turkey Oak

Numbers:

1331		bird	Falco peregrinus	Peregrine Falcon
1332		coleoptera	Paradromius linearis	A ground beetle
1333	*	insect-other	Limnephilus auriculus	A Caddisfly
1334		lep-moth	Epiritta christyi	Pale November Moth
1335		diptera	Schoenomyza litorella	Muscidae
1336	*	diptera	Caliopum aeneum	Lauxanidae
1337		lep-moth	Agrochola lota	Red-line Quaker
1338		hemiptera	Anthocoris nemorum	A mirid bug
1339		bird	Acanthis cabaret	Lesser Redpoll
1340	*	diptera	Phytomyza spinaciae	Agromyzidae
1341	*	diptera	Peplomya litura	Lauxaniidae
1342	*	flowering plant	Quercus cerris	Turkey Oak
1343		lep-moth	Agrochola macilenta	Yellow-line Quaker
1344	*	coleoptera	Xantholoma linearis	A rove beetle
1345	*	coleoptera	Rhizophagus dispar	A rhizophagid beetle
1346	*	coleoptera	Agathidium nigripenne	A round fungus beetle
1347	*	diptera	Hartigiola annulipes	A gall midge
1348	*	coleoptera	Acidota crenata	A rove beetle
1349		collembola	Neanura muscorum	A springtail
1350	*	coleoptera	Anthobium atrocephalum	A rove beetle

Horsey Corner - fly me to the moon...

Well, this is a good proboscis...

Stomoxys calcitrans

A few more:

1933	Adalia bipunctata	Coleoptera	2-spot Ladybird
1934	Graphomya minor	Diptera	Muscidae
1935	Agrochola circellaris	Lepidoptera:moths	The Brick
1936	Epirrita dilutata	Lepidoptera:moths	November Moth
1937	Conistra ligula	Lepidoptera:moths	Dark Chestnut
1938 *	Phytomyza minuscula	Diptera	Agromyzidae
1939	Odiellus spinosus	Arachnids	Harvestman
1940	Platycheirus scutatus	Diptera	Syrphidae
1941	Limonia phragmitidis	Diptera	Cranefly
1942	Netelia inedita	Hymenoptera	Ichneumonidae
1943 *	Cladius brullei	Hymenoptera	Symphyta
1944	Meigenia mutabilis	Diptera	Tachinidae
1945 *	Thaumatomyia trifasciata	Diptera	Chloropidae
1946	Larentia clavaria	Lepidoptera:moths	The Mallow
1947	Stomoxys calcitrans	Diptera	Muscidae
1948	Metallus lanceolatus	Hymenoptera	Symphyta

Fungi time

Just completed the first week back at Thorne after my travels and it was good to see that finally the autumn fungi were starting to appear.

                                                  Fly Agaric's

Still no sign of any Waxcaps yet and perhaps the very dry summer will of had a major negative effect on them.
Also this week several species of autumn moths were new for the year and this helped push the score at Thorne to 959. This is made up from the following groups.
Mammals 11, Birds 62, Amphibians 3, Fish 1, Odonata 13, Orthoptera 7, Hemiptera 34, Butterflies 22, Moths 207, Coleoptera 33, Hymenoptera 47, Diptera 53, Insects RSO 4, Molluscs 19, Arachnids 19, Crustacea 6, Annelids 5, Plants 302, Bryophytes 24, Fungi 56, and Lichen 31.