Spring has officially arrived here on Skye. Freshly arrived migrant Highland Coo, resting up on the beach 😄

Playing at the microscope whilst the rain comes down outside. These are from Sphagnum pools here on Skye

Damn right! bsky.app/profile/brex...

Looks as though Raasay's volcano is getting ready to blow 😄

Fabulous display of the alga Trentepohlia iolithus here on Skye. Though I suspect the next door neighbour might choose to describe it otherwise...

Ninja-like field skills allowed me to sneak up on this ultra wary Hoodie. I don't think it even saw me....

I found a Black Spleenwort with suspicious looking brown patches yesterday. Taking a closer look revealed the culprit on the underside. This is Psychoides filicivora, which is the only Psychoides I've ever found here on Skye. Could P.verhuella here too? Be nice to find it someday if so! #teammoth

Petrol prices have really fallen here on Skye 🤣

Tipula pagana is currently the dominant cranefly on walls here at Greshornish, Skye. The females are readily identified thanks to their massively reduced wings, rendering them flightless. Coupled with their late flight season, this makes ID pretty simple.

It's been very wet here on Skye lately. Tonight the rain stopped so I did an after dark safari around the walls. Two male Steatoda nobilis were a shock, I had no idea they were this far north! iRecord shows one other Skye record, mine will make it two 🙂

Went out hoping for a Yellow-browed Warbler, instead found Chilean Hard-fern (Blechnum cordatum) new to VC. Talk about shite birding skillz!

If you happen to be located along the West coast of Britain, or in Ireland (anywhere with a Lobarion community), keep an eye open for the shiny green discs of Abrothallus welwitschii growing on the thallus of Sticta lichens. In the right light, the discs really shine out! Quite eye-catching really.

Rather an unexpected addition to my PSL, there's a Peach tree (Prunus persica) growing in the dunes at Rock, Cornwall. Note the 'lumpy bits' on the petiole. These are extrafloral nectaries, thought to attract ants onto the plant and thus keep any potential pest species in check. All clever stuff!

The ridiculously cute and inquisitive St Piran's Crab, seen here at a Cornish rockpool. This may well be my all time favourite rockpool dweller, just look at those eyes!

Heading back to Skye after a fabulous week in Cornwall. Popped in to Scout Scar nest Kendal this morning for Sorbus lancastriensis. Half a dozen leaves and no berries, but a new species for me. Will have to return in the summer!

I did a bad thing. I twitched a plant that I 'needed' for my PSL. Willow-leaved Pear (species 7242) duly ticked in a hedge. Then I noticed the brown scuzz on a number of the fruits. This is Venturia pyrina aka Pear Scab and species 7243 for me. A far more satisfying lifer than a twitched tree!

Stopped at a wooded site near Carrbridge with the intent of finally finding Shining Guest Ant on a Formica lugubris nest. Ten nests checked, zero Shining Guest Ants seen. Yet again. But I did fid two nests of Formica exsecta, very rare beast indeed! Species 7245 for my PSL

Quit Skye for a cheeky overnighter onto the mainland. A random layby stop added the spectacular Gymnosporangium cornutum to my PSL (species 7244). Seen here infecting one Rowan sapling, situated amongst many seemingly untouched individuals. Who says microfungi are boring (not me!)

This is a must-read. "..(Insects') bodies are riddled with holes, called spiracles, that carry oxygen directly into the tissue. “They’re all surface area (says Wagner). Insects can’t hold water.” Even a brief drought lasting just a few days can wipe out millions of humidity-dependent insects.."