Archive for November, 2012

Waxwings and Other Things

November 22, 2012

We had a flock of about 30 waxwings in the garden a few days ago.  They have been around on Skye recently (See Skye Birds) but it was good to see them on Raasay.

Steve Terry’s nature website has now moved to www.skyeinfocus.co.uk. His final batch of plant records for 2012 included the locally infrequent Vicia sativa (Common Vetch) on the track not far from Kinloch Lodge.  This is very close to a 1978 record by Mary McCallum Webster.

I now have just about all 2012 records that I know about for the vice-county except for some saltmarsh survey results – though I am told they do not include anything startling and sadly, no Carex salina (Saltmarsh-sedge) – its first known site in the British Isles is just across on the mainland at Loch Duich.

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

That Quarry Sedge

November 6, 2012

The quarry sedge has been grown on by Mike Porter who says it is definitely Carex pendula (Pendulous Sedge). Given I know of only one site for this on Skye, this tends to confirm my opinion as to the source of all these aliens in the quarry.

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Bladderworts on Eigg

November 4, 2012

Sarah Longrigg has been surveying Utricularia on Eigg over the past three years. She has found  U. minor (Lesser Bladderwort) and  U. stygia (Nordic Bladderwort) as summarised below. There is also the possibility of a further species.

Eigg tetrads where U. minor & U. stygia were found (dark blue), U. minor only was found (light blue) and neither was found (light yellow):

Utricularia by tetrads on Eigg

During this survey Utricularia was not found in tetrads NM48N, or NM48W (which includes the pier and very little suitable habitat) though U. minor was found in NM48N in 2008.

Tetrads NM48H and NM48I were not visited and tetrads NM48L and NM48P were not sufficiently visited to give much chance of finding Utricularia.

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »