There is a lone curlew on the shore. I think there was just one this time last year – perhaps the same individual. Recently, there have been a flock of Purple Sandpipers, Turnstones and a pair of Goosanders to add to the usual Red-breasted Mergansers, Mallards, Eider, etc.
I have recorded Rhododendron Bud Blast before. Then it was called Pycnostysanus azaleae, but now it is Seifertia azaleae.
Several galls are present on small sallows along the road. I opened one up and found it to be caused by the gall midge Rabdophaga salicis.
Rabdophaga salicis Larva 
Rabdophaga salicis Gall
Early one morning, I found this little chap in the bathroom, Amaurobius similis or perhaps A. fenestralis :
We are having a period of cold weaher but escaping the serious snow affecting much of Scotland.
Plants of Skye, Raasay & The Small Isles 
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