Kentish Glory - 02/05/2018
Trapping on the night of 30/04-01/05 was a dead loss due to temperatures down to -3℃, just 5 moths of 3 very common species. But last night only dropped to a balmy 5℃ and trapping was much more successful, ~130 moths of 22 species - including 3 male Kentish Glory's. Kentish Glory (Endromis versicolora) is the sole British representative of Family: Endromidae. It is a large (wingspan 50-65mm) and attractive moth. It flies April-May and can only be found in birch woodland in Deeside and Speyside in the Scottish Highlands. It's English name derives from the now extinct southern population (although UKMoths suggests it may be hanging on in Worcestershire). Males fly by day and night, females are nocturnal and fly only to lay eggs. The distinguishing feature of the family is the lack of a frenulum on the hindwing (a frenulum is the hook that couples the hindwing to the forewing in most lepidopteran families) - I will have to investigate the wing-coupling mechanism in this species further. |
Glen Tanar - 02/05/2018
After the mammoth adventure of yesterday we took it easy today. We left the lodge for a walk in nearby Glen Tanar at ~11am. We did the pine forest walk (8km) in the hope of seeing some more of the Scottish Highland bird specialties - Crested Tit, Crossbills and maybe Capercaillie. Although there were some sunny spells, there was also considerable drizzle and we failed to see any of the above species. We did get our first Redstart of the year though.
Here a few images from Glen Tanar
I haven't done a 'plant of the day' for a long time - here is a 'fungus of the day':
Gyromitra esculenta
This a 'false morel' - but this is an English name applied to a variety of different fungi and is not unique to the current species. It normally fruits in sandy soils under coniferous trees in spring and early summer. It is potentially fatal if eaten raw, and there are doubts about its safety after cooking.
Gyromitra esculenta
This a 'false morel' - but this is an English name applied to a variety of different fungi and is not unique to the current species. It normally fruits in sandy soils under coniferous trees in spring and early summer. It is potentially fatal if eaten raw, and there are doubts about its safety after cooking.