{"id":1833,"date":"2024-07-04T11:51:58","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T10:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/18.171.192.198\/?p=1833"},"modified":"2024-08-05T11:39:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T10:39:30","slug":"july-2024-sightings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/?p=1833","title":{"rendered":"JULY 2024 &#8211; SIGHTINGS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>30\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Northern Colletes<\/strong> (a day mapping nesting assemblages of this national rarity with Sally Morris from Buglife. Very exciting to find them all across the machair!)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bordered Grey<\/strong> moth (only the second record on Coll for this nationally notable species) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Heather Fly (a new species for us)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Belted<\/strong> <strong>Beauty<\/strong> moth (a well-grown caterpillar of this machair speciality)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Many-lobed Dandelion<\/strong> (we found some fresh vegetative growth today of this very rare early-season dandelion)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Field<\/strong> <strong>Madder<\/strong> (a local rarity at a new location)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bitter Vetch (always nice to find)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>23\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Canada Geese (occasional family groups being seen across the island now &#8211; they&#8217;ll be leaving soon)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Field Gentian (a delightful late summer flower that&#8217;s having a particularly good year here on Coll)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Frog Orchid and Twayblade (in a new location)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lesser Hawkbit (an uncommon plant in Scotland plant which we find only occasionally in the machair. Here it was flowering abundantly)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Allseed<\/strong> and <strong>Chaffweed<\/strong> (a pair of nationally scarce species which are frequently seen together here)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>18\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Whimbrel (an early return migrant with Curlews this evening)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>17\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Greater Tussock-sedge <\/strong>and <strong>Lesser Tussock-sedge<\/strong> (our productive week continues with two more Coll rarities in the bag!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>16\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hen Harrier (male and female seen today)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Grayling butterfly (our first of the year)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dark Green Fritillary (still around in good numbers)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Common Hawker dragonfly (our first of the year)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A long walk in the eastern moors revealed several young trees: Scots Pine, Downy Birch and Grey Willow<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bog Hair-grass <\/strong>(At long last!! A nationally scarce species for which Coll is a stronghold but which we&#8217;ve never been able to nail down before. This was our target species for today&#8217;s walk.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pipewort<\/strong> (a more dependable Coll speciality)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>15\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Red-throated Diver<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hen Harrier (female)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sparrowhawk (female)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Arctic Terns and Common Terns (both appear to be having a good year breeding on rocky skerries offshore)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Red Admiral (our first for the year of this long-range migrant species)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>14\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Greenshank (an early returning migrant)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Emperor moth caterpillar<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Prickly Saltwort<\/strong> (hundreds of plants at its only known station on Coll)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sea Beet<\/strong> (another Coll rarity)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Goldenrod<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Elytrigia x laxa<\/strong> (it&#8217;s a bit obscure but it is a new grass for Coll &#8211; the hybrid of Common Couch and Sand Couch. Not previously recorded on the island.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Teasel<\/strong> (another first for Coll &#8211; a scarce plant on the west coast))<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>plenty of Heath Spotted and Lesser Butterfly Orchids still in flower<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Moths 23 individuals of 15 species in the moth trap as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Poplar Hawkmoth<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Burnished Brass<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Heart and Dart<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>True Lovers Knot<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bright-line Brown-eye<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Spectacle<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rustic<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dark Arches<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Large Yellow Underwing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gold Spot<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Common Rustic agg<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dotted Clay<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Small Square-spot<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Beautiful Golden Y<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Eana penziana<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>08\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sparrowhawk<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Corncrake (a few calling males still around)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Sericomyia<\/em> <em>silentis<\/em> (a northern and western species not previously recorded in Coll)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Common Valerian (only 3 locations for this lovely wetland species in Coll &#8211; rediscovered today at its original station)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Northern Marsh Orchid <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Frog Orchid<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Common Twayblade (a bank of maybe a hundred &#8211; the only regular location for this orchid in Coll)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Northern Colletes<\/strong> (two more colonies of this rare solitary mining bee found in the machair)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>07\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>White-tailed Eagle (a screaming Herring Gull drew us into the garden to observe an adult eagle low overhead)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>06\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Shelduck (a pair on the wild sea with 6 ducklings)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Eider (a regular female snoozing on rocks in Loch Eatharna)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Twite (a family group)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Orchidaceae (12 different species of orchid found across the island in recent weeks)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>05\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Snow Geese (the regular flock of five feral birds still around) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Black-throated Diver<\/strong> (a smart juv bird in Baigh Feall &#8211; not a species we see here very often)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hen Harrier (female hunting &#8211; it&#8217;s good to see plenty of females out and about at the moment)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sparrowhawk<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Arctic Skua (5 separate individuals)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Great Skua (still in short supply around Coll this summer)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fulmar (several nesting pairs)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Belted Beauty<\/strong> moth (a cracking find of a well-developed caterpillar of this machair speciality)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Black Snail Beetle (<em>Phosphuga atrata<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Brown Chafer (<em>Serica brunnea<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Northern Colletes<\/strong> (two colonies of this rare solitary mining bee found in the machair)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Parsley-piert<\/strong> (not an exciting plant &#8211; a common weed on the main land &#8211; but a first for Coll!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>02\/07\/2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hen Harrier (a chunky female hunting over the Corncrake fields &#8211; gulp!)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Corncrakes (3 separate individuals seen in flight)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Snipe (still a few \u2018sawing\u2019 and flying over breeding grounds)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Great Skua (2 individuals seen)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Arctic Skua (2 individuals seen)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Woodpigeon (a single bird over fields at Acha)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Grass Rivulet (a day-flying moth on the machair)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Tenthredo<\/em> sp (a handsome sawfly sunning itself on an Oxeye Daisy flower)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Common Twayblades (dozens of flowering stems in the machair &#8211; our only regular site for this striking orchid)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Frog Orchid (a good number now flowering in the machair)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Northern Marsh Orchid (a few in the machair &#8211; including hybrids with Early Marsh)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>30\/07\/2024 23\/07\/2024 18\/07\/2024 17\/07\/2024 16\/07\/2024 15\/07\/2024 14\/07\/2024 Moths 23 individuals of 15 species in the moth trap as follows: 08\/07\/2024 07\/07\/2024 06\/07\/2024 05\/07\/2024 02\/07\/2024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[77,8,9],"class_list":["post-1833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-sightings-2024","tag-77","tag-recent","tag-sightings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1833"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1858,"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833\/revisions\/1858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}