my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[Matt T]

You can still see a similar pattern in the maps on the Spider Recording Scheme. Most of the records in the Outer Hebrides relate to a holiday taken by one arachnologist! Hopefully I can add a few more.

[ian mcdonald]

Osprey img 2241. Ptarmigan img 2191. The description of this flower in Clapham, Tutin and Warburg is very long, but what is it? Male flower to follow. img 0420.

[ian mcdonald]

Right Matt. Here is the male flower. Very conspicuous in April. img. 0360. Also a couple of pale? tussocks. img 0006 and 3389.

[ian mcdonald]

When I found this tiny plant it was thought to be the first record outside Cornwall and the new forest. Apologies for poor photography. As my teachers got tired of saying, tries hard but could do better. img 190.

[ian mcdonald]

Mosses and lichens are worth a closer look. img 3271 Sphagnum magellanicum. img 3168 Bryum sp.  img 3475 Cladonia floerkeana?  img 3926 Cladonia sp.

[ian mcdonald]

A couple of ferns. Img 2716, scaly male fern, Dryopteris affinis. Img 036, royal fern, Osmunda regalis.

[ian mcdonald]

Some more pictures for ID please. Does anyone know what this woodlice is? img 011. What is this? img 2621. It is not a moss or lichen. A close up of which species? img 2678. Can you ID this to species? img 3537.

[ashley]

Ian, the last two look like bog orchid Hammarbya paludosa and yellow-rattle Rhinanthus minor, but I've no idea about the others.

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Ashley, you are right about the bog orchid.

[brianw]

Hello Ashley, you are right about the bog orchid.

Got wet feet a few times trying to photograph this in the new Forest, in the old days using a 35mm camera with a close-up lens attachment. Not easy when it is only a few cms tall and you had to wait a week for the film to come back from the processors, only to find it was not in focus.

[Anthony Darby]

Not sure that is a woodlouse.

[ian mcdonald]

That was just a guess by me, Anthony. It was on a peat moorland.

[Anthony Darby]

Could be the larva of a beetle of some sort.

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Anthony, I don,t think it is beetle. Perhaps Maggi could enlarge it?

[annew]

Some more pictures for ID please. Does anyone know what this woodlice is? img 011. What is this? img 2621. It is not a moss or lichen. A close up of which species? img 2678. Can you ID this to species? img 3537.

2621 is a filmy fern, probably Hymenophyllum tunbridgense.