Alouette Nature Tours

15/11/2023

Dalwhat Glen

02/11/2023

Night by UV light.
1. Slug on a Sulphur Tuft mushroom
2. Yellow map lichen
3. Small bones in s**t
4. White-lipped snail on moss

17/10/2023

Wrote a wee thing for VisitScotland about good places to go birdwatching this autumn.

Autumn is here and what better time to get outdoors and experience the southern realms of Scotland in all its autumnal glory than now.

30/09/2023

Hare’s ear fungus (𝘖𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢). Often found next to paths, this one was on the banking by the side of the road.
The prefix Ono- in the Latin name refers to donkeys. Which name do you prefer, hare’s ear or donkey’s ear? Another alternative is lemon peel fungus.

19/08/2023

Wonderful day out to Silver Flowe and the Devil’s Bowling Green with the this week.
Epic views and my first roundleaf and greater sundew (𝘋𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘢 and 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢) Sundews are carnivorous plants that grow in very low nutrient soils (here growing on sphagnum moss). They catch their prey by catching them in the sticky nectar they produce. The hairs then curl up and entrap the victim and slowly digests it. 😋

12/08/2023

The fox moth caterpillar. It was a wet day today doing a survey for the Glenmidge Burn Project, but it added to the magic of this furry beast.
This caterpillar will spend the winter under leaf cover and then build its cocoon in the spring to emerge as a moth.

11/08/2023

Flower of Tan (𝘍𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢), a slime mould. Fascinating creature. Also known as scrambled egg slime, dog vomit slime mould or Jasmine slime (which is your favourite?), it is able to survive extremely high levels of zinc, contains antibiotic compounds against Bacillus and Candida, and a whole lot more crazy stuff.
In Scandinavia, it is said to be the vomit of Troll cats…

19/07/2023

Volunteering at the this week. Between putting up tents and fixing some plumbing, I went for an exploration of Abbey Home organic farm where the fair is being held.
- a Magpie moth
- a blooming umbel
- a kind of mallow
- a kind of vetch
- a chicory flower
- a kind of shield bug

14/07/2023

Bountiful Scotland. Basketful of field mushrooms.

03/07/2023

Solo trip to Argyll day 3: not Argyll but Cowal
- Ostel bay with live dog
- Ostel bay with dead barrel jellyfish aka frilly mouthed jellyfish aka dustbin lid jellyfish (𝘙𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘮𝘰).
- Spent the weekend dodging showers and chasing rainbows.

- Epiphytic fern (a fern that grows on the surface of another plant)
- Wolf’s milk (𝘓𝘺𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘮), a slime mould, unicellular amoeba. One cell, but can reach sizes of up to 1 metre and weigh up to 20th so!
- Hoof fungus (𝘍𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴)
jellyfish

03/07/2023

Argyll solo trip day 2: Westport beach.
- Pyramidal orchid (𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴)
- Cinnabar moth caterpillar (𝘛𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘦𝘢𝘦). It feeds on ragwort, which is poisonous to many animals, and converts the toxin into its own, making it poisonous to predators.
- Sea bindweed or sea morning glory (𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢)
- First Chanterelles of the season for dinner!
- Sunset with dead cow
- Sea gooseberry or comb jelly (𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘴).
- Copse snails (𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮) mating.
- Lots of dead birds on the beach, mostly black guillemots. Avian flu still causing lots of damage.
.scotland

01/07/2023

Day 1 of solo Argyle escapade.
Wet wet wet!
Flowers are common spotted orchid and bog asphodel

23/04/2023

This is a Nettle Clustercup Rust fungus (𝘗𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢). Heard about it yesterday, found it today (or rather did).
This fungus has 5 spore stages, some on nettles and some on sedge. Its life cycle is considered one of the most complex in the living world.

20/04/2023

15/04/2023

Colt’s-foot (𝘛𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘢) by the Cairn pool.
Popping colours in the gravel. “Tussi” in Latin means cough and “ago” act upon.

10/04/2023

Honey Bees (genus Apis): These are super Pollinators, of which the worker bees only live 4-7 weeks. There are only 7 recognised species of honey bee on the planet although they do break down into 44 subspecies. The main distinction from the 20,000 other species of bees is the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests from wax. Interesting facts from 🐝 beekeepingbasic.com 🐝

28/03/2023

The less glamorous side of ecology. A day in the rain supervising the taking down of roof in case there are any bats.

26/03/2023

Beautiful cold day leading the first community wildlife survey of the Glenmidge Burn Project.
Wild garlic (Allium ursinum) by the kilo, grubs in galls on willow, pig nuts (Conopodium majus) and Opposite-leaves Golden Saxifrage are only very few of the many plants we recorded. Next one on 1st April, get in touch!

21/03/2023

Warlock’s butter (𝘌𝘹𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴). This jelly fungus grows on decaying beech, ash and Hazel. “Dubious Edibility” says my mushroom guide :)

20/03/2023

Lead this wee walk for Glencairn Land & Woods Trust on Saturday. It was lots of fun, we looked and small things very closely.

15/03/2023

I’ll be leading this waking this Saturday for the

DM if you want to join!

17/02/2023

Hazel (𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢)
One of my favourites. Flowers are already appearing, tiny and anemone-like.

04/02/2023

Perfect badger tracks on the side of the road. Going places.

09/01/2023

Nothing like a field of ammonite fossils to put your time on Earth into perspective.