Cullaloe Velvetshank

Flammulina velutipes - another welcome fungal addition to the Cullaloe fungal flora

Tubulicrinis subulatus

A corticioid fungus from pine in the woodland, 19th December

Like fallen snow

Cystidia easily visible at low magnification

Spores @ x1000

 

Cystidia with encrustation

Vascular surprise

The one thing I wasn't expecting on an outing to Cullaloe on the 28th December was to find a new vascular plant, but under the Willows, where I was searching for fungi, there they were - two serious bushes of Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) - not only a new species for the year but new to the reserve list! I did also find Fragrant Funnel (Clitocybe fragrans) and Blueing Bracket (Postia subcaesia), and an as-yet-undetermined corticioid fungus, but this was definitely a bonus.

Springtail

Shaken from Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus under the pines yesterday, I reckon this springtail is most likely Isotomurus palustris based on its setae.I'd like to see more pattern on it ideally, but I can have another look

Here's a nice illustrated key: Collembola key

New species - from 2013!

iRecord mollusc records have been examined and a mis-identified slug has turned out to be a new species for the reserve - Arion distinctus, or Brown Soil Slug. Here's a photo of said slug basking in the middle of a toadstool. Bonus points for identifiying the toadstool.

Sigh

That's it - no more people on the reserve. I'm locking the gates I swear!

Distribution of records across taxa

Approaching 650 species for the year, which will be a nice round number. Still unfinished business with lichens and maybe now spiders, but in reality there will probably be enough fungi to reach that target of three more species. If I could reach my target of three ferns and 5 lichens that would be nice! I'm also two short of 150 target for flowering plants.

Taxon Group	Recs	Taxa
acarine	1	1
amphibian	4	2
bird	94	82
centipede	1	1
conifer	1	1
crustacean	2	2
fern	4	2
flowering plant	231	148
fungus	77	67
harvestman	1	1
horsetail	5	2
insect - Coleoptera	24	19
i - butterfly	35	13
i - Odonata	3	3
i - Dermaptera	1	1
i - Hymenoptera	14	11
i - Moth	267	122
i - Orthoptera	1	1
i - Mecoptera	1	1
i - Plecoptera	2	2
i - Hemiptera	8	8
i - Diptera	245	57
lichen	4	4
liverwort	19	13
millipede	4	3
mollusc	3	3
moss	99	68
slime mould	2	2
spider (Araneae)	5	4
terr. mammal	7	3
	1164	647

Spider - Segestria senoculata

Not from Cullaloe, but from my kitchen sink. Still interesting though, I hope. Back fresh from a spider workshop on Saturday I used my new-found techniques to play with this little guy, who appears to be new to NT19. It may also be the second record for Fife. Usual NBN caveats apply.

Ironically the only other record from Fife is one GC picked up at Cullaloe!A more sensible map from SRS features at the bottom. Clearly the Cullaloe record didn't come from SRS, and I'm inclined to think there's an issue here which may take some time to get to the bottom of.

Patterned abdomen

Lanterny male palps

Spiny metatarsus

NBN range map

Catch-up

Finally caught up with both Grey Squirrel and Treecreeper this morning while on a fungal foray. And not before time! Some fungi were also gathered, some of which will hopefully go on to be identified. They include this bruiser from below the pines:

Amanita cecili, Snakeskin Grisette

Cullaloe Roundup

A quick visit on Sunday to check the reserve for fungi particularly.The reserve's had a hair cut in preparation for next year's wildflower growth

A nice damp and quiet corner of the reserve. Well, more in the middle really.

A few fungi around the place

And a few more lichens. Rich pickings if I could identify them!

Some more lichens from Cullaloe ...

Some identified, mostly not

 

Old lichen from Cullaloe

Amazing looking thing. Maybe a chance to ID this now I have a book. Let's see ...

Numbers

Things are a bit quieter now the summer's drawn to a close. A few fungi are being thrown onto the pile and hopefully the year list will end somewhere around 650 species. The total counts for the reserve at the moment look like this:

Class	Total	2014
Vertebrate - Birds	141	81
Vertebrate - Other	23	4
Invertebrate - Lepidoptera	167	135
Invertebrate - Diptera	70	57
Invertebrate - Coleoptera	64	19
Invertebrate - Hemiptera	43	8
Invertebrate - Other	148	34
Plants - Vascular	273	153
Plants - Bryophytes	84	80
Fungi	72	65
Lichens	4	3
	1089	639

The breakdown of this year's records has been quite similar to the overall breakdown, albeit inverts are naturally under-represented. At the start of the year fungi and non-vascular plants would have been barely showing at all..

There are some targets I'd like to reach overall which I will pay some attention to from now on. The year's target is so far behind it's not really interesting any more!

I'd like to get the bird list to 150, but there's not much I can actively do about that other than show up regularly. It could take ten years!

Lepidoptera I'd like to see at 200, and I'm sure that's doable in a reasonably short time span. Many micro moths have been ignored completely and there's plenty more macros to see too.

Fungi and bryophytes both I'd like to see at over 100 and those are moving along nicely. Finding new bryophytes won't be the most straightforward, but the total's close already. Fungi is just a question of sticking at it for a bit and we're right in prime time now with most new additions coming in this category.

I'd also like to see Hoverflies go over 50 (from 45), add a few flies and beetles, make a start on lichens and spiders

I guess I should think about where I'd like the total to be next year. I think I'll set the bar somewhere around 100 new species in 2015. That should be alright I think

Fungal foray

A quick tour of Cullaloe in search of fungi turned up some contenders yesterday. One I haven't seen, one I've seen before but not identified and one I may or may not have seen before - there are some lookalikes.

Also some very nice spreading Lophocolea bidentata on a log

Lophocolea bidentat

Common Rustgill

Wrinkled Club

A Tricholoma of some sort

Clitocybe fragrans

Coconut milkcap

Decided to root around amongst the beeches and willows as I haven't checked it recently for fungi. I won't pretend I wasn't hoping for a giant Amanita, but it didn't happen. Instead I found the small and charming Coconut Milkcap Lactarius glyciosmus, which is a Beech lover. I found a Russula too, which promptly collapsed to mush in 24 hours - not sure if that one's going to be resolved. I'm thinking not, but you never know. There are a number of smallish Russula which are reddish though, so it's not straightforward maybe

There be dragons

Still some insect life around despite the late date - a sunny day saw this Common Darter around the filter beds on Friday

Melanoleuca mushroom

Not so many new additions of late what with holidays and weather, but a nice new addition to the fungus list yesterday with this mushroom. Shame I had no camera when I found it for an in situ shot. The meadow has been half mown today and the verges and paths cut, so somebody's been busy, and I tried to shut the water off, but failed - hopefully there isn't a serious blockage that will cause problems. Water's still pretty high anyway though