Nature Notes from Skye
(and occasionally other places)

Thu 7 Oct 2004

Was hoping it would clear up this afternoon but it remained drizzly so I didn't go far.  We are promised fine weather for the next 3 days. 

Complete caterpillar was c 6.5 cm long

Shell c 8 mm across at widest

I rarely seem to find a caterpillar actually eating a food plant, but this Fox Moth one was fattening up for the winter on some heather.  You can see why they're called Woolly Bears.  The Smooth Glass Snail was resting on some crumbly rock near the cliff edge.

Picture c 13 cm wide

The Alpine Lady's Mantle was on the cliff-top near the snail; it actually occurs down to sea level in this area.

RH mushroom c 4.7 cm across at widest

These mushrooms were also in the same spot, there was a group of about a dozen in short cliff-top turf.  Possibly Hygrocybe splendidissima.  Back down in the lowlands, the Elder bushes are covered with berries, which will provide plenty of food for the departing and arriving birds at this time of migration.