Animal species in my garden In the first year I concentrated on moths and then started on some of the other invertebrates I was catching in the moth trap and on general sightings of some of the more charismatic, and relatively easily identifiable, groups of insects – butterflies, hoverflies, dragonflies and bumblebees. Each year I […]
Robin Sutton
Signs of Spring survey 2020
Back in January a few of us involved in Curracag and the Outer Hebrides Biological Recording group decided to launch a phenology survey we ended up calling Signs of Spring. Phenology is the study of when things happen and for centuries people have systematically recorded when certain natural events occur. Perhaps the most famous phenologist […]
Another carnivorous plant in the Outer Hebrides?
I enjoyed reading the recent summary of insectivorous plants in the Outer Hebrides and was reminded of it whilst taking part in my ritual but futile summer Horsetail pulling. Like many, my garden is riddled with horsetail and we have an uneasy truce. It grows, I pull it up, it grows, I pull and so […]
Spring – as if to tease us ….
As if to tease us, indications of better things to come arrived just as daylight hours reached their minimum. The first tentative daffodil shoots appeared amongst the rapidly dwindling Calendulas in the garden and deep in the hedge a Song Thrush started to sing. Knowing that the worst of winter is still to come I […]
The other things you find in moth traps
Like many people I run a moth trap in the garden. It gets put out on suitable nights from March through to November. The best nights are those with low wind speeds and overcast humid conditions. Evenings with heavy rain and high winds are definite no trap days. In the morning, hopefully, there will be […]