Best of 2023

With the clock winding down it's time for sitting back by the fire with the pipe and slippers and a domestic measure of malt. Fair warning, though - the latter part of the year was largely a write-off and it's mostly plants! 140 new species this year was the lowest by more than half for a decade.

Fungi

The year got off to a flyer with Crucibulum laeve, Common Bird's-nest at Dreghorn, completing the trio of commoner bird's nests that I had started off in October and November 2022. Even found them myself, too.

Strangest day of the year in terms of fungi was a quick stop across from the scrap metal yard in Inverkeithing to look for plants in a small pond I recently discovered there. One foot out the car and I found Helvella corium. Another two steps and I encountered the morel Verpa conica. These, I was later told, are frequent alpine calcicoles found together in Switzerland. Inverkeithing has a habit of turning up calcicole species in between burnt-out cars, Buckfast bottles and industrial wasteland.

Bryophytes

none new

Vascular Plants 

First up was Purple Toothwort at Musselburgh 18th March, a plant known and long-desired which finally got the visit it deserved. Very nice.

I've been itching to go to Ingleborough for a long time so on 22nd April, when the Manchild was away on some camp or other me and the missus went a-wandering on a day trip to Yorkshire - Ey oop!

It was peeing down, but we had a lovely walk and I added Blue Moor Grass, Bird's-eye Primrose, Green Spleenwort. Not satisfied with that I went again on 13th May with the Wildflower Society, who knew where things were.

In between though, on 13th May, I went up Arthur's seat to spend some quality time with Sticky Catchfly.

Ingleborough, 18th May, WFS

Carnation Sedge, Marsh Valerian, Horseshoe Vetch, Northern Bedstraw, Limestone Bedstraw, Hoary Plantain, Brittle Bladder-fern, Holly Fern, Limestone Fern, Rigid Buckler-fern, Early Purple Orchid, English Sandwort, Spring Sandwort, Teesdale Violet

Teesdale Violet

On 24th May I jammed into Warty Cabbage in Inverkeithing while looking for birds. Just in time to show Pete. Details here.

At the end of June Pete and I headed for Ben Lawers, Beinn Ghlas and Corrie Fee. A good handful of species fell, though we left some for later.

A probably-incomplete list of addtitions: Scottish Asphodel, Mountain pansy, Downy Willow, Two-flowered Rush, Water Sedge (Carex aquatica), Black Alpine-sedge (Carex atrata), Scorched Alpine-sedge (Carex atrofusca), Stiff Sedge (Carex bigelowii), Alpine Lady-fern, Lemon-scented Fern, Poa alpina, Alpine Forget-me-not, Oak Fern, Beech Fern, Alpine Fleabane...

Glen Clova looking magnificent

Molluscs

A long-overdue Iberian Three-banded Slug on the house wall on 22nd July was the only addition of the year.

Annelid worms

I haven't seen a new annelid since 2021 now, so probably time to get out in the intertidal and rummage around

Sea Spiders

As if. Probably not before 2025

Arachnids, Myriapods, Crustaceans , Springtails, Bristletails , Odonata , Orthopteroids

Nothing new in any of the above

Hemipteroids

More bugs than I really remember, though some of these came as by-catch in other endeavours.

Chloriona glaucescens is a Phragmites-loving delphacid bug at S.Margaret's Marsh on 06/06/2023.

The rest were leaf-hoppers (Cicadellidae). Iassus lanio on oak at Cullaloe LNR on 2nd July, Eurhadina loewii at Dalgety Bay on 18th July in the moth trap, Alnetoidea alneti, again in the moth trap at Dalgety Bay on 1st August, Eurhadina concinnata at Dalbeath Marsh while looking for leaf miners on 4th August, Zonocyba bifasciata at Dalgety Bay on 20th August in the garden MV

Not many, but many new to county, probably on account of tiny size.

Zonocyba bifasciata

Eurhadina loewii

Hymenoptera 

Only three additions and none interesting. A very poor year in a group I really would like to make headway in.

Coleoptera 

Few and dull, but Selatosomus aeneus, a click beetle on a random walk up Dumyat, was moderately memorable (the find, not the beetle)

Limnobaris dolorosa was new to me and the county at Dalbeath Marsh mid May.

Diptera 

Hybomitra distinguenda, "Bright Horse Fly" was among the most memorable, but en masse the collection assembled from a Malaise trap at Loch Gelly was the year's highlight. Still processing them at year's end, this assemblage contributed double figures of new species to Fife and one new to Scotland - Tomosvaryella palliditarsus. There were three of the latter including both sexes, so reasonable to assume it's a local breeder.

Tomosvaryella palliditarsis

Bright Horsefly

Lepidoptera - butterflies 

Mountain Ringlet on Beinn Ghlas at the end of June was a nice, but the only, addition. After a few brief glimpses I risked life and limb to yomp downhill over rough ground to get a better look. Well worth it.

Lepidoptera - moths

There were 20 additions, but not the bucketload I had hoped for had the intended trip to Norfolk gone ahead. 

White-barred Tortrix and Small Argent & Sable in Glen Clova were nice additions (as was Broom Moth until I discovered I saw it in 2015!). It was a nice evening anyway, though we didn't get moths up the glen. FIngers crossed for getting back with battery traps in 2025.

Biggest moth night of the year was definitely 27th July at St.Margaret's Marsh, where the addition of Bulrush Cosmet, Triple-spot Dwarf, Bud Moth, Silky Wainscot and Southern Wainscot took me over the PSL 5000. Silky Wainscot may or may not have been exactly 5000, especially after BUBO revision of historical records, but I'm happy for it to stand as the 5000th.

Release the ticker tape - it's 5000!!!

RSO

Pond Olive, Cloeon dipterum, on the 12th of May was memorable on account of its bizarre eye configuration. 

Echinoderms, Tunicates, Fish

Obviously I did very little marine this year. No actual new fish, but new for the list was Mackerel that Bubo reminded me was absent.

Reptiles and Amphibians were also notable by their absence, but there aren't a huge wealth of available species for me to add. I should, at some point in my life, see an adder I suppose.

Birds

I see very few new birds, which is entirely down to the lack of trying to. However, this year I did try and see a couple, and even managed two on one day. Stejneger's and White-winged Scoter together was definitely the biggest bird day of my last ten years, at least in the UK. That twitch also resulted in the acquisition of a new scope, as I only got a good view thanks to a kind chap with a very, very nice scope.

The new scope came into play when a Brown Booby graced nearby Kinghorn. Three cracking bird additions for 2023. I missed a bunch, but nothing that made me grind my teeth too badly. My list is so depauperate that I never have to worry too much about missing things.

I decided to refrain from nicking other people's photos, but there are plenty out there.

Mammals

Plenty of scope for me to see new mammals on both land in sea, but this year's House Mouse came to me and I spent the whole day chasing the thing around the bases of cupboards and bookcases.

2024

Next year promises to be plant-heavy again as I aim for finally getting over the 1,000. Expect a lot of flies, too.

Mediterranean Inverkeithing

Nice of a Med Gull to pop into Inverkeithing this morning. Not the Brown Booby of Kinghorn yesterday, but it's an addition to the patch year list at least

Inverkeithing Greenshank

 Earlier in the month (17/08) a Greenshank popped into Inverkeithing, oddly choosing the small beach beside Stone Marine over the harbour area.

Ruff around the edges - Stenhouse Reservoir

Half a dozen Ruff were at the edge of Stenhouse Reservoir yesterday. It's been recently closed as a fishery and the water levels are being reduced. 

Warty Cabbage in Inverkeithing

Made a quick circle of Ballast Bank area beside the harbour in Inverkeithing, principally to see if anything interesting birdy was going on. There wasn't, though it was pleasant enough. Catching my eye, though, was a large yellow-flowered crucifer that I was pretty certain I didn't know. Turned out to be Bunias orientalis, the Warty Cabbage, or Turkish Rocket, which sounds much nicer. This is it here.

Dalbeath Marsh

A random foray into a place I haven't visited for a long time. So long, in fact, that I hadn't been aware of the Greater Tussock Sedge that's pretty prominent there. 

New to me was a mayfly that I would have normally ignored, except I recently discovered that I had bought a field guide and immediately forgotten it. Turned out to be a Pond Olive (Cloeon dipterum), which has no hind wings (hence dipterum), and the most outrageous eyes, which apparently are useful for picking out females in a swarm (the theory goes). 

A bonus for the visit was first-for-VC85 (and me) weevil Limnobaris dolorosa, which is a muncher of Sedges and Sedges. I don't have a good photo, so this'll have to do for now.

Flowering plant #420 for Dalgety Bay - Medium-flowered Winter-cress

A species that I saw coming into flower  at St.Margaret's Marsh this week, but was surprised to also find growing along the hedge/roadside at Barns farm this morning. No idea how many times I've walked down this road, including this week, but in my defence I was doing a BBS survey at the time.

There were about 10 plants along a stretch of about 10m, some of them a pretty decent size.

Calcicole fungal findings

Finding the wind a bit too strong on the coast for the flies I wanted I headed slightly (very slightly) inland to a very sheltered pond in Inverkeithing I know to see if I could do better. Stepping out of the car I saw a fungus I'd never seen before, and which I was excited to see - Helvella corium. Not that I knew that at the time, but I knew ballpark where it belonged and I knew it was new. 

Helvella corium

Into a pot with one fruiting body and making my way to the pond, "What the hell is THIS?" Another new fungus poking out from the path edge that was some sort of morel, but another new one for sure.

Verpa conica

It turned out to be Verpa conica.

Both of these species are very scarce in Scotland, and both calcicole. That's one of the big plusses of the Inverkeithing area, is that the plants etc. are a bit different because of how calcareous that area is.

Passing the photos on to an expert friend he told me he had encountered both commonly on calcareous slopes in Scandinavia. This area definitely has lots more calcicole novelty in the tank.

Wood Anemone - flowering plant 418 for Dalgety Bay

 

Thus far overlooked in Ross Plantation, but now flowering in one tiny area there.

Turkey Tales

Remarkably, I was able to "work from home" from my in-laws in Istanbul this February for a week - a nice change of pace from the same birds and cold. Ironically from 10 degrees and sunny in Fife I went to 4 degrees and snow in Turkey! The time differenced meant I could get a good birding session in before work started in the morning. I also didn't get to venture far to some of my favourite winter wetlands, so it was "urban" birding all the way.

That didn't stop my local patch having over 60 Flamingo on it, though no Smew this time around. There might have been Smew out on the lake, but I didn't have a scope with me this time.

There wasn't much by way of additions this time around. No lifers, but a couple of patch ticks at least, including this Black Redstart

There were some nice wagtails around

M. alba alba

The coastal path was chilly and breezy, but it had a smattering of the usual local fare - Pygmy Cormorant, Yellow-legged Gull and Laughing Dove being expected but interesting local species. I only saw one Med Gull - less than are around in Fife at the moment.

There were some Sandwich Terns and a lot of breeding-plumaged Cormorants.

Given the background of earthquakes severe enough to knock down 2000-year-old Roman castles it was poignant to see the signs of what to look for before there's a Tsunami and what to do in that event. I don't want to dwell too much on that, especially since earthquakes are always a possibility in many areas, including Istanbul.

Tsunami info and evacuation routes

Inland around the edges of the lake there were some Little Gulls and Green Sands

One of the benefits of the snow was that I refused to drive on a couple of days (Turkey driving is mental enough on normal days, thanks) and found a route to walk to my local patch via the coastal path. It held a nice flock of Serin, which I've seen here before but without camera in hand

My local patch "transect"

Bridge designed by Mimar (architect) Sinan

Serin

It also held Ruff and an obliging Spotshank

Ruff

Spotted Redshank

That about wrapped it up for birds this trip. Looking forward to the Easter hols, when I get to visit one of my favourite spring vismig spots in the world. It'll be too early for a stream of RF Falcons and Bee-eaters no doubt, but I can't wait to see what will be there.