I awoke before dawn, looked outside and thought about beginning my Botanical Odyssey with a head torch. Happily, common sense prevailed. I promptly rolled over again and waited for daylight to arrive. Sunrise was a little after 9am, but the weather was so grey and gloomy that I didn't actually head outside until 9:45am - even then I considered bringing my head torch. Due to the weather forecast I donned waterproofs and a hat. As it happened, I managed to complete the entire Plant Hunt in the dry, though the gusting wind repeatedly blew one foot into the other as I walked along the exposed seafront, causing me to almost trip myself up several times.
After a week of indoor painting, it was great just to be outside in daylight. I was pleased to note that yesterday's flowering Annual Meadow-grass outside my door was still flowering and hadn't blown away overnight. I proceeded to see lots more in flower throughout my walk, it's a pity I managed such an abyssmal image (it looked ok on the back of the camera!)
Poa annua - the first flowering species of the Plant Hunt
This was one of the three plant species I was confident of finding in flower, Gorse and Daisy being the other two. My hope was to find at least two or three extra species, and if I could manage a total of seven or eight species I'd be proper chuffed. I left the driveway and spotted a Daisy flowering on the lawn. Time for another crap image
Bellis perennis - another guaranteed species to find in flower
Uig Wood is about 400 metres downhill from where I live, my daylist was at 31 plant species by the time I entered and included such goodies as Purple Willow Salix purpurea, Bronze Pirri-pirri-bur Acaena anserinifolia and Glaucous Dog-rose Rosa vosagiaca. Uig Wood is where I found Oval-leaved Mitrewort Mitella ovalis new to Britain a few years ago, it's still there today and spreading nicely along the water channel, hence was duly added to the daylist. Wandering the track through the woods I found a bit of Herb-Robert Geranium robertianum in flower - sweet, that was one of my hoped for targets safely under the belt.
Geranium robertianum - the very long sepal hairs distinguish it from Geranium purpureum
Exiting the woods I crossed a playing field and spied a clump of Gorse in flower...
Ulex europaeus - the last of my three guaranteed flowerers
I was only about a quarter of the way around my planned route, from this point onwards anything else in flower was a bonus. I had Dandelion and Bramble in mind as the two most likely, but then realised that Groundsel was just as likely. If I bagged that lot I'd be up to the heady heights of seven species in flower on New Year's Day (woo-hoooo!) Eyes glued to the gutters and roadside verges, I headed down towards the pier in search of species number five. My daylist at this point stood at 59 plant species. Species 62 was in flower...
Smooth Sow-thistle Sonchus oleraceus - I think this is what's known as a 'record shot'
I know exactly what you're all thinking at this point, "Jeezo, these pics are all crap!" Let me share with you a little video clip I took between taking images of that particular sow-thistle, just to set the scene
Living on Skye is amazing and I love it here, but sometimes it can be a tad breezy! Anyway, Smooth Sow-thistle was not on my radar as a potential NYPH flowerer. I wondered what, if anything, I'd stumble across next. As it happened, it was one of my two 'likely' species
Bramble Rubus fruticosus agg. looking a bit worse for wear
This put me on six species, at least I hadn't embarrassed myself with a lowly total. I was still only half way around the loop, could I find anything else? I found a Dandelion that had gone to seed, surely there must be one in flower somewhere nearby?
Get in! Dandelion Taraxacum agg.
Just a few feet away was another unexpected flowerer, putting me on eight species in flower. Blimey, I really wasn't expecting to see this many
Red Clover Trifolium pratense - in focus because it was in a ditch and hence out of the wind!
Species 69 was another very unexpected addition, seeing as it's supposed to finish flowering in August!
Ragged-Robin Silene flos-cuculi - definitely didn't expect to see this flowering in January!
I had a quick walk around the pier and ferry car park area, picking up a few dayticks but nothing in flower. Common Whitlowgrass is abundant here and I was half-expecting to find some in flower, but despite checking hundreds of rosettes I drew a blank. It is early, I guess. I was still hopeful of finding Groundsel in flower, which would put me on nine species (equal to Stephen Bungard's total on his NYPH last year). I scanned the kerbs for small yellow flowers, nada. I turned around to begin the return leg of my circuit. There was plenty of time and habitat left, I was certain I'd find Groundsel somewhere.
Instead, I found this!
Druce's Cranesbill Geranium x oxonianum - flowering in a ditch
This garden escape is doing very well for itself in a couple of ditches by the petrol garage. It's the hybrid between Pencilled and French Cranesbills and is found scattered across various parts of Skye, usually near gardens. I really didn't expect to see it flowering at this time of year, and I almost didn't walk around that side of the garage at all, so a bit of a lucky encounter. I also found a patch of Gunnera at the rear of the Calmac building, there really is quite a lot of it in this general area. I ought to take a bowsaw to the fruit spikes at some point.
Finally, a glint of yellow caught my eye and I gave a sharp "yessss!!!" as I found myself grinning at a Groundsel in flower. I'd totally smashed all of my expectations. I was so deliriously happy I couldn't even focus the camera...
Groundsel Senecio vulgaris - hell yeah!
Typically I went on to find loads of flowering Groundsel soon afterwards. This was species number 80 of the day and the eleventh in flower, way beyond my wildest hopes. I still had the best part of a mile ahead of me to check. How far could I take this, I wondered. Species 82 was Common Nettle, I was getting a little worried I'd miss it entirely. I found some naturalised Buddleja in a spot I've never noticed before and a few Himalayan Honeysuckle plants in an overgrown field. They're really spreading like wildfire across Skye, I think the berries must be attractive to birds. I also found a seedling New Zealand Holly growing at the foot of an overgrown drystone wall. It's a popular hedging plant here, being wind and salt resistant and pretty dense. I think this will be a new hectad record, I'll check the BSBI database later (Edit - yep, it sure is!)
New Zealand Holly Olearia macrodonta - a long way from home
To my surprise, I managed to find a whole patch of flowering Cat's-ear in short gravelly turf, I counted five plants in flower amongst many basal rosettes
Cat's-ear Hypochaeris radicata - one of several flowering in a small area of turf
These were quickly followed by a bank of Tutsan, several of which were in flower. Tutsan is a common plant here and I'd seen many with blackish berries, some with reddish berries and a handful with pale yellow young berries. But still in flower? Madness. I took a shit shot and continued onwards wondering where would it all end.
Tutsan Hypericum androsaemum - looking a little battered but definitely in flower
Slightly less crazy than the Tutsan were the two Common Ragworts I found in flower. I've seen this flowering at all times of the year, but still a very much appreciated addition to the burgeoning list
Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris - bit of a weird growth form, I think it had been strimmed/munched
I found a patch of Sheep's Sorrel which I don't think I've seen around here before, and then got caught by one of the locals, I knew it would happen. "Happy New Year, Seth! Why the f*ck are you staring at that wall?" haha, bless her. We had a natter before she left me to pap yet another wholly unexpected flowerer. Marsh Thistle, against a wall, in a dry verge. Of course, why not?
Marsh Thistle Cirsium palustre - clearly lost but doing well on a dry gravelly verge
Just a few feet away was yet another plant in flower, this was getting ridiculous. I'd hoped to hit six species, the flowering Selfheal I was looking at was number sixteen!!!
Selfheal Prunella vulgaris
Last year Joanna went to Portree for her NYPH and found seven species in flower. Stephen stayed on Raasay and found nine. I hoped I'd have a similar score during my own NYPH, but my expectation was that I'd find five or six and no more. And here I was on sixteen with a quarter of a mile worth of pavement and verge still to check. I walked onwards, hoping for flowering whitlowgrass but expecting nothing. Then I looked up and I actually burst out laughing at what I saw ahead of me, just stood there laughing like a loon.
Fuchsia magellanica thicket with precisely ONE flower on show
I had to stick my arm into the thicket and aim the camera as best I could. The flower is of course out of focus, but hey - ain't no mistaking a Fuchsia flower! I completed my loop and headed back indoors for food. Seventeen species in flower, that's just bonkers! My tally for the route was 94 species and I completed it in around two hours.
According to the news, this has been the mildest New Year's Day for a long time. Possibly since the late Cretaceous Period, who knows. What is apparent is that there are lots of flowering plants here in Uig. It will be interesting to see how Stephen and Joanna get on this year, they'll both be into double-figures too I expect. (Later - Stephen found 14 species in around 30 minutes on Raasay before quitting in nasty weather, no news yet from Joanna).
I nipped down to Portree for my second Plant Hunt. It was alright, I added flowering Red Campion to the day tally, but only managed 69 species of which 7 were in flower. To be fair, I covered less distance and more of it was spent in 'the wilds' as opposed to near habitation. I did add a number of extra species to the yearlist, I'm on 109 now (plus Dandelion and Bramble at 'aggregate' only stage for now). I also found a clump of gigantic polypodies in Uig Wood and collected a frond to examine the sporangia and spores under the microscope. There was a very slim chance they could be the hybrid Polypodium x mantoniae but, as suspected, they were just monstrous Polypodium vulgare. I've also collected what are probably very young gorse shoots, but they're very soft and look a bit weird. One to check later tonight.
I've uploaded my finds to the NYPH app though it seems glitchy and wouldn't recognise most of the images (or maybe it only accepts clear images, ha!) The New Year Plant Hunt runs until 4th January, so there's still plenty of time to have a wander around your local streets/churchyard/woods and see how you compare with other folks in your area. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I've taken tomorrow as a day off work too. I might as well contribute some more data before the NYPH ends for another year.
We're a little early in the year for any 2022 releases, so here's a proper bangin' track from last year. Quite probably from a band you're unfamiliar with, this track is Deadpan, performed by Athens band Khirki. Just think hard rock crossed with Anatolian folk music, throw in some supertight riffs and you'll be in the right kind of area. Hope you like it
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