January on the Isle of Skye

1 January 2019 Another year begins and I should start by offering my apologies for my inactivity last year. It won't happen again! I have decided to undertake a special project in 2019 - recording a single location (the monad NG6225) throughout the year. By this time next year I hope to have recorded at least 500 species. I'll be keeping a running total, so you'll be able to watch my progress. This was inspired by Pan Species Listing veteran, Seth Gibson, (1200 species in Uig during 2018!) and I'm sure I'll be asking for his help from time to time. Fellow SNG member, Jean Sadler, has agreed to join me on this exciting journey (recording a square near her home in Portnalong), so it will be interesting to compare notes as we go through the year. For the first few months I shall be concentrating on lichens and bryophytes.

Usnea flammea

2 January 2019 This very interesting lichen was growing on rocks on the shoreline at Skinadin.
Dermatocarpon miniatum	Dermatocarpon miniatum

3 January 2019 Growing on Birch at Skinadin.

Parmotrema perlatum

4 January 2019 Growing on Hazel at Skinadin.

Normandina pulchella growing in association with Degelia atlantica

5 January 2019 I counted 13 Mallards at Skinadin this morning, which is probably the most I've ever seen there. The Greylag Geese were back too, so that's another species for the list. In the afternoon I spent a bit of time exploring the woods and found a couple of nice things:
Sanicula europaea (Sanicle)	Hymenophyllum wilsonii (Wilson's Filmy Fern)

6 January 2019 I added three more waders to the Skinadin list today: Redshank, Greenshank and Bar-tailed Godwit. I've been concentrating mainly on lichens for this first week, so here are two more:
Ramalina subfarinacea	Anaptychia runcinata

7 January 2019 No new records today - the weather has deteriorated - but I started on the bryophytes yesterday:
Diplophyllum albicans	Plagiochila asplenoides

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8 January 2019 My plan is to concentrate on the bryophytes for the next few weeks. I'll try to post a weekly update.

Schistidium maritimum

19 January 2019 The list is growing slowly. I had another visit to the shore today.
Actinia equina (Beadlet Anemone)	Gibbula umbilicalis (Purple Topshell)
Lacuna vincta (Banded Chink Shell)	Laurencia pinnatifida (Pepper Dulse) or perhaps Osmundea hybrida (False Pepper Dulse)