Day 8 Botanical twitching and map

Our final day before the overnight ferry back to Aberdeen.  Bob and I went to the north of mainland Shetland for a bit of botanical twitching.  It was too windy to go up Ronas Hill so we went to look at Water Lobelia (Lobelia dortmanna), a common plant on Shetland but new to me.  Bob also showed me Purple Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) growing in some calcareous flushes, a small rare plant which resembles a sedum.

Water Lobelia was difficult to spot bobbing up
 and down in the waves

Map of my travels over the 8 days

During the week I recorded  230 species (25 new to me) in 11 monads, ranging from 50 species in upland heath areas to 150 species in monads contains a range of habitats such as coastal, heath, flushes, ditches and roadside verges.

Day 7 Mountain Day – Ronas Hill

 

We chose the best day of the week to go to the North of mainland Shetland and the lucky ones amongst us had the opportunity of go up Ronas Hill and admire the beautiful views as well as the botanical highlights. A great day getting plenty of exercise exploring the upland heath and lochens as we worked our way down the hill to the Burn of the Twa-roes.

Bogbean in Loch 

Mountain Everlasting (Antennaria dioica)

Mountain Everlasting (Antennaria dioica)

Aspen (Populus tremula)

       Bog Pondweed (Potamogeton polygonifolius)

Fir Clubmoss (Huperzia selago)

Floating Bur-reed (Sparganium angustifolium)

Intrepid Jeremy is determined to get a sample
of the Beech Fern (Phegopteris connectilis)
growing in a rock crevice

Botanical highlights: Antennaria dioica, Phegopteris connectilis,Vaccinium uliginosum, Huperzia selago

Non-botanical highlights: Magnificent views on a clear sunny day, we could see the tip of Unst, the most northerly place in the British Isles.  A family or red-throated divers in a Lochen

Day 6 Island and Eyebright collection day - Whalsay

Six of us took the car ferry over to Whalsay, the sixth largest of the Shetland islands.  Three of us headed over to Challister to record in a coastal monad including the edge of Loch Vats-houll.  We found around 85 species.

Leaving mainland Shetland behind

View from the ferry

Sheep's-bit  (Jasione montana)

Large frog

  

Ragged Robin and Marsh Ragwort growing by the Loch

Our second monad included the East Loch of Skaw.  Here we found two different Eyebrights which we collected for identification and potential candidates for whole genome sequencing. We recorded 66 species in this monad giving our group a total of around 95 species for the island.  There was noticeably less diversity than on the mainland, especially amongst the sedges, but this made it all the more interesting. 

Eyebright growing in a grassy patch between coastal rocks

Collecting Eyebrights
Photo: B. Ellis

Scots Lovage (Ligusticum scoticum) 

Eyebright growing in short grassland by the golf course

Failing to reach the Sparganium bed
Photo: B. Ellis

White flowered Sheep's-bit  (Jasione montana)

Northern Buckler-fern (Dryopteris expansa)

Botanical highlights: Ligusticum scoticum, Sparganium angustifolium, Dryopteris expansa

Non-botanical highlight: Ferry trip

Day 5 Loch of Trondavoe and Burn of Valayre

We recorded around 90 species in our first coastal monad which included a variety of habitats; roadside, lochen, ditch, heath and beach. 

       Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica )

We had an interesting monad in the afternoon in which we found Autumn Gentian (Gentianella amarella) on a roadside verge, New Zealand Willowherb (Epilobium brunnescens) and  Brooklime (Veronica beccabunga) in a quarry.  We also found the rare Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) and a good candidate for S. x ostenfeldii, the hybrid between Senecio jacobaea and Senecio aquaticus.  Further interest as we followed  the Burn of Valayre, a Site of Special Scientific Interest featuring native trees: alder, aspen, downy birch, rowan and willow. A total of around 130 species.

Jay scrambles down the hill and is rewarded
 by finding Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis)
A rarity in Shetland but this one is probably planted

Botanical highlights: Gentianella amarella and Epilobium brunnescens

Day 4 Oysterplant on Casho beach

This was our day off from recording so lots of us headed down to Casho beach in the rain to find the Oysterplant.  After some exploring down the coast, we found three plants near to where we had parked.

Amy, Bob and Liz searching for the Oysterplant

Amy, Flora, Hannah and Helen admiring

 the Oysterplant in flower

Oysterplant (Mertensia maritima)

Sea Mayweed (Tripleurospermum maritimum)

Botanical highlights: Mertensia maritima, Tripleurospermum maritimum

Non-botanical highlight: Wonderful fudge shop in Lerwick

Day 3 Skellister and Muckle Ayre

We stopped off at a small area of protected native woodland near Catfirth on the way to our recording site.

Native trees on the banks of the burn at Catfirth

Native Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia)

 .

Hieracium spp. growing on rocky edge of the burn

Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis)

We recorded in two monads, the first included some heathland on the Hill of Skellister (100m), we then walked down the hill to the coast at Muckle Ayre for lunch by the sea. In the afternoon we recorded in an adjacent monad walking along roads and tracks around the village of Skellister.

Muckle Ayre on the East Coast of mainland Shetland

Team work with me doing the identification and Helen recording

Photo: S. Edwards

One of the many different species of
 Eyebrights (Euphrasia spp.) on Shetland

Photo: S. Edward

 Grass-of-Parnassus (Parnassia palustris) 

growing in abundance at the side
 of a grassy track

Flower of Field Gentian 
(Gentianella campestris)

Field Gentian (Gentianella campestris) 

growing on a roadside verge

Marsh Ragwort and Monkey-flower growing along the ditches

Marsh Ragwort (Senecio aquaticus)

Botanical highlights: Gentianella campestris,Vaccinium myrtillus, Dactylorhiza purpurella  and Parnassia palustris

Non-botanical highlight:  Grey seals watching us as we ate our lunch

Day 2 Cuckron

We spent all day visiting a range of habitats within one monad (1km square).  We started recording on the roadside verges, finding a range of familiar plants, then we started to climb up the hill.   The order in which we found plants was interesting as we moved from dry heathland to wetter areas further up the hill.  We recorded the following plants in this order: Heather (Calluna vulgaris), Bell Heather (Erica cinerea), Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), Green-ribbed Sedge (Carex binervis), Mat-grass (Nardus stricta), Hard-fern (Blechnum spicant), Heath Rush (Juncus squarrosus), Deergrass (Trichophorum germanicum), Purple Moor-grass (Molinia caerulea), Cross-leaved Heath (Erica tetralix), Common Cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium), Common Yellow-sedge (Carex demissa), Star Sedge (Carex echinata), Pill Sedge (Carex pilulifera), Flea Sedge  (Carex pulicaris) and Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia). 

Liz showing Amy and Hannah the leaves of  

Crowberry growing amongst the Heather

We managed to find a dry patch behind a rock to have lunch.   After lunch we had to negotiate the many ditches but we were rewarded by finding some interesting flushes. Then the find of the day, amongst Bog Pondweed (Potamogeton polygonifolius) were at least 10 tiny bog orchids (Hammarbya paludosa).

Reaching the top of the hill

Bog orchid (Hammarbya paludosa)

We then followed a stream down the hill, finding Marsh Arrowgrass (Triglochin palustris), Wavy Hair-grass (Deschampsia flexuosa), Hare's-tail Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum), Northern Marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza purpurella) and Bog Asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum).

Bog Asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum)

Finally back down at the road we found Herb-Robert (Geranium robertianum), a rare native plant in Shetland, although this one was probably a garden escape. We then followed a stream, still finding new plants including Bottle Sedge (Carex rostrata) and Bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata).  We had recorded around 150 plants during the day.

Botanical highlight: Hammarbya paludosa                                                                                                               

Non-botanical highlight: Mountain Hare

Day 1 Scalloway and Loch of Asta

I travelled 1000 miles north from lowland Norfolk to upland Shetland.  I was very excited by the prospect of learning about the very different flora of Shetland. 

Staying in Port Arthur House for a week

View across the harbour

Day 1 – Loch of Asta

We visited a local monad for a gentle introduction to the flora of Shetland.  A beautiful site with abundant  Marsh Cinquefoil (Comarum palustre) in flower near the Loch. I saw Marsh Ragwort (Senecio aquaticus) in flower for the first time, a very common plant in Shetland compared to Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) which is rare.

Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica)

Marsh Willowherb (Epilobium palustre)

Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus)

Bog Asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum)

         Alpine Meadow-rue (Thalictrum alpinum)

Botanical highlights:  Seeing many plants for the first time including Selaginella selaginoides, Trichophorum germanicum,  Carex dioica, Narthecium ossifragum and  Euphrasia arctica.