Nice half day at work yesterday, star find being Goldilocks buttercup which is really quite scarce from Perthshire northwards, & this was in East Sutherland! Intermediate wintergreen also good for the area & the nearby pyramidal bugle popn was looking grand.

Very exciting news- Pyramidal Bugle (Ajuga pyramidalis), new for the Isle of Mull!

I found a few plants whilst out scrambling/ climbing / exploring a couple of days ago, went back the next day and found over 100 plants in two separate areas!

Unfortunately didn’t see Drosera binata or arcturi in NZ (good to have reasons to return) but this Drosera spatulata was a complete surprise growing on really parched ground at Mangarākau Swamp with lots of moeone (Neocicindela tuberculata) about.

Some Aotearoa NZ bryos: Chandonanthus squarrosus, Schistochila appendiculata (longest liverwort in the world) & I think Lepidozia filamentosa from submontane temperate rainforest then some drapes of Weymouthia cochlearifolia from old-growth podocarp rainforest.

Really pleased to finally find myself some Tunbridge filmy fern (Hymenophyllum tunbrigense) out in Morvern. The bluish tint, deeply divided lobes, veins stopping just before the edge of the leaf & those lovely, jagged indusium valves!

A date for your diaries! Free Webinar: Boreal and oceanic liverwort heaths of Europe 22 May, 19.00 – 21.00 CEST, 18.00-20.00 GMT. No registration required. These fascinating liverwort communities are highly restricted and rare within Europe. For details: britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/event/webinar-…

The tiny hyperoceanic liverwort, Leptoscyphus cuneifolius, forming a wee golden cushion in its typical niche on a leaning birch but also in a much less typical niche on the trunk of an upright Scots pine at Achnashellach Caledonian pinewood.

'Work'.

We’re considering getting another dog. Does anyone know of someone planning a huntaway litter later this year? Like our border collie they’d be a dog that goes to work, though not in the traditional sense… think surveys rather than sheep! Gus Routledge

'21, '22, '23 & '24 plate drivers were consistently the worst & least considerate on my drive down from Inverness to Fort William & beyond today. All over the road, driving 20 in a 60, pulling out of junctions without looking, slamming on the brakes then driving off again...

Missed #wildflowerhour (again) last night but I timed my visit to the local purple saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) absolutely spot on for peak blooming this year! Magnificent!

Was recently sent the late David Welch's copy of Mary McCallum Webster's Flora of Moray, Nairn & E Inverness by David Elston. Straight away was intrigued to see an 1885 record of forked spleenwort (Asplenium septentrionale) at 'Inverfarigaig'. Went out the next day & refound it!

Maybe unpopular opinion? The recently published ‘rewilding charter’ is a bit waffly & doesn’t really say much new. The four key principles could be interpreted variously, to the point of not meaning very much at all. What is anyone actually signing up for?

Been a few years since I managed to time a visit to see my granny with the peak flowering of toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) along the Dollar Burn. c50 spikes found, mostly along the bank but a few popping up in the grass, hopefully they won't be mown but won't hold my breath.

Thanks to everyone who came along to Hopeman this morning to celebrate the start of #CitizenScience month with a #BigSeaweedSearch for Natural History Museum & beach litter survey for Marine Conservation Society 🌊

What other coastal citizen science surveys shall we do this month?

NatureScot