Raiders Road Tuesday 25th August 2015

A beautiful looking day took us out into the countryside - enough jobs and gardening for now - time for a little R&R. The biggest decision was not whether to go out but where to go. There are so many places worth going to on a beautiful day in Dumfries & Galloway, it is hard to choose. Somewhere new that we've never been to? Or an old favourite?
Well, an old favourite won!! The Raider's Road offers so much. It is only about 10 miles long but there are so many places to stop along the way, not to mention what you might spot on the way!
We headed initially to Stroan Loch. Besides the peaceful views over the loch there is also the track going over the viaduct to wander along. On a lovely sunny day we have often found plenty of butterflies, damselflies and dragonflies along there. would we be lucky today? After eating our picnic lunch looking out over the loch, it was time to investigate.

We set off across the viaduct listening to the rush of water going underneath us - there was plenty of water after the rain we have had recently! The water was quite clear though, we could see the grasses under the water going with the flow.

The water was a deep dark brown peaty colour as we peered over the wall on the river side of the viaduct.

Just leaning on the wall looking at the water was a very relaxing, mesmerising way to pass the time but this was only just the beginning of our walk, so we had to put our best foot forward! However just a few steps further on we had to stop again. The vegetation at the side of the path was full of wildlife! Bees, hoverflies and both common and azure damselflies were everywhere.

We were quite surprised that many of the wild flowers were still as fresh as they were. Many of our wild flowers at home are fading and going to seed.

 

 

Butterflies also began to appear around us - mostly peacocks at this stage. They all looked in pristine condition.

However, as we wandered - (our walks are more of a wander than a walk, there is always so much to look at!) - along the track another butterfly began to appear at every step! The Scotch Argus was suddenly everywhere - in front, behind and next to us! They seemed quite amenable to having us on the track with them and consequently we have rather a lot of photos of them!

We were lucky enough to see other species as well ... Painted Lady,Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Common Blue and Meadow Brown.

  

The countryside around us was looking very beautiful too. The heather was beginning to make everywhere turn a lovely shade of purple - although a photograph doesn't seem to do it justice!

It was quite a good job we weren't striding out along the path as we also kept disturbing tiny froglets. We had seen tadpoles in the ditches and puddles earlier in the year so it was nice to now see the froglets.

 

While looking where we put our feet we also spotted a very hairy caterpillar..

All in all a very productive wander along quite a short part of the track - but on the way back we also found a couple of fungi and a few day flying specimens of  Udea lutealis (I think)

We didn't even get to wander down by the river on this occasion as we often do. It is a nice little walk by the water as these photos from a previous visit show.

Moving on from the loch we drove further along the Raider's Road, calling in at the Otter Pool on the way. Often we are the only people at the pool - but not today! With the sunshine and the fact it is still school holidays for children from England - it was really, really busy. We drove on - just remembering the times we had been to the Otter Pool when it was quiet!

Another short pause before we exited the road happened so that we could identify the small birds we found feeding on the thistle seeds. They were very flighty and flew around furiously from bush to bush. Binoculars did help us to identify that they were young goldfinches, young siskins and young chaffinches.
We continued to the end of the Raider's Road thinking that the small charge you pay to use the drive is well worth it. The drive is open to vehicles between April and October although as a walker, cyclist or horse rider you can use it all year.

Monday 24th August 2015 Annan

Well summer seems to have finally arrived! Not a consistent run of nice sunny days this year but the occasional hot sunny day among the more drearier ones. However on a nice day this week I did go around the garden just looking to see what life there was on the flowers - and there was plenty to see!
Many of the flowers were humming with bees...

 

 

But, not just bees - loads of hoverflies too.

 

 

Unfortunately not all the wildlife is good to the vegetation. This capsid bug has been eating the vegetation on many plants in the poly tunnel.

 

 

There are plenty of spiders and creepy crawlies around the garden too.

 

But the stars of the day today were the beautiful butterflies that finally showed themselves in the sunshine. Several varieties and all looking very fresh.

Peacock

Small Tortoiseshell

 

Painted Lady

 

There was even a day flying moth around the buddleia too.

 

Silver Y

 

 

Just a few pictures of some of the wildlife found in the garden today - and all within about half an hour. No doubt if I had spent more time looking there would have been many more things to see and take photos of.

 

Fungi Foray Eskrigg

A warm, even hot, day and searching for fungi? Well with heavy rain over the past few days and nights meant that there were plenty of examples for our guide, Duncan Ford to point out to the group.
Gills or sponge or neither on the underside give the first clue to identifying the species but after that the individual differences are difficult to remember (at least for me they are !)
An entertaining and informative afternoon kept everyone's interest as Jim Rae guided Duncan to examples around the soggy paths of the reserve.

Butterfly Walk at Birkshaw Forest Thur 6th Aug 2015

Decided to go and collect some hay rattle seeds this afternoon to plant in our wild strip of grass. We have been told it will restrict the growth of grass and encourage the wild flowers. Saw that they were ripe last week so, as the sun came out this afternoon, decided to go get some - and see if we could spot any butterflies at the same time. We have only seen one butterfly in the garden - a small tortoiseshell - since the Big Butterfly Count began.

We had been walking along the track for just a few minutes before we saw our first wildlife. Unfortunately not a butterfly - but loads of bees and insects on the flowering plants, especially the knapweed.

We were lucky to see both the caterpillar of the Cinnabar moth and a 6 spot Burnet today too.

Finally, we saw our first butterfly - a ringlet

Shortly afterwards, a Small Tortoiseshell, looking very fresh and beautiful in the sunshine.

Then a Common Blue .....

More insects to see too ....

What we think is a Small Skipper...

There were also a couple of day - flying moths, who co-operated long enough to grab a photo. A Shaded Broad bar and a Clouded Border. Pretty moths.

One more species of butterfly was spotted on the latter part of our walk but it just wouldn't sit still long enough for us to photograph. We identified it as a Meadow Brown - but used the butterfly net to confirm our thoughts. Unfortunately the net doesn't give a very clear photo but we didn't want to keep it any longer than necessary.

So, a few butterflies to record on the Big Butterfly Count for today. We did notice as we walked through the forest there were quite a lot of fungi sprouting under the trees. It seems a little early for there to be so many large fungi around but we presume the weather has had something to do with it!!

A nice wander in the sunshine, just a shame that there just don't seem to be many butterflies about this year.

July's wildlife sightings from a garden in Annan

A fairly quiet month this month in many respects - not many species of birds or moths and only 1 butterfly recorded! Despite it being time for the Big Butterfly Count (17th July - 9th August) we have been spectacularly low on butterflies - only 1 Small Tortoiseshell seen.
Moths have not been much better - we have trapped on 5 occasions this month and totals have ranged from 55 to 101 moths. July is usually the best month for numbers of moths but, as with everything else this year, not a good year at all. Only one new moth to the garden this month - called the Uncertain.

 

 

 

The most numerous moths this month were Dark Arches, Dot moth, White plume and Heart and Dart. We usually have loads of Large Yellow Underwings at this time of year too but even they are in short supply!

 

 

As we said earlier there has not been a great variety of bird species in the garden this month - mainly sparrows and starlings. We did see about 60 sparrows sat on the telegraph wire just outside our window this month. They were all wobbling together! Here is the monthly max for birds in the garden this month....

 

Blackbird -  1male, 1female 4 young 

Carrion crow -  2 adult, 2 young

Collared dove - 2

Goldfinch - 2 adult, 1 young

Great tit - 1

Greenfinch - 1

House sparrow - 60

Jackdaw - 1

Starling - 35 adult, 4 young

Swallow - 2 adult, 1 young

Swift - 20

Wood pigeon - 2

 

We have also seen 5 seven-spot ladybirds. 

 

In search of the Essex Skipper - Sat 1st August 2015

Essex Skipper butterflies in Scotland are quite a rarity so Butterfly Conservation have an organised walk in Birkshaw Forest every year to check on their numbers. We have been on this walk for the last 2 years and have been successful in seeing Essex Skippers - if not photographing them! The weather this year has been very unpredictable so we were not too optimistic. The forecast said we would have some sun but showers and wind were also likely. Arriving in the cloud and wind wasn't promising but our group of 10 set off in eager anticipation.

 

Within a few minutes of setting out we did glimpse the sun, albeit only for a short while but enough to bring out the first butterflies of the day - Ringlets, Meadow Browns and a Small Skipper. Excitement began to build......

Alternating cloud and sunshine, still with a good breeze, continued as we walked along the track. Other discoveries began to be noticed - fungi, hoverflies, bees, cinnabar caterpillars on ragwort, grasshoppers, common darter and a few day flying moths as well as other butterflies.

 

Birkshaw Forest was used as a mass burial site for sheep slaughtered in the fight against foot and mouth disease in 2001. A programme of health and environmental monitoring continues today to ensure the site does not pose any problems.

As we continued our walk we came to the fence that has been erected to keep the public away from the actual site of the burials. 

 

This is where Essex Skippers have been seen previously so we were hoping.....

 

....... and we were successful!! Essex Skippers are still here!!
 It has been suggested that the Skippers may have been transported here with the straw and carcases but this has not been proven.The Essex Skipper is a small butterfly but it dashes and darts about making it difficult to identify. It is a bright orange-brown colour and very similar to the Small Skipper except that it has black tips to the underside of the antenna. Difficult to see unless you catch a specimen and look very carefully! Catch a specimen we did though - and then another - and then another. The more we looked - in the now brilliant sunshine - the more we saw.

Photo from Butterfly Conservation

 

A lovely wander in the sunshine with a grand total of species seen.

 

Field trip to Moffat reserves 30 July 2015

Six intrepid explorers took advantage of a better weather forecast to descended upon the Moffat Community Reserves. We were meeting up with Mark Pollitt of DGERC hoping that during our wander he would be able to identify any wildlife we discovered.

The first 100yds was the slowest as every footstep disturbed froglets, moths, butterflies, damselflies and dragonflies.

 

We were pleased to see many bees buzzing around.

Further on we were able to dismiss a lot of things because we had already seen and identified them.

Mark gave us background information and hints to aid identification. This was especially useful for damselflies and Alder galls.

After an enjoyable break for a picnic lunch, we headed to the second reserve which has different habitats. We found more birdlife on this site but too quick for photographs.

Some examples of fungi were found

and the more mature trees also showed signs of galls on the Alder.

 

Time for a quick cuppa and scone before leaving for home