Rambling Russells

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 und...

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 ...

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.

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...

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...

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, ...

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 ...