Last foray this Easter was a woodland and hill walk from Langholm - something I've meant to do for a couple of years or so.
On the way out past the sports fields, signs were promising with a good deal of birdsong. The woodland area itself is clearly long-established though and the birds I was hearing were some fifty feet above my head and pretty difficult to spot. There was a massive pheasant enclosure on the way so I saw easily the largest amounts of pheasants I have ever managed in one go - maybe a thousand immature birds I reckon plus a couple of escapees, not that I was counting.
Did manage a quick sighting of a treecreeper in a windfall area, which was the first for some time but it was with a sense of disappointment that I turned off the path up towards Potholm Hill. This sense was somewhat increased when I saw how steep it is! The climb was in fact rewarding as there were several meadow pipits active in the near vicinity. And I also managed to see a couple of the many skylarks heard singing and as ever proving difficult to sight. It was quite fun to distinguish them from the pipits, which were also indulging in dive-bombing the moor. Also saw another kestrel hovering for prey just as on my last two bike trips.
I would not have selected the summit of Potholm Hill for my first butterfly sighting of summertime, but sure enough a couple of small tortoiseshells emerged in the temporary sunlight, one of which kindly posed (see photos below). After that I got a bit lost on the way down from Castle Hill and ended up going through some rough and swampy ground which put an end to nature-spotting activities, apart from one young and alarmed hare that obviously thought I was after it.
I did not see any other birds of prey in the relatively still conditions, or any wheatear in spite of their known arrival further West. One bird I had expected to see was the stonechat, not for the first time reflecting that they seem to have become much scarcer. I used to see them regulalry.
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| Potholm Hill |
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| Spot The Pipit |
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| Summer's First Butterfly |
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