Friday 5th May

The advantages of early rising were shown this Monday when I opened the curtains at 6.30 a.m. to

This really is common mallow!

see two goldfinches shredding the dandelion seeds right in the gutter opposite my house. Not something likely to happen later in the day.

Ironically in view of my false identification of honesty as common mallow last week, the latest pink flower I noticed was - yes, you've guessed it - common mallow.  It was growing out of a crack on the street just a few yards from the local shop, also on Monday.  Monday was the 29th April, so arguably a little early.

Since then the temperatures have risen in spite of a steady easterly breeze, and for a couple of weeks now no noticeable rain to freshen up the gardens.  By Wednesday I was confident that there would be butterflies around as I set off for Moniaive in bright sunshine.

I decided to go past Newtonairds to see if the spotted flycatchers had returned to the garden there but apparently they arrive at the end of the month and don't nest there until June.  On the way I took a photo to confirm a line of trees were common limes as the leaves looked  rather pale. About 11.00 a.m. I stopped for a snack on the small bridge over the Cairn where the road to Dunscore starts to rise.  By this time it was warming up and a small white and an orange tip fluttered among the trees on the far bank.

Peacock

There was also a single goosander on the river and a dipper, making a very good imitation of a rock with a bright patch on it as it was not dipping at all.

Throughout the day butterflies turned up at fairly regular intervals.  I kept a count and it totalled 12+ small whites, five orange tips and four peacocks, disregarding the ones that flashed by too fast to be properly identified. This peacock (see photo left) was obviously one that had overwintered and looked a bit scruffier than the ones I saw at the end of March.  There were thousands of dandelions around and only one peacock that chose to land on them but it does look like it was feeding rather than just warming up.

Later on I saw a female nuthatch near the river and caught glimpses of a few swallows, pipits and other familiar species, plus a couple of birds that might just have been redpolls.  Apart from one bird flying through a woodland clearing that was probably a buzzard, the skies were entirely free of birds of prey - surprising in view of the wind and the warmth.