Last Sunday I was out on a walk in the Durisdeer Hills with V&A.
In reasonable weather there were quite a few butterflies around, the predominant species being the green-veined white.
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| Green-veined White |
Even more predominant were large numbers of red kite, which have clearly spread from Loch Ken and a fair few buzzards.
We were really hoping to see a pair of hen harriers that appeared to have mated in the area and merlin, which are known to be present here too. In fact we saw neither and speculated that the large number of other birds of prey may have discouraged the harriers.
There were however numerous other birds to see, notably meadow pipits as one would expect, wheatear and a few red-legged partridge - hardly surprising as they are bred widely as a gamebird.
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| Meadow Pipit |
About two thirds of the way along the trail there was some cotton grass and a large expanse of bilberry and I started to wonder what else might be seen here. However, the bilberry was only just coming into flower.
On the way back through this area, there was a chance sighting of a small heath butterfly, which pleased me considerably. There was also a single bird's egg on the path - probably that of a dove or pigeon - which we decided to leave alone.
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| Small Heath |
Towards the end a couple of moths appeared. One I couldn't identify but the other appears to be a brown silverline.
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| Brown Silverline |
A couple of days ago on the way to the doctor's, I did a reccy of Chopwell East Field, a recently declared reserve to see if it is suitable for a Naturewatch Walk.
It actually proved quite promising. Quite a lot of flora is springing up. At one point there are signs of bird's foot trefoil establishing itself, though I suspect it may get overwhelmed by surrounding grasses. A shetland pony staring at me from a neighbouring horses' field possibly was showing some interest in addressing this issue.
In an area described as wetland, which was actually pretty dry, I was lucky enough to come across one or two small copper butterflies. Turning to retrace my steps a pair of linnets started singing from nearby trees and bushes. It looks like they are both male.
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Meanwhile back in the garden, I've twice been visited by a pair of bullfinches, anxious to hoover up some seeds from the now over-abundant forget-me-nots.
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A bit rude of Mr Bullfinch to have his back turned on us.
There's no more news on the mystery black bee, but I did manage to capture this early bumblebee worker.
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| Early Bumblebee |
No more signs of red mason or nomad bees, perhaps down to poorish weather.
On the "Is it a fly or is it a bee" debate, I think I may have missed out when I found a very small item wondering along the kitchen windowsill while cooking. I didn't take it too seriously thinking it was probably a fly and only got a couple of poor images.
A pity as I think now that it may have been a wee furrow bee and it hung around for ages!
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