Tuesday 18th August

Expectations are often disappointed but occasionally exceeded and sometimes you get a nice surprise.

Looking for a walk last Monday, I decided to try Whittle Dene, which is pleasant early in the summer, for butterflies.  However it was all a bit overgrown and dry and there wasn't much to see - some whites, a few peacocks and a single pair of speckled wood.  It only served to pose the question where all the speckled woods have got to this year, though I've seen a small number since.  And no meadow butterflies at all.

So on the Tuesday I decided to be more targetted and headed to the heathland area at Havannah, thinking I should easily be able to see some common blues, dingy skippers and some burnet moths plus a few others.  In fact after a single burnet it was the others that made the time worthwhile as blues and skippers were absent, leaving me without a single one this summer.

After thinking there may be no butterflies at all, I started to see some small heath and, after some foraging, three or four small copper.  The latter were particularly pleasing as I didn't see any last year when I looked and, come to think of it, I'm not too sure when I last saw a small heath either.  I was also treated to the sight of two small coppers chasing each other around crazily, presumably in some sort of mating ritual.  I hadn't seen them do that before.

Small Heath

Small Copper

The back end of the week was spent in Dumfries, where the temperature was about 6' higher.  We made a little trip out to Mossdale to walk the Paddy Line track briefly.  Unfortunately it had been rather spoiled as the Forestry Commission have put down a roughcast road on top of it and the rocks have spilled over onto the roadside vegetation.  Target was the scotch argus and there were a few about, if somewhat unsettled.  In the end we saw about six, along with a dozen more peacocks and a few red admirals. So it was one expectation achieved.  I also had an eye out for the wall butterfly and may have seen a couple but couldn't prove it.

Scotch Argus

Nothing new to report in the garden apart from a young wood pigeon but I have enjoyed watching the juvenile robin gradually acquire his red breast.  It's not quite there yet so he's more of a chaffinchy colour just now.

Young Wood Pigeon (n.b. lack of markings)

Tuesday 31st July

Following tip re green woodpecker location, took walk along road from Mossdale to Lock Ken old viaduct and back via route of paddy line.

Very pleasant and various contrasting sightings, although no green woodpecker.  One bird constantly

Red Deer

screeching near loch was most likely a jay.

Red kite (inevitably) and extremely tranquil herd or red deer including male with antlers that were presumably part of venison farm.  Many chaffinch, meadow pipit on farm wall, greenfinches in garden and nuthatch on feeder.  Walking into woods large number of juvenile coal tits mainly that went into trees right above my head.  I could have reached them with a cricket bat and have never seen birds unwittingly approach so near.  Willow warblers, treecreeper and long-tailed tit in trees on train line.

On the way back stopped off at Knowetop Lochs and saw one ringlet and one scotch argus, plus signs of fish life in lower loch again - tempting to try fishing for them as no 'no fishing sign'.