16th May

On Sunday I took part in an organised walk with the local branch of Butterfly Conservation.  The key target was the pearl-bordered fritillary, generally rare but fairly frequent on the butterfly walk at Mabie Forest.

Pearl-bordered fritillary

The great advantage here is that the small pearl-bordered fritillary is not yet on the wing, so there are no possible identification problems. Plus the conservationists had permission to take cars onto the reserve cutting out the longish walk from the car park, so it seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

Everyone saw the pearl-bordered fritillary within minutes of arriving and, although a count was not kept, there must have been about 20 that I saw during the walk.  Apparently the success at preserving the pearl-bordered at Mabie is down to maintaining an open access along the paths with plenty of dry bracken.

Other main species encountered were clouded yellow moth, wall, small copper, small heath, green-veined white, orange tip (24 - I did count them) and a single peacock.

I also learned how small mini-moths can get and saw my first carpet moth.

As an additional bonus, one of the group who is also a birder flushed a female cuckoo that then spent a good while observing us from a distant tree stump.  Seemingly they mainly target willow warbler nests in the area.

Female cuckoo

It was certainly three hours well spent.

Monday 15th May

Then there was a slightly curious bike ride to Dalry last Wednesday.

Having decided to start at the car park above Glenkilns reservoir in beautiful weather, a bird I had never seen before landed on the remains of the stolen Henry Moore statue - a common sandpiper.

It was a day when I reckoned to watch and listen for cuckoos and so set of over Speddoch Hill in anticipation. there were green-veined whites and orange tips, but no cuckoo.

Heading up towards Loch Urr it was a good day for stonechats and pipits and I reckon I must have seen about five stonechats on the ride overall. On the run down to the loch itself there was a good view of a male wheatear, just when I started to wonder if one would turn up.

Then I flushed a roe deer out of the undergrowth of the moor on the right hand side.  So it stupidly decided to jump the fence onto the road in front of me and started trying to batter its way through the fence on the left hand side of the road as I slowed in the hope of stopping its panic. Eventually it climbed clumsily over.

A bit further on, a ewe and lamb decided to jump out onto the road too and then ran on ahead in front of the bike for about half a mile until there was a gate across the road and they faded away through a gap to the left.

By that time I was running late and had to push the pedals quite hard for the rest of the day. During a brief rest, I spotted yet another flower I wasn't familiar with:

Greater Stitchwort

The last part of the trip was my old favourite cuckoo haunt between Bogle Bridge and the reservoir, but not a cuckoo to be heard.

Riding back up to the car park, I caught sight of two or three black swans on the reservoir and as soon as I got of the bike, heard a cuckoo singing from the hill right next to it!

Sunday 14th May

Well things really have taken off on the nature front over the past eight days!

After a full day stuck in the house last Saturday, I managed to get out for a teatime walk on the river by Threave Castle. The most striking thing on the way to the ferry landing was the number of red kites following the farm vehicles working on the land. There was actually a sign towards the end of the walk noting that they do this to catch insects and worms that get churned up, plus any small animals that might get killed.  It was certainly a spectacle!

Ospreys were then duly spotted in the distance in and flying over the nest.  I then spent a longish time confirming a view of a peregrine falcon that is now nesting on the castle itself.  At first the sun was a nuisance, then I ended up taking pictures from upstream, which meant it was mostly a rear view.  But the poor pictures I got confirmed the slate grey back and a hint of white at the neck.  Curiously a crow landed very near it as if looking for a chance to steal some eggs and the peregrine did nothing to chase it off.

Up by the weir there were numerous green-veined whites playing amongst the bluebells. Also sighted were willow warbler, blackcap a couple of lapwing, some orange tips and (as on previous visits) a cheeky robin begging for food. Oh, and another in the series of (for me) hard to identify pink flowers.

But the best photograph I got was of this swallow peering over the roof of one of the farm buildings. I don't think s/he meant to look as angry.

Swallow

As I left a couple of people arrived who were looking for otters.

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.

Friday 28th April

Sometimes I wonder if I should rename this blog "Nature and Cycling" since all my trips out now seem to be cycling trips. In particular, I haven't been out fishing for a year and a half. Incidentally I forgot to say I saw a hare last Wednesday, lying in a field.

Anyhow, this Wednesday's run was pretty much the opposite to last week's in that the weather started out fair but didn't last. On the way out I was pleased to see that the sand martins are back and busy on the Nith just downstream from the cycle bridge.  It looked to me almost as if they were already feeding young though more likely they were lining the nests or some similar activity.

Sand Martins - nesting area

It was also pleasing to see a single lapwing playing over a farm field between Shawhead and Crocketford, not normally an area in which I expect to see other than common birds.

At Bridge of Urr, I continued my interest in the developing flowers and was struck by a purple flower next to the wall on the way out of the village.  Again, after consulting the Book of Flowers, I'm not sure what it is - common mallow perhaps?

Common Mallow?

Before setting out I had wondered what would be the likeliest: to see or hear a cuckoo or to see two butterflies.  I deliberately rode back through the Glenkilns, which has in the past been a regular home to cuckoos, but, in increasingly overcast weather, there wasn't the least sign of any cuckoo. However I did catch two brief sightings of male wheatears in flight, the first of the season, and so was happy to settle for that.

Once over the hill there was a buzzard and red kite taking stock of each other in the sky, some nice goldfinches, and right on the edge of Dumfries, literally adjacent to the first houses, a skylark could clearly be heard.

And then, going back along the cycle track in a last burst of hazy sunshine, there was a single small white butterfly - just like last week.

20th April

It really has been a pretty drab April here this year.

Through the overcast weather my nature activities have been a bit patchy but I did manage a nice few minutes watching a buzzard as it flew alongside me as I cycled, a close up of a stonechat from the car and, after hearing several scores of them over a couple of weeks, the year's first sighting of a chiffchaff.

As a result my attention has been drawn more by the flowers that are starting to spring up.  One I have been seeing virtually everywhere I go has been this little pink item.  It's not one I recall seeing in previous years.  Presumably it's very common but a quick run through my Book of Flowers has me unable to put a name to it.

Pink item

Another one I noticed was this strange looking bush with the bulbous fruits but I suspect it's not worth trying to find a name for, as it probably originated in someone's garden.

Bush

Yesterday was another dull and dreary day and not made any more attractive by a chilly wind.  I was somewhat surprised to see a swallow for the first time this Spring, though it didn't look any too happy trying to hold its position on a bouncing telephone wire.

Then on the way back from Kirkcudbright, the skies lightened and diffused sunlight nudged the temperature up a few degrees.  I saw another swallow and, at the bridge at Glenlochar, about half a dozen swooping around plus a grey wagtail amongst the rocks down in the river.

Then there was a complete surprise as a small white butterfly fluttered by briefly just South of Crossmichael, after I had decided there was no chance of seeing any kind of butterfly that day.

A couple of kites and buzzards also appeared as well as many goldfinches and, just after Kirkpatrick Durham I caught a male reed warbler in the binoculars.

It's amazing what a difference a bit of sunshine makes!

Thursday 6th April

We progress slowly into Spring though not with much warmth. A female siskin made a brief appearance at the bottom of next door's garden on Monday.  It's good to see they appear occasionally and it was a frequent occurrence when there were more conifers about.  Further west a lot of redpolls are being seen in gardens but I think that's a forlorn hope where I am.  I did hear a greenfinch today.

Swan and apple

Wednesday's bike ride was a little murky and windy, but there were one or two things about.  I stopped for a break on the observation platform at Lochfoot, where a couple of mute swans were feeding in shallow water. By way of a scientific experiment, I decided to see if they would like the remains of my apple.  The result was inconclusive but they did have a bit of a go at it.

The military road to Castle Douglas does tend to be a bit plain.  As usual there were a few wagtails knocking about on the stretch after Milton to Haugh of Urr.  I've often wondered if I could spot a white wagtail among them if one appeared.  Recently however I did a photo identification test on a birdwatching act and found the white wagtail much easier to identify than from book illustrations. There were a few buzzards around of course.

Better luck was to come.  Just before Ernespie there were some skylarks to be heard and I got a very good view of one flapping and singing like crazy right next to the roadside.

Stonechat

I had decided I would come back through the Glenkilns thinking there might be a chance of seeing an early whinchat or a wheatear.  As usual I stopped at the place on the road up where there is usually a good deal of bird and squirrel activity but today there was absolutely nothing. The same was true of the wheatear and the whinchat but I did get some good views of a meadow pipit and a couple of stonechats perching on old grass stalks.  The stonechats hung around for some time.

The other things I didn't see were any swallows or - unremarkably - butterflies.  Interestingly there wasn't a single red kite either.