Monday, 24 May 2010

Butterflies and things

I spent a very informative Saturday morning at the Allt Mhuic nature reserve on Loch Arkaig, led by Dr Tom Prescott of butterfly conservation. We started off looking at some amazing moths caught in a moth trap set up the night beofre. i was particulalry intrigued by the buff tip which even on close examination is difficult to distinguish from a piece of birch twig. A master of disguise indeed.


The real target of the day was the chequered skipper which is found within 30 miles of Fort william and nowhere else in the UK. They weren't exactly in abundance, the cold winter having delayed spring somewhat, however we did find one and I was pleased with the resulting photo's (see top). Plenty of other interesting insect life around too and having an expert guide to help understand the habitat and how everything fits together made it a really enjoyable morning. On the down side, the midges were biting for the first time this year.


A walk thtough Glengarry forest yesterday, in the evening brought my first dragonfly of the season, a four spotted chaser. Plenty of birds singing, though I'm still having difiiculty picking out which ones are which! Still, I will persevere!
















Tuesday, 18 May 2010

Otter spotting!

On Sunday I headed off to Glen Shiel to play with my new 16-85 lens but the weather turned a bit unpleasant for landscape shots, so I turned to wildlife and went otter spotting. After about half an hour I saw one swimming near Letterfearn, so stopped and went looking for him. He came ashore to eat a fish and i managed to get to within 10 yards of him, from where i got some great shots.

Yesterday I went along loch Arkaig again and had sightings of both sea eagles. No chequered skippers around which surprised me as it was a very still day, if over cast. Still, will keep looking,

Ian

Sunday, 16 May 2010

Springwatch update





Well, spring is now swinging along nicely, with the verges and woodlands carpeted with wood anemones and primroses, plus bluebells starting to put in an appearance. The osprey at Loch Lochy is sitting on eggs and the sea eagles are active on Loch Arkaig. A healthy population of scoter are resident on Loch Garry. I was told by the local warden there are 24 birds on the loch, approximately 25 per cent of the Scottish nesting population.


I'm regularly seeing black and red throated diver on the trips, and butterfly are on the wing. Saw my first chequered skipper of the season yesterday, at Allt Mhuic on Loch Arkaig. The Forestry commission are having an open day, next Saturday (22nd of May) at the Allt Mhuic reserve, so come along and see this enigmatic butterfly and many other species. Meet at Allt Mhuic butterfly reserve car park. Booking essential, Tel: 01397 702184.


An early start last week found black grouse still lekking just outside Fort William and half an hour spent sitting at the mouth of the river Lochy in front of the underwater centre, not far from the town centre proved very fruitful with an otter swimming and feeding happily in front of me. You don't need to go to wild, remote places to see these charismatic creatures.


Should soon be getting orchids and dragonflies to add to the mix and no doubt the midges will be biting again very soon! More coming soon,


Ian