Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

Today I walked to the hidden valley of Haw Craig (via the Humphrey Road) and followed the treeline north of the Hill of Dun, to Glenarbuck and the Triangle Reservoir.

I found a dead Stoat at the bottom of Beeches Road, close to the collapsed WW2 bomb shelter (now a pile of concrete slabs).

As I crossed the sheep field above Haw Craig, a Brown Hare started up from under my feet - a magnificently large individual.

Sitting on the cliff overlooking Haw Craig, I heard harsh chattering and caught a brief flash of colour as a Jay swiftly glided from one tree to another. They had good reason to be nervous: I soon spotted the steely-grey back of a male Sparrowhawk slipping stealthily between the Hawthorn scrub.

Tall spikes of magenta Foxgloves filled the valley and Hairy Thyme furnished the tops of boulders and loose scree with pink.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) white mutation

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) white mutation

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) colour variations

Foxglove is deadly poisonous, even in small quantities. The entire plant contains cardiac glycosides (particularly digoxin) which cause dizziness/nausea, visual disturbances and potentially dangerous changes in heart rate and rhythm (digoxin is sometimes used medicinally to treat heart conditions).
Foxglove's scientific name means 'Of-the-fingers purple' in Latin (Digitalis = of the fingers & purpurea = purple) referring to the way in which the flowers can be fitted thimble-like onto the fingertips.

Amongst the foxgloves I found this toothless old fox skull:

Fox skull (Vulpes vulpes)

Flat or concave post-orbital processes (the projections at the upper rear of the eye socket) indicate that this is a fox's skull.
In dogs, the post-orbital processes are convex and elevated above the muzzle (forming a distinct stop between forehead and base of nose).

An excellent guide to skull identification can be found here: http://www.btinternet.com/~alison.gilsland/hedbone/lists.htm.

Hairy Thyme (Thymus praecox)

Hairy Thyme (Thymus praecox)

Hairy Thyme, one of several species of wild thyme, is strongly aromatic when crushed and is highly attractive to bees.
This species can be used in recipes in exactly the same way as cultivated varieties, though the flavour is weaker. Thyme also has medicinal properties: it contains thymol (aka 2-isopropyl-5-methylphenol) which is strongly antiseptic and antimicrobial.

Orchid Beetles (Dascillus cervinus) were present in large numbers on the patches of thyme.

Broom (Cytisus scoparius)

Broom (Cytisus scoparius) is a leguminous, nitrogen-fixing shrub belonging to the Faboideae subfamily (alongside Clovers and Gorses). As its common name suggests, the slender branches of this shrub were once used as brooms: the species name 'scoparius' is Latin for 'the sweeper'.

Wood Avens (Geum urbanum)

Wood Avens, also known as Herb Bennet, has edible leaves which can be cooked into soups & stews. The roots; which have an aromatic clove-like taste; can be boiled into a beverage or used to flavour soups.

Wood Avens Recipes: 

Wood Avens & Dandelion Coffee (from www.bbc.co.uk)
Woodland Spiced Rosehip and Beetroot Soup (from www.bbc.co.uk)
Fried Wood Avens Leaves (from www.eatweeds.co.uk)

Common Blue Damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum) are beginning to emerge where the river runs through Haw Craig.

The Triangle Reservoir was rather quiet: I saw only 1 Sand Martin.

On the stony banks of the reservoir I nearly managed to catch a vole. Then I somehow managed to fall INTO the Triangle Reservoir (oops!) whilst observing the thick black mass of tadpoles congregated at the bottom.

On my return home I found this guy:

Poplar Hawkmoth (Laothoe populi) male

Unusually, in this species the hindwings are held in front of the forewings.

Poplar Hawkmoth (Laothoe populi) male

Poplar Hawkmoth (Laothoe populi) male

Poplar Hawkmoth (Laothoe populi) male - wing detail

Poplar Hawkmoth (Laothoe populi) male 

Poplar Hawkmoth (Laothoe populi) male

Poplar Hawkmoth (Laothoe populi) male

Common, but still an impressive moth: about 5cm in length from wing to wing! This species lacks a functional proboscis and therefore cannot feed during adulthood.

Poplar Hawkmoths can be sexed easily: males have narrow, blunt-tipped abdomens while females have pointed abdomens.