Duntocher, West Dunbartonshire

Kilpatrick Hills at dusk

Darkness falls on the nearby Kilpatrick hills, and though the sky burns vivid orange-red, the air is humid and the vegetation still moist from recent heavy rainfall. Humid, windless nights like this are best for trapping nocturnal insects.

A Gallery of July Beetles:

Beetles are amongst the most frequent non-moth visitors to fluorescent lighting (which attracts far more insects than incandescent light bulbs due to the higher ultraviolet ouput). Other common nocturnal visitors are midges, crane flies and caddis flies.

Beetles tend to be very restless, rarely staying still for even a second, which makes them difficult to photograph: my solution is to place them inside a white plastic bowl which is too smooth for them to easily climb up and stalls them long enough to take photos.

The first of our usual suspects is a beetle whose varied talents include using its head as a spade, eating poo and singing!

Aphodius rufipes (Dung Beetle - family Scarabaeidae)

Aphodius rufipes - showing the (normally hidden) membraneous hindwings

Aphodius rufipes

Aphodius rufipes

Aphodius rufipes

A wide shovel-shaped head, cylindrical body, small antennnae, and claw-like extensions on the tibia of the front legs, are all adaptations to a burrowing lifestyle.Both adults and larvae spend most of their lives feeding and burrowing in the dung of herbivores.

The club-shaped antennae are composed of lamellae which can be compressed into a ball or fanned out (in order to detect odours).

When the adult dung beetles arrive at a fresh cow pat, the males quickly set about courting the females - producing complex songs using their abdomino-alary stridulatory organs (which means they produce sounds by rubbing their wings against their abdomens).
Only the males sing, although the females possess identical stridulatory organs and have the ability to produce disturbance sounds when threatened.

Each song lasts from 10 to 20 minutes and is composed of a series of syllables produced in pulses, with each Aphodius species having its own unique song.

More info on the singing of Aphodius dung beetles can be found here: Vibratory Communication in Dung Beetles (Scarabaeidae, Coleoptera) by Julia Kasper & Petra Hirschberger, chapter 31 of Insect Sounds and Communication - Physiology, Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (CRC Press, 2006).

Otiorhynchus porcatus (Weevil - family Curculionidae)

Otiorhynchus porcatus

Otiorhynchus porcatus

Otiorhynchus porcatus

Otiorhynchus weevils have fused elytra (wing cases) which renders them completely flightless: this individual still managed to make an appearance indoors - I imagine its fast marching gait could traverse almost any terrain!

The nocturnal adults feed upon the foliage of a variety of plants, whilst the larvae feed underground on the roots.

This is one of the easier Otiorhynchus to identify - no other species has such deeply ridged, boxy-looking elytra.

Rhagonycha fulva (Soldier Beetle - family Cantharidae)

Rhagonycha fulva

Rhagonycha fulva

Rhagonycha fulva

Soldier beetles are a classic example of aposematism (when an organism is both brightly coloured and distasteful to predators - predators learn to avoid them) and produce bitter-tasting secretions from their prothoracic and abdominal glands.

This common species is mostly diurnal and congregates in large numbers on the flowerheads of thistles and umbellifers, where it feeds on flower pollen, nectar and smaller insects. The larvae are ground-dwelling and prey solely on other invertebrates.

These beetles often seen in mating pairs as they have a prolonged copulation - also known as mate-guarding - in which the males prevent females from mating with competitors.

Soldier beetles have soft, leathery elytra due to the larger amount of time spent air-borne than most beetles.

Identifying Soldier Beetles:

Rhagonycha fulva is easily identified by the testaceous (brick-red) colouration of the head, pronotum, legs and wing cases (the latter are black tipped). The antennae, mouthparts and tarsi (feet) are black.

For other species, there is a handy identification key available here (PDF document):
Cantharidae - Key to the Adults of the British Species (Original keys by Mike Fitton, 1973. Additions & ammendments by Brian Eversham, 2006).

Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

Just a short walk today, from Duntocher to the Test marsh (South of the Greenside Reservoir).

In the damp cloudy weather, butterflies clung sluggishly to the wet vegetation. I encountered Ringlets, Common Blues and Meadow Browns at Little Round Top.

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) mating pair

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)

The foamy umbels of creamy-white Elderberry flowers have a musky, fusty aroma.

Elderflower Cordial Recipes:

The British Larder - Elderflower Cordial Recipe

Fuss Free Flavours - Elderflower Cordial Recipe

Food.com - Old Fashioned Elderflower Cordial Recipe


I found Lesser Spearwort growing in the pond at Little Round Top:

Lesser Spearwort (Ranunculus flammula)

Lesser Spearwort (Ranunculus flammula)

Unknown species of Liverwort (at Test)

Lesser Spearwort is a buttercup of watery habitats - the flowers are indistinguishable from other Ranunculus species but the long, undivided, strap-like leaves are very distinctive.

I found a male Gold Swift (Hepialus hecta) above Little Round Top.

Between Little Round Top wood and the Test I saw a flock of Linnets and a lone Peregrine Falcon (which flew in the direction of the Mohican Woods).

In the moorland above the Test, large grey slabs of exposed underlying rock are thinly covered with mosses and stonecrops, interspersed with small patches of bog and crisscrossed with crumbling old dry-stone walls.

Much of the heather had withered away to bare bleached-bone stems with beautifully knotted and twisted branches - weather-beaten to resemble driftwood.

I looked for Slow Worms (unsuccessfully) and Common Lizards (I caught a pregnant female).

At the Northern end of the Test I found a small pile of feathers; a Sparrowhawk kill; possibly the remains of a Whinchat or Stonechat.

cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus sylvestris)

Six of our twenty-two native bumblebee species (genus Bombus) are cuckoo bumblebees. Queen cuckoo bumblebees don't construct their own nests, instead they lay their eggs in the nests of other bumblebee species and the workers of the host rear the cuckoo's offspring. 

Each cuckoo bumblebee has a favoured host species which it matches closely in colouration. Bombus sylvestris normally takes over the nests of Bombus pratorum. Its distinguishing features are the very extensive white tail-tip, the presence of a bold yellow thorax band and a faint yellow band at the base of the abdomen.

New Zealand Willowherb (Epilobium brunnescens)

New Zealand Willowherb is now naturalized over most of the Kilpatrick Hills. This tiny unobtrusive species has creeping stems, circular leaves and pale pink flowers borne on the tips of long reddish seed pods, which split to release downy wind-dispersed seeds.

Kilpatrick Hills, East/West Dunbartonshire

Camping Trip!

Last year I got a bat detector for my christmas, but so far I haven't had many opportunities to use it. It enabled me to listen to Common Pipistrelles in the backgarden: these bats make a series of clicks which turn into 'wet slaps' at lower frequencies (the deepest slaps are at 45khz- the peak frequency).

I set off on a short camping trip, up to Burncrooks Reservoir, to do a bit of exploring with my bat detector, thinking that maybe I'd get a chance to hear Daubenton's or Natterer's Bats.

Duncolm to the left, looking towards the distant mountains surrounding Loch Lomond 

Dumgoyne in the distance

Hare's Tail Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum)

Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) juvenile

Rowan tree (Sorbus aucuparia)

Small Heath butterfly (Coenonympha pamphilus)

Someone else had pitched their tent beside Burncrooks dam, so I had to find another spot - along the treeline of Burncrooks valley (near the old sheep shelter). Midges were biting me viciously, even as I was putting my tent up, and it wasn't even dusk yet. Exhausted, I crept into my sleeping bag and slept for a few hours, until the last red glow had vanished from the sky.

Strange animal noises filled the night. First, the qwavering 'HOooo HOoo' of a male Tawny Owl. Later, when I emerged from my tent, the terrifying (even when you know what it is!) 'old-man-coughing-turning-into-a-dog's-bark' of a male Roe Deer - very close. As I approached the sound, a pair of disembodied glowing eyes reflected the light from my head-torch.

I switched on the bat detector and made a short circuit, following the edge of the forest. I briefly managed to pick up the call of a pipistrelle - I kept having to seek refuge in my tent from the swarm of face-eating midges.

Midges were biting my eyes, my hands, my scalp...the air was so thick with them, I was breathing them in...It was unbearable :(

I was pretty glad my tent had a built-in mosquito net!

Twice during the night, a mystery animal passed close to my tent, purring loudly and deeply. I still have absolutely no idea what it could have been. A feral cat? It seems unlikely, given the remote location.

Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

I started my walk just below Overton House and climbed the Lang Craigs, walked over the top of Rigangower, via Glenarbuck to Haw Craig valley and then Duntocher.

Overton Glen was full of woodland flowers including Water Avens (Geum rivale), Sanicle (Sanicula europaea) and Woodruff (Galium odoratum).

I saw a pair of Wheaters feeding a juvenile on the rough grassland below the Lang Craigs. Amongst the loose scree at the base of the Lang Craigs I heard a Stonechat: there seem to be fewer around this year, normally they outnumber the Whinchats.

As I struggled up the Lang Craigs cliffside, a noisy family group of Ravens flew overhead.

Some bluebells are still flowering, unusually late, at the top of the Lang Craigs.

Dung Roundhead (Stropharia semiglobata), on grassland East of Lang Craigs 

Brooklime grows in the burn that runs alongside Rigangower quarry (South East of Greenland Reservoir number 3). 

Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa)

For whatever reason, Ruby Tiger moths become brighter red in colour as you travel further south, the most ruby-red specimens are found in England. In much of Scotland we have a dark brown version (with just a hint of red): the subspecies borealis. The specimen photographed above is not a 'borealis' but it is still a very dull red.

This is the copper colour-morph of the click beetle Ctenicera cuprea:

click beetle (Ctenicera cuprea) male

At the Triangle Reservoir (between Auchentorlie Glen and Haw Craig) I added a new bird species to my local list: Sand Martins! I sat and watched them skim the water: they were too fast and unpredictable to capture on camera.

Sand Martins (Riparia riparia) normally nest on sandy banks of slow-flowing rivers, I think the birds I saw are probably nesting at Rigangower quarry.

The first of the Common Blue Damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum) have emerged.

Wild Thyme (Thymus praecox brittanicus)

Wild Thyme (Thymus praecox brittanicus)

Drinker moth (Euthrix potatoria) cocoon

This enormous woolly cocoon belongs to the Drinker moth, it was about 4cm in length and was attached to a reed in a marshy field.

There are still a few Coenagrion puella Damselflies remaining at Little Round Top.

Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

The aim of today's walk was to look for the elusive Emperor moth (Saturnia pavonia): the only member of the impressive Saturniidae family which is native to the UK. The nocturnal females are difficult to find when resting in the heather. The males, on the other hand, are diurnal with a very characteristic erratic flight pattern. They are difficult to approach: they have no need to feed and therefore, no need to land!

My dad and I walked along the Humphrey Road to the Humphrey reservoir, past the Lily Loch, to Burncrooks reservoir, to the Whangie, crossed Stockie Muir (following one of the unnamed rivers which cross the moor) and we ended our hike at Carbeth Inn.

Saw my first Swallows (Hirundo rustica) of the year above the fields at the end of Beeches Road (Duntocher).

At the Lily Loch we could hear the yickering calls of Little Grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis): it seems likely that they will breed here again this year.

The sky was clear and cloudless and the sun blazingly warm. We took a detour along the edge of Burn Crooks valley to look for Adders, but found nothing: perhaps they haven't yet emerged from hibernation.

I know it's a bit lame, but I couldn't resist photographing this:

Marker indicating the location of Stop Valves (water mains) at Burn Crooks 

Strangely aesthetically pleasing...I've always been fond of azure-blue.

At the second dam at Burn Crooks, a pair of Grey Wagtails (Motacilla cinerea) were darting about.

As we crossed the moor to the South West of the Whangie, we spotted a male Emperor moth - too fast to photograph :(
At this spot we disturbed a male Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus), still in its darker winter coat, which flared its white rump at us and effortlessly jumped a barbed wire fence and disappeared into the forest.

I collected some Roe Deer hairs from a 'deer couch' on Stockie Muir (where we disturbed another Roe Deer, a female). The coarse hairs were steely grey with brown/black-ticked tips and distinctive 'spongy' texture.

2 Red Grouse (Lagpus lagopus) on Stockie Muir and numerous warblers darting about in the decidous trees which line the Stockie Muir burns. Another male Emperor moth danced rapidly past us.

Wood Warblers (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) could be heard singing: their trilling calls somewhat resemble the sound of a coin spinning on a table.

Listen to the 'spinning coin' trill of the Wood Warbler here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/woodwarbler/index.aspx

The Stockie Muir Black Grouse lek was deserted, the short grass strewn with their black feathers. I took back a lyre-shaped tail feather to add to my collection.

Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

Just a short walk today: from Duntocher to Little Round Top and then the Slacks. The increase in birdsong is becoming very evident!

The recently revamped RSPB website has sound clips for most species, very handy!
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/robin/index.aspx

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

At Little Round Top I found a dead Roe Deer, everything but the legs had been picked clean:

The snow has almost completely melted in the Kilpatrick Hills but the higher Campsie fells, to the East, are still very white:

Campsie fells from the Slacks

Stag's Horn Clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum)

Stag's Horn Clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum) is purported to have various medicinal properties such as being analgesic (pain-relieving) and antirheumatic. However, this plant is known to contain the toxic compounds lycopodine (which paralyses motor nerves) and clavatine.

Its scientific name means 'Wolf-foot club-shaped'(Lyco = wolf + podium = foot, clavatum = club-shaped).

Drinker moth (Euthrix potatoria) larva

Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

Winter lingers on...the hills are almost flowerless and scattered with snow patches. Today I walked from Duntocher to the Mohican Woods (above the old curling pond), to Duncolm and then the Kilmannan Reservoir. The sky remained dark and overcast throughout the day but the rain held off.

Rusty metal

At the Eastern end of the Mohican Woods I put up 2 Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) which were sitting silently amongst the leaf litter. The ground was scattered with their barred feathers. Soon after, I disturbed a Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus).

The forest floor was covered with the yellowish-green flowers of Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium).

Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium) 

Oops! I previously misidentified the above plant, assuming it to be young specimens of Sun Spurge.

At the top of the Mohican Woods, a flock of 12 Common Crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) landed on a Larch tree close to the path. They began feeding on the Larch cones and it struck me how large they are (for finches) and also, how strangely parrot-like.

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)

I investigated the recently-felled pine forest (forestry commission) between Duncolm and the Kilmannan Reservoir. Piles of white bags ominously printed in red with 'Pesticide Treated', turned out to be filled with sapling trees (mixed native species) awaiting planting. Part of a native forest restoration project??

The roots of the upturned/felled trees formed 2 metres-high, earthen/turf wall along the edge of the forest:



On the Kilmannan there was a small flock of Goldeneye (Bucephalus clangula) and a pair of Mallards (Anas platyrynchos).

In the nearby pine forest I found a recently erected nestbox which, judging by the size of entrance, is intended for a large bird species (goldeneye? owls?).