Kilpatrick Hills, West/East Dunbartonshire

Another search for the elusive Adders at Burncrooks Reservoir!

I walked with my parents from Duntocher to the Humphrey Reservoir, past Duncolm and the Lily Loch, to Burncrooks Reservoir and on the way home we crossed the Slacks and Little Round Top instead of following the Humphrey Road.

The Humphrey Road and the Slacks afford some brilliant aerial views of the River Clyde:

The River Clyde from the Slacks

The River Clyde from the Slacks

We cut across the moorland (to the left of the Humphrey Road) where we found a Meadow Pipit's nest in the heather: a neat grass-lined cup holding a set of four tiny, chocolate-mottled eggs.

On the path around Duncolm I saw the first Green Hairstreak butterfly of the day: small, rapidly darting, with wings brown on top and irridescent green underneath.
The drystone wall near the Lily Loch was covered with basking Green Hairstreaks - they fluttered erratically in the sunshine and when they landed they orientated their wings sharply in the direction of the sun.

Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi)

Looking towards the Lily Loch from the base of Duncolm - the Green Hairstreak's habitat

Hundreds of huge Horse Leeches (Haemopis sanguisuga) could be seen in the Lily Loch's peaty waters (still bare of vegetation), fattening themselves on a glut of tadpoles.

These large leeches are safe to handle as they're unable to bite through human skin - in Britain, only the rare Medicinal Leech (Hirudo medicinalis) is capable of this (it doesn't stop them from sucking onto you though!).

This plump leech is (rather endearingly) still clutching the reed it grabbed onto as it tried to avoid capture:

Horse Leech (Haemopis sanguisuga)

The Lily Loch with Duncolm behind

The Lily Loch is part of the Dumbarton Muir SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) - it's the only oligotrophic (nutrient poor) loch in Dunbartonshire and is surrounded by an area of raised bog.

Burncrooks Reservoir

As we crossed the grassy hill where the river feeds into Burncrooks, a Sparrowhawk flew up from the ground.

We saw a pair of Greylag Geese (Anser anser) feeding at the edge of Burncrooks Reservoir - these are nervous wild birds and hard to get close to, quickly entering the water the minute they see you. I tried to creep closer through the rushes but the geese began to honk with alarm and were soon swimming out of sight.

Greylag Goose (Anser anser)

Greylag Geese (Anser anser)

We searched amongst the dried golden grasses, dark heather, scree and the russet, wiry tangle of old Bracken fronds...but didn't find any Adders.

On the grassy bank of the smallest Burncrooks Dam, we found a glittering Heath Goldsmith beetle (Carabus nitens).

The river which feeds into the Lily Loch, Duncolm behind

The Slacks

Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) female on foodplant - Cuckoo Flower (Cardamine pratensis)

Wild Pansies (Viola tricolor)

Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)

Little Round Top Wood

Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

Little Round Top Wood (OS map grid reference - NS4773) is an excellent 'bluebell wood' rarely visited by walkers - I spent the day listening for the songs of arriving warblers and trying to immortalize with photos the ephemeral newly-minted-lushness of spring foliage.

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris)

Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris)

Cultivated or Domestic Apples (Malus domestica) are mostly descended from the Central Asian Wild Apple (Malus sieversii) which was brought to Europe and later crossed with closely related 'Malus series' apples, including our native Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris).

Cuckoo Flower (Cardamine pratensis)

Cuckoo Flower (Cardamine pratensis)

Cuckoo Flower (Cardamine pratensis)

Blackthorn or Sloe (Prunus spinosus)

crab spider (Xysticus cristatus) female

Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) in Little Round Top Wood

Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) in Little Round Top Wood

Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) in Little Round Top Wood

At this time of year, Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) forms a thick carpet of fresh green leaves in Little Round Top Wood. Few creatures seem to nibble at this pristine foliage, possibly due to its poisonous nature.
Culpeper's Complete Herbal (published in 1653) warns 'there is not a more fatal plant, native of our country, than this'. Ingestion causes severe haemorrhagic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys.

Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea)

Gorse (Ulex europaeus)

I had a look at the steepest part of Little Round Top Wood (above the marsh) which will be overgrown with nettles & bracken, and inaccessible within a month or two.

Hairy St. John's-wort (Hypericum hirsutum) grows on the scrubby slope and Square-stalked St. John's-wort (Hypericum tetrapterum) grows in the marsh below. St. John's-worts, of which there are many species, are better identified by their leaves and stalks than by their golden-yellow flowers (which appear in late June).

Hairy St. John's-wort (Hypericum hirsutum)

Hairy St. John's-wort (Hypericum hirsutum)

Hairy St. John's-wort has a rounded, hairy stem and the leaves are hairy, elliptical in shape and do not possess the black gland-dots which are found on many other Hypericum species.

Wild Pansies (Viola tricolor)

Mugdock Country Park & Kilpatrick Hills, East & West Dunbartonshire

I'm not usually a twitcher, but repeated sightings of a Great Grey Shrike at Craigallian Loch over the last few weeks proved too much to resist!

My dad and I caught a train from Dalmuir to Milngavie, walked through Mugdock Country Park to Craigallian Loch and then walked back to Duntocher (via Burncrooks Reservoir, Duncolm and the Greenside).

We saw a pair of Treecreepers as we walked through the soaking wet woodland in Mugdock Country Park. Near Craigallian Loch we saw a male Kestrel hunting and heard a Tawny Owl hooting.

Clouds of mist and rain drifted through the trees and the valley echoed with the drumming of Great Spotted Woodpeckers. On the loch there were groups of Tufted Duck and Goosander.
We wandered along the path, fruitlessly scanning every fencepost and scrubby tree for the shrike. As we waited, a Green Woodpecker landed clumsily atop a nearby pine.

Disappointingly, the shrike never made an appearance.

On the way home, at Edenmill Farm, we saw a large flock of Goldfinches and a ploughed field full of Lapwings - their zipping calls are like radios tuning.

Greenside Reservoir

Above the Greenside looking towards Duncolm

By the side of the burn flowing into the Greenside, I found the inedible Twisted Deciever (Laccaria tortilis) growing on a mossy boulder.

Twisted Deciever (Laccaria tortilis)

Twisted Deciever (Laccaria tortilis)

Twisted Deciever (Laccaria tortilis)

Twisted Deciever (Laccaria tortilis)

Twisted Deciever (Laccaria tortilis)

Twisted Deciever (Laccaria tortilis)

Twisted Deciever (Laccaria tortilis)

Twisted Deciever (Laccaria tortilis)

 

Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

Today I walked from Duntocher to the Mohican Woods, over the Slacks and to The Test marsh. It didn't rain but the sky was darkly overcast and snow survives in colder hollows on the hills.

Below the Mohican Woods I disturbed a group of Roe Deer (two hinds and a buck) which were grazing along the forest edge. The two hinds - with flared white rumps - disappeared deep into the undergrowth, but the buck only retreated a little way into the trees.
I lay down on the ground, making myself as unhuman-like as possible. A few seconds later, the buck re-emerged and high-stepped towards me cautiously, until the shutter of my camera startled him back into the forest.

Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) male

Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) male

Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) male

Roe Deer are Britain's smallest native deer, weighing only 10-25kg, and are the only hooved mammals which exhibit delayed implantation: an egg fertilized during the summer doesn't begin development until January.


This male has 3-pronged antlers which means he's at least 3 years old. The furry 'velvet' covering his antlers supplies blood to the antlers as they grow and will be shed within a few weeks.

Mohican Woods

Scottish Blackface Sheep

Snow-melt puddles littered the moorland on the Slacks. The only signs of life were a pair of Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus) which exploded loudly from the heather.

The Test marsh

In the rocky moorland to the north-east of the Test, a Brown Hare leapt up and sprang like a gazelle over the heather.

It left behind a pile of fresh droppings:

Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus) droppings

Bombhole near the Test (OS map ref. NS 476 741)

The Clydebank Blitz (13th & 14th March, 1941) left the Kilpatrick Hills pitted with bombholes and the odd piece of rusty bombshell can still be found lying on the moor.

Psathyrella sp. at Little Round Top Wood

Jackdaws (Corvus monedula)

Pairs of Jackdaws nest on every rooftop on my street, they walk the pavements and roads with a bobbing swagger and fill the air with their pleasant calls - an almost musical "chak!" - which gives them their onomatopoeic name.