Scottish Wildlife Blog

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

Dundee City

The Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io) is amongst the first butterflies to emerge, still, I was surprised to find one sunning itself on my doorstep this morning!
After a period of such unusually cold, harsh weather, it seems odd that it would stir so early from its winter slumber. I took the insect indoors and fed it on chopped apple/sugar solution, letting it fly around indoors for a few weeks.

When opening its wings to display the startling eye-spots, it can rub its wings together to make a hissing noise, before quickly closing its wings again.

The undersides of the Peacock's wings are an exquisite velvet tapestry of scales: metallically marbled with inky-blue black, spangled with flecks of orange and yellow and exotically tiger-striped.

Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io)

The Peacock Butterfly normally emerges from hibernation from late March/April and the velvety-black, spiny larvae feed predominantly on Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica).

The Peacock's scientific name 'Inachis io' refers to the Greek river god Inachus and to his daughter Io (a priestess of Hera in Argos). Hera set the all-seeing and many-eyed giant Argus Panoptes to watch over Io and prevent her seduction by Zeus (a task at which Argus fails).

Saturday, 9 January 2010

Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

Another walk in the hills - this time from Overton House, past the Lang Craigs, the Black Linn and the Humphrey Reservoir.

The Overton Woods were rich in birdlife: I saw a female Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula), a Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), a Redwing (Turdus iliacus), a Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris), and a nearly trodden-on Snipe (Gallinago gallinago). Further on, I spotted a pair of Treecreepers (Certhia familiaris) and a pair of Goldcrests (Regulus regulus).

Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris)

Goldcrest (Regulus regulus)

The Goldcrest is a miniscule warbler: alongside the closely-related Firecrest, it's the smallest species of bird in the UK, weighing 5-7g (for comparison, a 10p coin is 6.5g).

These charming little birds are often overlooked - I usually spot them if I'm sitting still, scanning the foliage carefully with binocs. They are superbly camouflaged and it's only their constant darting movements and a flash of gold, that gives them away.

The Goldcrest's scientific name Regulus regulus is latin for 'little king', referring to its golden crown.

Some years ago, as a child, I found a dead Goldcrest in the back garden and was able to see up close the shocking orange of the male's crest. I took some feathers for my collection and will add a link here once I get round to photographing them.

Lang Craigs

Sheep were walking about on top of the frozen-solid Humphrey Reservoir. I found Otter (Lutra lutra) tracks in the snow at the edge of the Humphrey - the tracks indicated a bounding gait and showed tail-drag. Local fishermen have mentioned seeing Otters here.

At the Black Linn, spiky ice crystals had formed on the snow and glittered colourfully like tinsel.

I descended the hills and entered the fog, which coated my clothes and hair with silvery frost. The temperature was around -10 degrees centigrade.

Thursday, 31 December 2009

Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

The distant Lomonds glowed pink at dawn as we lay on our bellies in the thick heather and snow: watching the stout jet-black birds with fanned tails as white as the snow that lay around them. I was with my dad at a Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix) lekking-site in the North East of the Kilpatrick Hills.

We tried to inch closer through the tangle of heather - our clothes were soaked with snow-melt. The wary birds flew up and landed in the birch trees.

We lay in the snow for a further 15 minutes...the Black Grouse returned.
13 males on the lek site and 13 females sitting somewhere in the heather nearby. We watched them strut around for a bit - the lekking period is still a long way off.

The Black Grouse like to gather at this site throughout the year - to size each other up and establish pecking orders/hierarchies before the intensive lekking period when males compete for females.

Suddenly, the grouse flew up again - spooked by our presence. We waited for another 20 minutes in the unbearable freezing cold and then walked over to examine the lek site.

The snow was imprinted with 3-toed tracks and besmirched with ridiculously large piles of droppings. These birds can seriously poo.
Here and there lay scattered black feathers - I collected some to add to my collection.

After this, we walked to The Whangie: a distinctive rock feature near Burn Crooks Reservoir. Basically, it's a narrow pass/gouge through a rocky cliff. The steep walls of rock at either side are many metres high: it's like a fortress carved by natural forces.

The Whangie

Flying overhead, a pair of Ravens (Corvus corax) croaked hoarsely at us - there is always a pair nesting here during the summer. The wedge-shaped tail and 'fingered' wings are distinctive, as well as the sheer size: this is the largest species of corvid in the world, weighing up to 1.6kg.

Raven (Corvus corax)

This footprint (below) belongs to a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes). Unlike a dog's footprint, the 4 toe pads are positioned together in front of the central foot-pad and the whole foot-print is oval-shaped.

Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) foot-print

Large blocks of compacted, ice-crusted snow had formed around the Whangie and we struggled to plough our way through.

We put up a small group of Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus) above Burncrooks Reservoir - they left behind their plodding tracks:

Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus) foot-prints

...and wing-beats as they took off...

Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus) wing-beats in snow

At Burncrooks Reservoir we spotted a male Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) singing from the top of a pine, a pair of Bullfinches (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) and a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus).

In the fields near the road to Burncrooks we saw a large winter flock of Reed Buntings (Emberiza schoeniclus).

Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) female

The snowy Campsie Fells (nearly 600 metres in height), to the East of the Kilpatrick Hills, looked spectacular.

Campsie Fells

On the way to Carbeth Inn (where we would stop for a coffee and a warm up), we passed this little Robin (Erithacus rubecula).

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Robins are one of the few birds that sing right through the harshest winter months - possibly why they are associated with Christmas time. Both males and females sing at this time of year, defending their separate territories from intruders.

Monday, 28 December 2009

Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

This week we experienced the deepest snow-fall in over 20 years - waist-high in parts of the Kilpatrick Hills!

Keen to look for tracks and trails - my dad and I took a circular route up to the Greenside Reservoir and back.

Above the layer of fog which lay across Glasgow and the Clyde valley, the sky was clear azure-blue and the snow sparkled brilliantly in the sunshine.

The hills were transformed by the snow, mist and sun, into an almost lunar landscape - our footprints were the first human ones on this unfamiliar terrain.

Further into the hills, the snow proved a real challenge to walk through.

Walking up the Cochno Hill towards the Greenside, a foraging flock of Reed Buntings (Emberiza scheoniclus) alighted on the snow ahead of us.

Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) female

The view from the Greenside was spectacular! Duncolm is a volcanic plug - at 401 metres it is the highest point in the Kilpatrick Hills. Covered with snow, it somewhat resembled a huge dumpling, dusted with icing sugar! Yum!
*now craving mum's home-made dumpling*

...EXACTLY the sort of high energy food you should bring with you on a hike like this!

View of Duncolm

Greenside Reservoir

The snow really brings out the textures of grasses and reeds:

In the snow, even shy and reclusive animals cannot help but leave a record of their movements.

These footprints (at Little Round Top) belong to a Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus):

Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) footprints

These tiny footprints (below) most likely belong to either a Bank Vole or Field Vole (no tail drag - unlike a Wood Mouse's footprints).

Vole footprints

We found these much larger tracks near the Greenside Reservoir - they belong to a Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus). The distance between strides was over 2 metres!! These graceful long-legged gallopers have a very different gait from rabbits.

Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus) footprints

These large, long-clawed footprints belong to a Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis): note the lack of tail drag.

Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) footprints

Saturday, 26 September 2009

Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

The summer is fading fast... now is the time to appreciate the last explosions of colour and life before the onset of winter. This is berry-picking and fungi-foraying time. My mum makes jelly and jam every year from the local wild fruits. We went together to have a look at the old Crab Apple trees to the SW of Little Round Top.

On the way, we passed the old Bullace (Prunus domestica subsp. insititia) hedges at the bottom of Beeches Road (near the Gas Station). The branches were crammed with unusually large Bullaces.

Bullace (Prunus domestica insititia)

The Bullace and the Damson are both primitive varieties of the Plum (Prunus domestica). The taste of a Bullace is like a slightly less sour version of the Sloe (Prunus spinosa). Very slightly less sour, still not what I would call edible. They make a lovely jam though!

My mum also makes jam/jelly out of Elderberries (Sambucus nigra), Dog Rose-hips (Rosa canina), Brambles (Rubus fruticosus), Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia).

Elder (Sambucus nigra)

The edible fruits of the Elder (Sambucus nigra) can be used to make pies/tarts, jam and fruit wine. The berries have an unpleasant bitter/acidic taste and when boiled up they smell like musty old socks.

The ripe berries and flowers are edible but the rest of the plant is poisonous and contains cyanogenic glycoside sambunigrin. The bark contains calcium oxalate crystals (CaC2O4) which are also highly poisonous.

We were disappointed to find that the Crab Apple trees bore no fruit at all this year.

At this point I headed on up into the hills on my own to look for fungi.

In the field near the old piggery (now abandoned) I disturbed a Brown hare (Lepus europaeus).

Bramble (Rubus fruticosus)

Dog Roses (Rosa canina) are also fruiting:

Dog Rose (Rosa canina)

The banana-like pods below, belong to the Yellow Flag (Iris pseudacorus):

Yellow Flag (Iris pseudacorus) seed-pods

Devil's Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) and Marsh Ragwort (Senecio aquaticus) are flowering at Little Round Top.

Marsh Ragwort (Senecio aquaticus)

Devil's Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis)

Devil's Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) was used in times past to treat scabies and other skin afflictions: 'scabious' comes from the Latin word 'scabere', meaning 'to scratch'.

I walked to the Hidden Valley (Haw Craig) and followed the strip of oak and birch woodland which extends from the top of Glenarbuck to the quarry at Rigangower. I collected a sample specimen of each mushroom species I came across.

Fungal Foray!

Here are the fungi I collected - the fungi look a bit withered because it took me hours to identify some of them.

Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum)

These Common Earthballs (Scleroderma citrinum) were collected in the oak/birch wood above Glenarbuck. The scientific name means 'hard-skin lemon-yellow' (Sclero = hard + derma = skin, citrinum = lemon-yellow). This fungus is inedible.

Bonnet Mycena (Mycena galericulatus)

The Bonnet Mycena (Mycena galericulata) was collected from above Glenarbuck, it is said to be 'edible but not worthwhile'.

Earthy Powder-cap (Cystoderma amianthinum)

The Earthy Powder-cap (Cystoderma amianthinum), also collected above Glenarbuck, is not edible. Its latin name means 'blister-skin like-asbestos' (Cysto = blister/vesicle + derma = skin, amianthinum = like/of asbestos).

Blackening Waxcap (Hygrocybe conica)

The Blackening Waxcap (Hygrocybe conica) was collected from the rough grassland at Haw Craig. The edibility of this species is uncertain. The flesh is yellow and bruises black, giving it a charred look.

Amethyst Deceiver (Laccaria amethystea)

The vivid violet colour of the Amethyst Deciever (Laccaria amethystea) fades with age: these specimens (collected at Glenarbuck) have lost most of their colour. This species is edible.