Plant Transects

Today we had a day of doing host plant V surveys, which involves following a 200m long inverted 'V' shaped transect within a 100m grid square.  This is most easily done by a pair of people (but can be done alone).  Starting in the bottom left hand (south west) corner of the square, the first person rolls out a tape measure on a bearing of 30 degrees.  The second person then measures the height of the vegetation every five metres, and also records any butterfly host plants that are present along the transect. 

After the first 100m, the top (northern) edge of the square should have been reached and should be around half way across the square.  The bearing is then changed to 150 degrees to aim for the bottom right hand (south east corner) of the square.

The host plants we were looking for today were for the Large Heath butterfly, and so were Common and Hare's Tail Cottongrass. 

One of the sites we visited was a heathland site a few miles to the north of Doune near Stirling. Our transects were along the edge of Loch Mahaick.  Much of the area was covered in dense coniferous forest, though there were some more open areas closer to the loch.  The area was still semi-wooded though, with evidence of replanting of native deciduous trees.  There was lots of rotting wood under-foot which, along with the Molinia tussocks and boggy pools, made it hard to walk the transect. This was made harder still trying to see through a midge net, as the little bugs were in abundance.

The Large Heath butterfly was not found here on a previous butterfly survey, but we needed to do the vegetation survey to assess whether this might be due to habitat change/suitability. Despite the re-wooding, there was still a large amount of hare's tail cotton grass on the site, with lesser amounts of common cotton grass. We kept our eyes peeled and didn't see the butterfly on this occasion either, though I did get a close encounter with a Common Hawker dragonfly.

Unusual Sightings

Spending so much time wandering around the countryside, I come across things I have never seen before and it is interesting trying to find out what they are. For this I turn to the miracle of the internet - Facebook, Twitter, iSpot, etc - and usually get an answer fairly quickly.

Two of this weeks finds include:

• A group of black objects found on thistle leaves - possibly insect larvae.  They were quite small - maybe 5-6mm long - and seemed to have barbs around the edges.

• A hard, orange object on stinging nettle, making the stem bend back on itself. This was about the size of a caterpillar, but did not seem to be alive and must have been in place for some weeks for the plant to grow like that.  It is possibly a gall or an extreme case of Nettle Rust (a fungus).

Hopefully someone will be able to help me out soon.

Ullapool

I visited Ullapool some years ago and enjoyed this area in the far north west of Scotland. It was great to be able to visit again. We spent a week in a small cottage a few miles outside of town on Ardmair Bay.

Most of our surveys were 1+ hour drive to the north, on the Assynt peninsula, where we were looking for the Large Heath butterfly.

In sunshine, the area is amazing and the views over the coast are superb. However, in the rain the area is decidedly more bleak!

We spent several long days trudging in wellies through the heathland, counting cotton grasses and looking for the butterflies. Most of our surveys were successful, and we got to visit some amazing places including surveying in view of the mighty Suilven.

In Scotland, the colours of the Large Heath butterfly are a bit more subdued and the eyespots on the underside are indistinct if not absent.

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=tullia

We also saw some other amazing wildlife including common lizards and the wonderful great sundew (Drosera anglica), a carniverous plant that was abundant in some of the heathlands. One site had hundreds of colourful Magpie moths, but sadly that's not the species we were looking for!

Muir of Dinnet

Last week we spent a day in the Loch Kinord area.

Our first transect was to the north of the loch, in the Old Kinord area. Parking on a small lane, we searched for the Northern Brown Argus in the fields and woodland clearings round and about. We followed a old grassy track through the site, where there were various old hut circles and derelict farm buildings to explore. There were lots of butterflies flying, but not the ones we were looking for.

In the afternoon, it was a short drive around to the Muir of Dinnet / Burn o' Vat visitors centre where we parked up and had a late lunch. This was a popular place, with lots of families making us of the various marked walking trails around the loch and through the surrounding woodland up to Burn o' Vat, a huge pothole in the hillside. 

Our next survey transect took us through the birch scrub and woodland to the west of the loch.

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/loch-kinord.shtml

We were rewarded with a sighting of our target species laying eggs of its host plant, Rock Rose. The small white circular eggs can be seen on the leaf surface in the photo.

Loch an Eilein

Another great little walk is around Loch an Eilein just outside of Aviemore. There is a small charge for parking, but there is a visitor's centre selling gifts and refreshments as well as toilets, so I don't begrudge a few pounds for the facilities.  There is a lovely walk around the loch which is around 7km long.

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/loch-an-eilein.shtml

Our survey route took us all around the loch, through some areas of remnant caledonian pine forest.

We also climbed up to the nearby peak of Ord Ban where there were great views of the surrounding Cairngorm hills.

Craigellachie NNR

I have been a little re-miss in updating my blog as the days have been very busy and the Wifi signal patchy, so I will try and keep posts to a short summary of where we have visited and what I have seen. 

Craigellachie NNR is a place that made a positive impression on me. We were fortunate enough to have a Mountain Ringlet transect at the top of the hill, so had to walk through the reserve to get there. Although we weren't successful in our butterfly hunt that day, the site was lovely.

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/craigellachie.shtml

Parking is easy at the Youth Hostel in Aviemore, where there is also a display board just inside the building providing information about the reserve. There are various well-marking trails through the lower wood, extending up to a view point with great views of the Cairngorms. 

Although its a reasonable climb up the hill, it is worth the effort.