Nethybridge

On our first morning in Nethy Bridge, we saw a few Siskins & Red Squirrel in the garden. A Juvenile Robin was perched on a branch at the back of the garden. As it was sunny, we thought we would try to look for the White-faced Darter in Abernethy Pools. A Male perched briefly on the heather, but soon took off & was lost to view. We went to look at another pool in Abernethy. A couple of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries were flying around & landing on Marsh Cinqfoil. The other star species here was the Northern Damselfly, this is pretty much the only county of Scotland that I know of that they occur. A few Large Red Damselflies & Four-spotted Chasers perched & flew around the pool. We headed up to Cairngorm to look for Ring Ouzel, but no luck this time. We did see Fragrant Orchids, Mountain Aven, Water Aven & Dwarf Cornel. Surprisingly, I also photographed what I thought was a Female Pied Wagtail which actually turned out to be a Female White Wagtail. We popped to Boat of Garten Station to see the last train of day to Aviemore. I was hoping that Black 5 5025 was going to be running by the time were in Scotland, but she was still waiting the final paint work. Instead the services were worked by Caledonian Railway 828. In the early evening, we popped back to Abernethy Pools for another look. No White-faced Darter this time, but saw a True Lover's Knot Moth. We finished the day at Tulloch Moor to look for Mountain Everlasting, but couldn't find any. A Female Emerald Damselfly made up for it.

Ssiskin [Male]

Red Squirrel [Adult]

White-faced Darter [Male]

Small Pearl-boarded Fritillary

Northern Damselfly [Male]

Four-spotted Chaser

Heath Spotted Orchid

Dwarf Cornel

White Wagtail [Female]

True Lover’s Knot Moth

Small Pearl-boarded Fritillary

Emerald Damselfly [Female]

828 at Boat of Garten Station

Lairig Ghru

Leighton Moss RSPB
2nd July 2021

On our way up to Scotland, we popped into Leighton Moss RSPB for a look around. From Lillian's Hide, we saw mainly Black-headed Gulls & Marsh Harriers. Mum saw at least 2 Bitterns, which I missed. Me & Mum walked along to the Public Hide. We saw a Ringlet Butterfly, Juvenile Blackbird & Juvenile Common Frog on the way. From the Public Hide, we saw Coots, Moorhen, Black-headed Gulls & Cormorants. We had to get back to Lillian's, beacuse Dad found a Hawk-moth in the hide. When we got there it was perched on the window sill. It was an Adult Poplar Hawk-moth. After I took photos of it, we realeased it back out into the wild & it flew up into a tree. We had a quick a look at the feeders. A Male Common Pheasant was seen with a couple of Females. A couple of Juvenile Blue Tits were perched in the tree, but not much was on the feeders. A family of Carrion Crows perched on the wall near the visitor centre. In the carpark, Rosebay Willowherb [Fireweed] were in flower at this time of year. While me & Mum explored around Leighton Moss RSPB, Dad went to check out the Myers Allotment reserve in Silverdale. He managed to see 2 Northern Brown Argus. One of them had 2 white spot on the upperwing, although not as prominent as the Scottish individuals. When I went there with Dad later on, the Butterflies were hidden in the grass as the temperature went down. I did see a Garden Grass-veener Moth, Clay Moth and Nursery Web Spider. Afterwards, we made our way up to the B&B in Gretna Green. In the evening, I photographed a Zebra Jumping Spider that was in my room, on the celling.

Moorhen [Adult]

Black-headed Gull [Adult Summer]

Poplar Hawk-moth

Common Frog [Juvenile]

Nursery Web Spider

Ringlet

Poplar Hawk-moth

Northern Brown Argus

Gretna & Nethy Bridge
3rd Juy 2021

We continued our journey slowly over the moor to Nethy Bridge from Gretna. We saw a Female Hen Harrier flying over the distant hillside. Another Garden Grass-veener was seen on the road, but later flew off. A couple of Reed Bunting were singing & showed briefly on the bushes. We arrived at Nethy Bridge in the early evening. The Pine Marten showed very well on our first evening. These were Juveniles.

Reed Bunting [Male]

Pine Marten

Rodborough Common
1st July 2021

As it was a nice day, me & Dad went to Rodborough Common for the Large Blue. There was plenty of Fragrant Orchids still in flower. We saw our first Large Blue perched in the grass & on the flower head. Due to the fact, it was a warm day the Butterflies had their wings closed most of the time. We also had a bonus sighting of a late Small Blue. In comparsion, it's a shade duller than the dark blue pattern of the Large Blue & sightly larger. At one point, a Large Blue flew over where the Small Blue was perch in the grass. A few Marbled Whites were on the wing as well. Finally we managed to see another Large Blue nectaring on it's foodplant Wild Thyme. The wings were opened briefly to reveal the black markings on the upperwings & black edges to the wing tips.

Large Blue

Large Blue

Fragrant Orchid

Small Blue

Marbled Whites

Nethy Bridge, Loch Insh, Laggon, Cairngorm & Loch Morlich 7th July 2021

A Wood Pigeon showed up early morning in the garden at Nethy Bridge. The Siskins appeared soon afterwards. A fairly overcast, but warm day so we started at Loch Insh. We saw 2 Osprey perched in the usual tree, but didn't go off to fish or fly around during our visit. A couple of Juvenile Goldeneyes swam past on the loch. Two species of Moth were seen as well: The Chimney Sweeper & Brown China-mark. A Willow Warbler gave flitting glimpes by the lochside through the bushes. After Stuart gave us a tip off about some Greater Butterfly Orchids in the Newtonmore area, me & Dad had walk along the path to look for them. We didn't manage to find any, but saw a lovely Song Thrush.

We then drove to Laggan to have a look around the area. The highlights were a sight of 2 more Ospreys flying over & perched in the conifers. The Female was also seen calling presumbly to the Male. Further up the valley, we saw Juvenile Northern Wheatear on one of the stones in the stream. Nearby a Male Common Blue was roosting in the grass. Quite a large numder of Red Deer were in the valley. By the roadside on our way back, was a Melancholy Thistle. A quick look for any Ring Ouzels in the early evening, but sadly none. Saw a few more Bog Aspodels, although not in full flower. We finished the day at Loch Morlich watching Mallards and Black-headed Gull.

Siskin [Male]

Goldeneye [Juvenile]

Willow Warbler [Adult]

Brown China-mark

Song Thrush [Adult]

Osprey

Common Blue [Male]

Red Deer [Male]

Red Deer Herd

Nethy Bridge, Loch Duntelchaig & Abernethy 6th July 2021

In the garden at Nethy Bridge, a Common Gull was perched on a shed & a Male Bullfinch was on the feeder. On the outskirts of Nethy Bridge, we saw 2 Brown Hares in the field & 3 Mistle Thrushes. We had look at Loch Ruthven RSPB & saw at least 2 Slavonian Grebes from the hide with a Little Grebe. We also drove along to Loch Duntelchaig & saw a couple more Common Sandpipers including a Juvenile. Another Brown Hare was seen briefly. I photographed some Bog Asphodel and Marsh Lousewort near the layby. The weather was overcast, but at least it didn't rain. The Siskins were feeding on the feeders at Nethy Bridge. A few Bordered White Moths in the Abernethy Forest & by the roadside in Nethy Bridge. We went to Abernethy Forest to see the Twinflowers, which were still in good numbers. Also some Creeping Ladies Tresses, which were not yet in flower. The Pine Martens showed very well in the garden again during the early evening.

Brown Hares

Common Sandpiper [Juvenile]

Bog Asphodel

Marsh Lousewort

Bordered White Moth

Twinflowers

Pine Marten

Twinflower

Pine Martens

Nethy Bridge & Lochindorb
5th July 2021

In the garden at Nethy Bridge that morning, I photographed a Siskin and Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker. We went for a drive through Lochindorb & saw a lot of Common Gulls on the moor. Down by the loch were some Pied Wagtails, Common Sandpipers, Lapwings and Oystercatchers. A few Northern Marsh Orchids were in flower. We had excellent views of one of the Black-throated Divers. We didn't see much in a way of Red Grouse this time on the moor, just 3 birds. The weather was a bit dull and grey all day. Later that evening, the Pine Martens showed well feeding in the garden.

Common Gulls [Pair Summer]

Great Spotted Woodpecker [Juvenile]

Common Gull [Juvenile]

Oystercatcher [Juvenile]

Common Sandpiper [Juvenile]

Northern Marsh Orchid

Pied Wagtail [Juvenile]

Black-throated Diver [Summer]

Black-throated Diver [Summer]

Common Sandpiper [Juvenile]

Red Grouse [Juvenile]

Red Grouse [Male Top & Bottom right]

Pine Marten

Nethy Bridge, Loch Garten RSPB & Perthshire 10th July 2021

Before we left Nethy Bridge that morning, I quickly photographed the Blastobasis lacticolella [London Dowd] in the bathroom that I found the previous evening. A Juvenile Robin foraged around the garden. A few Siskins came down to feeders. A Red Squirrel made a last appearance in the garden. It was an amazing experience to see this chap or chapess near to where I was standing on the step of the chalet & this was a wild mammal! Afterwards, it disappeared back up into the trees. A Female Greenfinch fed on one of the feeders. A Juvenile Coal Tit made an all too brief appearance. Me & Dad popped back to Abernethy Pools for another look. The Male White-faced Darter appeared on the boardwalk briefly, before flying off. We had a look around Loch Garten RSPB. A Wren showed well at times by the carpark. A few Siskins were on & by the feeding station near the visitor centre. Back in the carpark, we saw a Mallard Family by a small pond. Dad also found a Common Wintergreen near the carpark. We then started to make our way to our overnight stop via Perthshire.

We stopped in Perthshire to look for some special Butterflies. Apart from the Small Pearl-boarded Fritillaries, which were quite localized around Scotland. The main stars were the Large Heath and Small Mountain Ringlet. The first target speices was the Scottish Large Heath. We managed to find at least one perched in the grass, unlike the English example 'polydama' which has small eye spots seen in the June edition. The Scottish example 'scotica' lacks all eye spots on the hind wings. Again, like the English example it never opens it's wing while at rest. The other special & rather rare Butterfly is the Small Mountain Ringlet. This was the last of the British Butterflies that me & Dad wanted to see for a while. This Butterfly is usually found on the mountains in the highlands & the Lake District. It is also unique in only flying when the sun is out. However, in Perthshire, we managed to find them perched in overcast conditions. In some other areas, once the sun goes in, so do the Mountain Ringlets. Small Mountain Ringlets are like mini versions of a Scotch Argus, but lacks the two black dots on the upperwings. Afterwards, we continued to our B&B at Gretna Gretna.

Red Squirrel [Adult]

White-faced Darter [Male]

Coal Tit [Juvenile]

Wren [Adult]

Siskin [Female]

Mallard [Female]

Common Wintergreen

Small Mountain Ringlet

Small Pearl-boarded Fritillary

Gait Burrows & Leighton Moss RSPB 11th July 2021

On our final day in the north, we explored around Gait Burrows looking for different plant species. We found two Dark Red Helleborines in full flower. We also had Tutsan, Hemp Agrimony, Great Mullein, Trailling St John's-wort, Common Centaury, & Bloody Crane's-bill. Also had 2 special Fern species: Hart's Tongue & Maiden Hair Ferns. A few Common Spotted Orchids were in flower. Managed to see a couple of Northern Brown Argus & an Azure Damselfly. We popped into Leighton Moss RSPB for a quick look at the feeders, before heading home.

Gait Barrows NR

Dark Red Helleborine

Dark Red Helleborine

Maiden Hair Fern

Tutsan

Common Centaury

Common Spotted Orchid

Grayling

Azure Damselfly [Male]

Northern Brown Argus

Limestone pavement

Large Heath [Scottish example]

Small Heath

Nethy Bridge, Chanonry Point & Lochindorb 9th July 2021

As the weather was dry but overcast we headed over to Chanonry Point for Bottlenose Dolphins. A Hooded Crow was present on the beach with a Hybrid bird between Carrion & Hooded Crow. The Bottlenose Dolphins didn't disappoint the crowd on the beach watching. One individual, which was Bonnie's youngster, kept jumping out of the water at all of sorts of angles & shapes. It was absolutely amazing! A few Common Terns flew past the point. A Grey Seal also swam past. A Herring Gull foraged along the beach. Afterwards, we had a quick look at Udale Bay RSPB. A few Wigeon, Dunlin, Red-breasted Mergansers & Gulls. While Mum & Dad went to the garden centre at Munluchy on the Black Isle, I photographed a pair of Juvenile Barn Swallows in the carpark. Both birds were being fed by the Adults. We went back over the moor at Lochindorb. There were still a lot of Common Gulls included Juveniles. Two Red Grouse were seen on the moor that afternoon. At a roadside loch, we saw Slavonian Grebe. Back at Nethy Bridge, in the chalet I found a little Micro Moth. It was called Blastobasis lacticolella [London Dowd]

Common Tern [Adult]

Bottlenose Dolphins

Hooded Crow [Adult]

Bottlenose Dolphin

Grey Seal

Simon King Talk

Barn Swallow [Juvenile]

Slavonian Grebe [Summer]

Abernethy, Glenroy & Nethy Bridge
8th July 2021

The first port of call was to look for the Lesser Twayblade, that Stuart also told us about. We managed to find them as Stuart marked the track with some sticks. As well as Lesser Twayblade, there was also a few Creeping Ladies Tresses, again not in flower yet. Afterwards, we moved the sticks back in to the woods. We headed down to the Glen Roy Valley. We walked down the valley from the carpark & saw a family of Spotted Flycatchers. The two Chicks were being fed by the Adults. A few Meadow Pipits were seen around the valley. Bird's Foot Trefoil were still in flower & foodplant for the Common Blue Butterfly. On our way back from our walk up the valley, I saw another Adult Spotted Flycatcher perched in the tree. We drove back through the valley, stopping briefly to photograph some Bell Heather. On our way back to Nethy Bridge, we saw Sika Deer and 3 Red Deer. In the Abernethy Forest, we saw a very skulky Roe Deer Doe.