Beinn Bheigier from Kynagarry

Wow! What a day! I wasn't looking forward to 3 miles of monotony along the Kynagarry track to the start of the moorland trek to Beinn Bheigier, but I can tell you, I was looking forward to it on the way back after miles of making muscles you'd forgotten you had work harder than they have in a long time! Also, I was wrong about the 3 miles of monotony; with almost every footstep we saw something new - the air was truly alive with the sound of natural music. It was a great morning for insects and I was delighted to see my first 2014 Marsh Fritillary, plus the bonus of one freshly emerged (I wished we'd come upon it minutes earlier as I've never seen its chrysalis). The biggest bonus of the day, for me at least, was the brief sighting of 2 Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk Moths. They were too quick for a photo - as was the adder - James' highlight of the day. We just managed a photo of its disappearing tail.

Approaching Islay's highest hill from this direction is definitely more difficult than from Ardtalla, but it was a rewarding walk, with stunning views, and well worth the effort. I'm just glad that, unlike James, I didn't have to go and play rugby afterwards!
Becky

Adder tail

Small Copper

Thrift - growing on top of Beinn Bheigier

Allalladh and Red Deer

Beautiful wispy clouds and Beinn Bheigier

Emerging Marsh Fritillary

Jack and Tim's wildlife holiday

Jack and Tim, two young visitors to Islay recently thrilled us with their passion and enthusiasm for wildlife - craneflies and all! They traversed through bog and midges, seeking out some of the island's finest gems including the rarely encountered Narrow bordered bee hawkmoth, hundreds of Marsh fritillaries, hunting Hen harriers, and even the Osprey!

"Just when we thought it couldn't get any better we found 2 Narrow Bordered Bee Hawkmoths feeding on the flowers and Jack had another flyby!"



Whooper swan at Gruinart- only a handful stay over the summer.



Thank you both for sharing your stories and photos, and see you the next time.





Baby Stonechat



Marsh fritillary - It's encouraging to hear of this rare species finally on the wing after slow caterpillar growth this year.



Narrow bordered bee hawkmoth

Lorna



Beautiful Demoiselle and Star of Bethlehem

It's not often you see two rare things in a day, or in the space of ten minutes even, but such was our luck on Sunday when Lorna and I walked a way I'd never walked before. No, it wasn't in the middle of nowhere, far from it; it was simply the track linking the 'high' road to the 'Glen' road via Mulindry Farm. Looking for caterpillars we went up to a sort of tractor park bit and Lorna called out excitedly, "Mum, is that a Beautiful Demoiselle?" not only was she right, but it was a male and it was perched obligingly on a caterpillarless nettle (nettles being the reason for our detour in the first place!). Wow! Was I excited! I've seen them on Islay before, but never to photograph. I'm surprised I stood still long enough to get the photo.

Then we walked a few more yards and a Swallow flew out of an old ruin which drew our attention to a patch of woodland near the farm. We investigated and straight away I saw a flower I'd not knowingly seen before, the beautiful Star of Bethlehem, an escape which has probably grown there as a result of garden compost having being dumped there at some stage.

Later, a Marsh Fritillary walked onto Lorna's hand, looking rather weary. So it was a very productive couple of hours.
Becky

Beautiful Demoiselle

Fantastic display of Cottongrass near Gartloist

Diving beetle sp.

Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum angustifolium)

Marsh Fritillary

Marsh Fritillary

A group from the West Midlands branch of Butterfly Conservation are here this weekend, enjoying the fabulous weather. They had none of them seen Marsh Fritillary before and it was one of the main reasons for their visit. There was some concern whether, in this late season, the butterflies would have emerged by now, but Mary McGregor, checking the main area for them on the RSPB Loch Gruinart reserve, reported seeing up to 12 on Thursday (6th), so we went there yesterday with high hopes which were completely fulfilled with about 30 seen, some on the wing, others resting on grass stems having clearly just emerged. This meant that everyone had wonderful views and should have got wonderful photos.
Malcolm

 Butterflies are not always this easy to photograph.

After I had taken this photo, one of the group delicately removed the grass stems in front of the butterfly without disturbing it and took more photos. The right forewing is still not quite fully expanded so it has clearly only just emerged.

'The Marsh Fritillary' Talk - tonight at 7.30 pm

Machir Bay to Saligo (Part 2) (Diamond Jubilee)

This weekend has been one long wildlife fiesta for Lorna and me. To honour the Queen's Diamond Jubilee here is 60 species of fauna and flora we've seen this weekend:

Blackbird, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Arctic Tern, Shag, Fulmar, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Gull, Gannet, Black Guillemot, Shelduck, Eider, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Grey Heron, Kestrel, Buzzard, Ringed Plover, Jackdaw, Chough, Wheatear, Starling, Corncrake, Rock Dove, Lapwing, Greylag Goose, Sand Martin, Swallow, House Martin, Wood Warbler, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Dunnock, Robin, Great Tit, Song Thrush, Wren, Redpoll, Linnet, Goldfinch, Treecreeper, Chaffinch, Mute Swan, Four-spotted Chaser, Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Large Red Damselfly, Green Hairstreak, Marsh Fritillary, Small Heath, Red Admiral, Green-veined White, Small White, Hare, Rabbit, Common Frog, Roach, Round-leaved Sundew, Heath-spotted Orchid, Lousewort

Part 3 coming soon!

Becky



Marsh Fritillary



Round-leaved Sundew

Redshank



Ringed Plover



A selection from Mark and Sally Johnson

I didn't want to give all these goodies away at once, so here's a few more . . .

Marsh Fritillary

Pond Skaters

Green-veined White

Water Scorpion

Butterflies - Dean Eades

More lovely shots from Dean Eades - Marsh Fritillary and Small Heath butterflies
http://www.birdmad.com/