Nature Ramble at Kilchiaran

Yesterday we had our first ramble of the season and the first one ever at Kilchiaran. What a spot and what a day! We've made a great start to the season's list of flora and fauna. The place was alive with birdsong and alarm calls. There are at least two pairs of Ringed Plover nesting on this beach so we didn't venture onto the beach itself and would ask walkers to take great care on this site for the same reason. Here's our list (I so love doing this!):
Birds
Meadow Pipit (obviously feeding young), Rock Pipit, Pied Wagtail (family), Ringed Plover (nesting), Gannet, Fulmar, Chough, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Wheatear (family), Snipe, Common Sandpiper (pair), Oystercatcher, Rock Dove, Sand Martin (nesting), Swallow, Eider (nursery of 15 young)
Flora
Butterwort, Lesser Celandine, Primrose, Foxglove, Scaly Male Fern, Water Mint, Common Scurvy Grass, Forget-me-not sp., Germander Speedwell, Yellow Pimpernel, Knotted Pearlwort, Marsh Thistle, Creeping Thistle, Spear Thistle, Tormentil, Thrift, Silverweed, Common Nettle, Broad-leaved Dock, Bird's-foot Trefoil, Kidney Vetch, Yellow Flag, Marsh Marigold, Meadow Buttercup, Daisy, White Clover, Dog Violet, Ragged Robin, Cuckoo Flower
Mammals and Insects
Grey Seal, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Small Heath Butterfly, Small Copper Butterfly, Small White Butterfly
Lichens
Xanthoria sp, Anaptychia runsinata, ramalina sp, Ochrolechia parella

Our next ramble is on Friday, at Bunnahabhain at 2 pm. Phone 01496 850 288 or 07967 205229 to book.
Becky

Eider Nursery

Xanthoria aureola (used to be Xanthoria ectaneoides)

Ringed Plover on watch

Small Copper

Small Copper (underside)

Blue-tailed Damselfly

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



Port Charlotte from Laggan - Peter Roberts

Thanks to Peter for this unusual shot of an undervisited part of the island.  The muddy field on the right of the picture held a flock of 51 Ringed plover and two Iceland gulls. 

The island of Jura

Corran Sands on the island of Jura yesterday

Large amounts of kelp had been thwon up onto the beach at Corran Sands, which was full of flies and other small invertebrates.  These were being fed on by small parties of waders such as these Ringed plover and Dunlin, but also large numbers of Rock pipits.

Flora and Fauna at Ardnave, 1st August 2011

Our best bird list yet - thanks to Bob with his telescope and wader watching. Undoubtedly the highlight today was three Little Stint on the Loch, but we also accrued a great floral list and this beauty of a slug! Thanks to all again.
Becky

BIRDS
Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Redshank, Little Stint (3), Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Snipe, Mallard, Dunlin, Ringed Plover (and nest of four eggs), Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Hooded Crow, Chough, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Willow Warbler, Blackbird, Starling, Wheatear, Skylark, Linnet, Grey Heron, Sand Martin, Swallow, House Martin, Rock Dove

LICHEN
Xanthoria parietina (yellow), Physcia adscendens

MAMMALS
Rabbit

INVERTEBRATES
Ancylus or Physa sp. (water snail), Arion ater (Black Slug - Brown/Orange form)

INSECTS
Blue-tailed Damselfly, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell, Green-veined White

FLORA
Purple Loosestrife, Mouse-ear sp., Forget-me-not sp., Common Milkwort, Water Cress, Marsh Lousewort, Wild Thyme, Self-heal, Meadow Buttercup, Lesser Spearwort, Lesser Burdock, Creeping Thistle, Spear Thistle, Marsh Marigold, Silverweed, White Clover, Red Clover, Daisy, Eyebright, Ragged Robin, Bog Pimpernel, Meadowsweet, Curled Dock, Yorkshire Fog, Perennial Rye Grass, Crested Dog's-tail, Foxtail, Common Spiked Rush, Jointed Rush, Bird's-foot Trefoil, Dove's-foot Cranesbill, Common Storksbill, Marsh Willowherb, Marsh Bedstraw, Lady's Bedstraw, Water Mint, Common Nettle, Bracken, Common Hawkbit, Marsh Horsetail, Grass of Parnassus, Fairy Flax, Yellow Rattle, Square-stalked St John's Wort, Sweet Vernal Grass, Knotted Pearlwort, Pignut, Tufted Vetch, Marsh Pennywort, Red Bartsia, Prickly Sow Thistle, Lesser Water-plantain, Harebell

Ringed Plover's Nest

Water Snail (Ancylus or Physa sp.)

Arion ater - Brown/Orange Form

While Bob is birdwatching, Sandra is closely examining a lichen!

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) - Ardnave

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)

Five waders

Ringed plover, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Dunlin and Purple sandpiper face down the north wind at Bruichladdich yesterday.  Outside the distillery really is a top spot for wader watching at the moment.
Carl

Lovely colours at Sanaigmore

Lovely colours at Sanaigmore yesterday.  We walked east from the Gallery along the shore, eventually reaching what Marie McEwan calls 'The Mushroom Rocks', which are huge boulders that have been undercut by the sea into all sorts of weird shapes.  The tide was too high for us to really see them properly, but they are still impressive, with the waves surging round them.  You can easily appreciate the abrasive power of the water that has created the formations. When the tide is right it is possible to walk right round some of them.

Birdlife on these remote rocky shores is actually quite limited.  A flock of around twenty Ringed plover flew off the sandy bit of the beach when we first arrived, and Rock pipits constantly complained about our intrusion into their airspace as we moved along. A large, dark winged wader with a white rump flew out of one of the wee coves, but it was a long way off before I caught up with it with the binoculars.  Probably a Greenshank, but only probably.  Out at sea, a steady stream of small parties of Auks were all flying right to left and there were a few very distant small gulls, almost certainly Kittiwakes.  Closer to the shore there was a steady movement of individual Herring, Common and Great Black backed Gulls, again the vast majority of which were flying from east to west.  Back at the Outback there was a huge flock of barnacle geese in the fields over the road, and a small group of around six Twite bounced past.  Some Chough called.  It was a great day.  Coffee was good too...

Carl

Machir Bay

Ringed plover and Turnstones on the beach at Machir Bay a couple of days ago.