WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS 2007

[DK]

Following a very quiet May I have just had a spectacularly low count for any summer month never mind June - 3 Green-veined Whites and 1 Silver-ground Carpet for two hours work May well be a record count for me

[DK]

Saw my first Small Blue (butterfly) of the season at Arbroath cliffs today.

A good crop of purple orchids has appeared in the last week at the same location, better numbers than the last few years.

[HarryB]

50+ Painted Ladies at Kinnaber yesterday (Friday 8th June)
Very large number of these butterflies yesteday upstream from Fisher Cottage car parking area.
Also male and female Orange Tip there.
Feeding in the general area of the pale purple Phlox, but all the way upstream on the lade to the start of the trees and well down from the cottage. .

[DK]

Im finding Painted Ladies this week from Lud Castle to beyond the Tay Bridge. If this is anything like previous years Red Admirals should follow them here within around 10-14 days

[Charles Rough]

i visited a pond on the sidlaws today which was overun with tadpoles last week, this week only five large tadpoles left, the newts have taken rule, after leaving the sidlaws i managed to get a pic of a deer in camoflage



i saw my first lizard on the sidlaws last year , but have yet to see an adder
ive been hillwaliking for over 20 years but last year ended up with this problem

[DK]

The burns that run on to Elliot Links also have very large numbers of toadpoles at the moment I reckon recent heavy rains have helped.

That deer is not going to starve

Montreathmont has had good numbers of lizards over the last couple of years. Last summer one sneaked in to my rucksack and I did not discover it until the next day.

Low lying large boulders in Glen Clova and Glen Dye are good for finding adders and other reptiles on hot sunny days.

Thats one nippy looking bite. Did you feel it at the time ? Many people who get whacked dont seem to realise they have been hit until a short time later.

[Charles Rough]

any idea what species this cattepillar is, i took the pic high up in glen doll in july 06, it was about five inches long and was just sitting motionless on the heather

[DK]

Fox Moth larvae that has not yet fully developed ? I suspect the white patches become less obvious as the hair grows

See here - http://www.ukleps.org/Comnames.html

[HarryB]

This afternoon downstream from the old railway bridge (remains of) on House of Dun land left bank (north) of South Esk.

1 male Orange Tip, 2 Pearl-bordered Fritllary, 1 Painted Lady, 1 Red Admiral, some Large White, 5 Green Veined, a Ringlet and 2 Buff Ermine moths.
Because of high winds and very intermittent sunlight, nothing, (apart from bees) was seen. About 16.30 the wind dropped and the sun was fairly constant and all of thes butterflies were seen in a period lasting about 45 minutes.
Don't know how common the Green-veined Fritillaries are, but they were new to us in this area.

[DK]

Dark Green Fritillary ? The only places I have seen them in Angus are at Barry and the set-aside opposite Dobbies. Not aware of any other locations but will ask around.

Small Pearl-borders are always good to find I have only regularly seen them at Montreathmont and Crombie in recent years. I did record a pair at Arbroath cliffs last summer, apart from that I cant think of anywhere else off hand. Will check my records.

[Mark Caunt]

In the past I have had small pearl-borders up Glen Ogil. Was about 3 years ago though...

[HarryB]

I've just realised, I referred to Pearl-bordered Fritillary a couple of days ago and in the same report, referred to the same butterflies as Green-veined Fritillaries. OOPS!
Was so excited at finding (and reporting) Pearl-bordered Fritillary, my brain (once more) slipped out of gear. Sorry.

[DK]

No wonder, finding PB in Angus is as good as it gets.

Its well worth keeping watch on them to make shure they are established. They should only be about for another couple of weeks and then appear again next may/june.

We have had exactly the right kind of weather at exactly the right time of year in the last six weeks that could have (esp. if you are only getting small numbers of them) led to them bridging the gap from a colony elsewhere.

[Gordon Anderson]

Tuesday afternoon 26th June - caught sight of relatively large pale cream/orange butterfly with prominent spots on the forewings. this was on the path down to the Boddin limekilns. I've never seen one like it but couldn't get near it to take a photo. On consulting my wee book at home I suspect it was probably a common grayling.
How "common" are they in this area? Is this the time of year for them to be appearing? Advice please.

[DK]

Common but localised. They tend to be found in smallish territorial areas that they dont range away from, ie. I see good numbers of them all within a 100 meter long strech but never outwith this area. You can find them all the way up the narrow coastal strip from around the Tay Bridge to around Golspie.

I usualy find my first ones during the first week in july and they can hang on until the last week in august/first week in september. Last summer it was very windy at one of the patches that I count at for a few weeks after they emerged and they were all gone within three weeks. I find peak numbers around the last week in july.

If you have a look at the following link you can use the bar below the picture to go to the NBN Gateway where you will find an interactive distribution map that can zoom into 10km and 1km squares.

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/s ... p?code=gra

Having had a quick look NBN at this it appears they have not been recorded at your spot unless it has been done since the site was last updated so you may want to drop an e-mail to the area recorder at BC.

[Gordon Anderson]

Thank you for all the information and the website address. V helpful.

[HarryB]

Seven Painted Lady butterflies on path from Bamse statue to Litle Tern Colony. All on a single group of thistles. that's the footpath along the north shore of the River South Esk (behind Glaxo Montrose Factory)

[HarryB]

Hi All,
Having checked the photographs my wife took of the ''Pearl-bordred Fritillary', I find myself apologising once more!!!!
The fritillaries wre in FACT Dark-green Fritillaries.
Nevertheless, I thought they were great, but I do aplologise for getting the ID wrong.
Humble PIe tastes awful!

[DK]

Fritts are hard to ID not helped by the fact that they usualy fly at 80mph and rarely stop for a break

If you get the chance to see the different species regularly in the field you can pick up on subtle visual clues that will help ID them but its never very easy.

[Charles Rough]

anyone know what species this is taken at arbroath cliffs last week

[DK]

Hard to tell from that angle, if its a butterfly I would say a Meadow Brown.

[HarryB]

Lots of Ringlets today: I counted 37 on the path from the old railway embankment to Shelduck hide today. This was on Mains of Dun Farm.
1 Red Admiral and 2 Small Tortoiseshell and 2 Painted Lady.
Is this a common amount of Ringlets at this time of year? They were almost all in the lee of the strong wind and the higher the banking on the windward side, the more Ringlets I found.

[DK]

I find they usualy turn up during the last two weeks in june, so its bang on time for getting them. They do seem to emerge all together so one day there are none the next day forty of them.

They do prefer micro-habitats that are sheltered from the wind and tend to be in slightly damp grassy areas. They are not strong flyers, if it gets realy windy this will disperse them.

You will probably find them in that spot every year and find you can set your calendar by them.

[HarryB]

Hi Deny,
Thanks for all the advice you give me/us. I really appreciate it and I know others do too.

[DK]

Cheers Harry.

Plenty of Meadow Brown at the Arbroath cliffs today and a few Small Heath at Elliot Links. First time I have seen either of those this year.
Only got Grayling to go and that should be all of the locals out.

No sign of 6-spot Burnet so far at Arbroath cliffs, a bit late but I guess the cool/wet weather has been holding them back.

Saw possibly the best display I have ever seen by Bottlenose Dolphins at Arbroath today around mid-day. Swimming between Carlinheugh Bay and Grannies Garret. Circling shoals of fish, tail slapping, feeding at the surface. Plus plenty of ariel stunts barrel rolls, forward flips etc. Looked like 7-8 adults and 2 calfs.

Also a lot of frenzied Gannet and gull feeding, many large groups of birds in the same area and just off Elliot Links

[Gordon Anderson]

I retraced Harry's footsteps down to the shelduck hide this afternoon and found that the small tortoiseshell's have increased dramatically in number, 20 - 30 today. Have never seen so many in one place before. There's still an abundance of ringlets particularly on the last stretch before the hide. In addition at various points on the path I spotted 2 small copper, 1 meadow brown, 4 small heath, 1 red admiral and three very faded and tattered painted ladies. I've photographed the latter in my garden on lavender in previous years and to-day's ragged specimens bore only the faintest resemblance.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1007/786 ... f125_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1083/786 ... 1de6_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1399/786 ... b658_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1052/811 ... 67bc_b.jpg

[DK]

The sudden change to warmer dryer weather after recent cool and wet conditions is good for creating sudden explosions of butterfly populations.
You should see a lot more Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Heath and Common Blue appearing over the next week or so followed by Grayling. The second brood of Green-veined White is also starting to appear now.

It is a good sign that you found Small Copper, the type of weather we have had this season does cause them problems and the population tends to crash. Small colonies of the type you tend to find around here can easily be wiped out.

Many of the Painted Ladies on the Angus coast will be the remanants of a wave of them that migrated in around the second week in June. The last time that the weather was favourable. So not only did they make it here but they have been hanging around for a month.

All the ones I see are also very faded. They are very strong flyers and can still go at a decent rate even when their wings tear in to strips. If the weather stays good you may get the chance to photograph some even more battered looking examples.

We often get another migration during early august so you may well get a chance to snap some in good condition later in the summer.

[Nicola Main]

Had one Small Elephant Hawkmoth feeding on honeysuckle last night from 10.30pm. Also saw a type of geometrid which looked exactly like a Scotch Annulet in the Waring & Townsend book. Could this species be found in gardens?

[Charles Rough]

i did my weekly walk on the sidlaws (dundee) and came across this species
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/k ... ure044.jpg
i have seen it many times between arbroath and lunan bay but i have never seen it on the sidlaws, i counted at least forty lower down plus maybe ten higher up,i dont know much about the insect life and am relying on the collins complete guide to british wildlife guide, any better books? since buying a digital camera im finding i want to learn the names/habitats of the insects i see , here are a couple from my travels today hopefully thefirst is a ringlet
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/k ... G_3961.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/k ... G_3935.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/k ... ure091.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/k ... G_4004.jpg

[DK]

Nicola

Great, Elephants are back, might get some pictures this year

Scotch Annulet has been recorded on some of the areas of moorland between Carnostie and Forfar, so yes. This is one of the windiest areas of europe anything can turn up anywhere, off-course insects of all types turn up all over the place around here regularly Once found an Emerald Damselfly in Arbroath High Street.


cr

Yes the first is Ringlet. The third looks like Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, hard to photograph they move very fast and rarely stop

Dont know about general insect books mabey somebody else can help, good specific ones can be found here -

https://sslrelay.com/s86128131.oneandon ... shopscript

[Neil Mitchell]

Hi all,
I had a phone call earlier today (7th july) regarding a whale in Lunan Bay today. My immediate thought was it would be a Minke but the description was that of an Orca, massive dorsal sticking vertically out of the water, and obvious black and white markings, it was apparently visible from 9.30 til 10.15am. Myself and Harry went down at around 11.30.
Unfortunately there was no sign of any whales although there was a huge amount of seabird activity in the bay and it seemed quite plausible that there could indeed have been cetaceans and even Orcas in the area.
So keep your eyes to the coast!

[DK]

Dont get too close though a couple years ago friends of mine were watching Orcas at Tensmuir through binoculars and suddenly realised they were going to beach themselves and gobble up some seal pups. A sudden retreat up the beach was required

Had a report of a possible Orca sighting just off Montrose harbour a couple of weeks back.

[Gordon Anderson]

At the staff car park at Sunnyside Royal Hospital on Friday afternoon I found two small tortoiseshell; two ringlets and one Green veined white.

[Bob McCurley]

!5TH July 10a.m. Various B/Flys BARRY BUDDON T.A.

3 a.d.b.c. Members , Myself , Graham Smith and George Rodger saw 11 Butterfly Species on B.Buddon , as follows ,

SMALL BLUE , SMALL COPPER , SMALL TORTOISESHELL, SMALL HEATH , GRAYLING , RINGLET , MEADOW BROWN , DARK GREEN FRIT. PAINTED LADY , COMMON BLUE , AND GREEN VEINED WHITE

[DK]

No sign of elephants yet, got a tiger this morning though

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id ... 039&size=m

[DK]

Lions Mane Jellyfish at Arbroath cliffs today. Right at the peak of the cliff jumping season - dont Tombstone without a wetsuit

[Charles Rough]

saw my first ladybird of the year today plus a small looking damselfly,both on the sidlaws ,also spotted a grey squirrel at kinnordy

[HarryB]

On path to the Shelduck Hide; lots of Peacock, Small Toroiseshell, Green Veined, Small White, Meadow Brown butterflies, all on path to the hide, but only at one place, where the Hawthorn trees on the west of the path, gave shelter from the wind, to a large clump of thistles on the east side of the path.

[Mark Caunt]

I was working in Letham yesterday afternoon (Monday 13th August 2007) and came across this Long Eared Bat in the garden I was working at. It was just sat their and although alive, clearly their was something wrong with it. I didnt have my camera but the house owner lent me their small digital camera and emailed me the snaps.

[Mark Caunt]