scotland holiday-day 8

a cloudy drizzly morning awaited us when we awoke on day 8 of the Scotland holiday. Around the campsite, the sandwhich tern was sticking around but besides that there was nothing happening. We decided to go to Lochranza for a day because my dad had said that we would go twice and so far we had only been once. Before we even got there things started kicking off, over the moorland road the drizzle wasn't as heavy and from over the crest of a hill a very large buzzard flew over from the hill flying quite low. Of course this was no buzzard but a golden eagle, my second ever in the same week as the first. Because it was flying lower I managed to get some much better photos-although that does not mean that they are good! 

 

It eventually dipped below the hill on our side and we lost it, so we drove off leaving the eagle to his business. Lochranza was just as drizzly as the campsite and so we decided to go for a walk along the sea front to the ferry terminal. As we did I spotted a family of oystercatchers and decided to try for another oystercatcher photo. I was wearing wellies and so could easily cross the small river that led to the shingle bank that they were resting on.

 

As I did so my mum and dad called me back to where they were. They had found a female red deer (hind) feeding up one of the alleyways. I took a few photos from the bottom of the alleyway and slowly began to move up the alley.

I needed have bothered with stealth! It didn't care at all. I could have touched it I was that close. Eventually it trotted past me and ran across the road to eat the gorse. Lochranza is famous for its deer that run along the road but this year their numbers were heavily set back by the harsh winter.

After that I lost it and so decided to go back to the oystercatchers who, incidentally, were still feeding on the shingle bar. I managed to get quite close but did not want to scare them with young so I backed off eventually.

when I had done that we arrived at the ferry terminal where we found a jackdaw family playing with the ropes and gannets were fishing off shore.

As we walked back a merganser approached us flying across the sea loch. I managed to get some photos as the bird whizzed past. none of them are particularly good but they are the best merganser shots I have ever got.

When we arrived back at the car we decided that we would travel to the far side of the sea loch and go for a walk there, round to the cock of Arran. We had lunch over on that side but nothing happened during lunch except for a heron that started fishing on the beach.

the drizzle started to stop and the cloud began to break up. To get to this side of the village we had to go past the golf course where the deer live allowing for some great shots, although I have only included them of stags because these are the first stags I have seen.

The walk involved going through more sedge/reed growth over a marsh/grassland type of habitat. no sooner had we started the walk than did nature begin to slow me down. At first they only appeared from the woods and I casually dismissed them for peacocks but soon they were flying in front of me and it instantly became obvious what they were. scotch argus! another first for the holiday and for my life. It was one of those butterflys I was afraid I would never see because they live so high up and my family don't drive up to the highlands So I thought that perhaps global warming would have culled them all off by the time I got a car and was able to get up there my-self. I was so pleased to see them because I didn't even know that they lived down this far. I also managed to get some acceptable record photos.

Whilst chasing them all over the marsh I also encountered another of my favourite butterflys-the speckled wood! I rarely see speckled woods so seeing one on "butterfly day", As I have so christened it, was just as special as ever!

There was another type of butterfly fluttering around with the various. I only managed to get one photo of it before I realised that I had left my empty memory card in the car and that this one was full. I had to run all the way back to the car to get another card to take some record shots of these fritillarys. I call them "these fritillarys" because I am unsure about their I.d. The size and distribution suggests dark green because only high-browed and dark-green are the only ones at this size but the white edges to the wings suggest that it is in fact a pearl boarded. I have given it to Dark green but to be frank I cant be too sure. still I am really pleased about seeing them anyway!

On the return journey I managed to spot this grasshopper on a rock which is something I have never seen before. Normally grasshoppers are hiding in deep grass not sat out in the open on a large rock. It was a opportunity not worth missing so I got down to its level and took this photo.

Also there was another of the mysterious cinnabar moth but not a cinnabar moth caterpillar so that's the way it goes.

as we drove off back to the campsite A young male stag appeared from the hill and started to walk towards us. I managed to get a quick snap although it was hard because my dad had not stopped the car fully!

this was our last day on Arran and tomorrow we would be moving over to the mainland for a look at the rhins of Galloway. As a result I knew that time was running out for a raven photo and so I decided to go for a walk along the kildonan Beach to try and find one and just take a record shot. I was slow walking because I manged to find my first and only grey wagtails and dipper of the holiday who were bobbing in a small stream.

I was in a rush so that I would be back in time for tea. Then I spotted a bird flying towards me over the crest of the hill, not a raven but something even better. A ringtail harrier was flying towards me. I could not believe it at first but then it began flying towards me and I tried to take some record photos but failed miserably.

I think, if you use you imagination, then you can see that it is a ringtailed harrier but sadly no ravens for this walk. I took a number of other photos see below but nothing was to prepare me for that harrier. what a sight, and in the nick of time too! tomorrow we would be leaving Arran behind and going to the rhins of Galloway

a curlew

a dunnock

a house martin, nesting in the holiday cottage roofs

And of course, the hooded crows!

scotland holiday-day 5

it rained again today, ha! I lied it was actually sunny! Today was the day that we would go to the top end of the island for a look that meant Lochranza where the eagles and red deer lived plus where most of the lochs are so a possibility of red throated divers.

a great start was needed in order to set the ball rolling, and I got one! I found a garden tiger moth in the men's loos today resting on one of the light shades. A great find although in a little less dignified habitat than I would have like. Plus the light was slightly poor which meant getting the photo right was a bit of a pain.

it was a long journey up the east side of the island to Lochranza but the moorland road where the eagles were supposed to be offered some spectacular scenery. We drove past a river called the north glen sannox and my dad suggested that if the weather stayed nice that we would go for a walk there that afternoon.


At the end of the road there was the isle of Arran distillery. This place is famous for its beer and its golden eagles. we only stopped by for the cafe but we got talking to the owner and he told us that the eagles should be out today because the weather had been so poor and they just wanted to soar. After I had finished my irn bru I went out into the car park, got out the scope, and started to watch. There had already been a few buzzards and a kestrel but no sooner had I left the cafe did a much bigger and to be frank, scruffier bird come over the rise of the hill. It was clear what it was right from the start but soon after it had appeared and it flew in front of a dark hill mass and not against the grey of the sky you could really see the gold on the back of its neck. The photos I got were less than good but the one featured below was decent enough to be classed as a record shot.

So there we have it. Objective two completed! I was really happy but my parents had not got their phones on so when I texted them about it they missed out because of their phones. Talk about the limitations of modern technology!

still from this encounter I learned just how big these birds were. And I was sure that the next time I saw one there would be no question. After that we moved on towards the town of Lochranza itself. There we parked at the ferry terminal there and had our coffee. We struck up conversation about the possibility of red-throated diver nests and the chance of going to see one. There was one lochan with a footpath and we decided that me and dad would go there and my brother and mum (because my mum has MS) would stay in lochranza and go on the canoes. So we all drove round to where the path was that would lead us to the lochan. We never got there. Half way round at a place called Rubha Glas I spotted some shapes out at sea. My head full of red-throated diver I asked my dad to stop so I could have a look, although I was sure that they would be cormorants. They weren't! they were full summer plumaged red-throated divers. I was so thrilled. Through the scope You could see everything about their profile. I say their because there was not just one but 3. I crept down the beach to the shore to get some photos and although they did not come out too well I will always treasure the memories.

Whilst I was looking at the divers My dad and brother had gone off rock pooling. Half an hour after they had started they called me and my mum over to have a look at something they had caught. Well, it was the icing on the cake. A shore rockling of sorts was being held in my dads hand. It is the first time I have ever seen a wild codfish and, after identification in my book, it turned out that this was a five bearded rockling, so not just any old codfish. I was able to take some great photos of the beast because of the fact that it had been caught but I'm not sure I will be needing them. I will always remember it.

They also caught a edible crab which I took some photos of

after we had finished rockpooling 3 more birds came and landed nearby. I had a look through my binoculars and I could easily see that these were different from the divers. I looked harder and saw the orange heads that are a common feature of red-breasted merganser. 3 of them were out swimming in front of me. As with the diver I couldn't get a really got photo but I got an acceptable one.

After all that excitement there was no need to go for a long walk to see the divers and so we set off back to North Glenn Sannox that we had seen on the way here. I was slightly disappointed by the lack of red deer in lochranza itself but as we drove past the lochranza campsite we found some sitting on the golf course. My parents decided that they would look around the campsite, allowing me to get the photos of the deer that I had wanted. The deer were quite a way away but I managed the best I could to get some photos, although to be fair, I have managed better with my little happy snappy camera last time we were here.

Next we arrived at north Glenn sannox. It was quite a habitat. A fast flowing river surrounded by moorland until you reached an area of coniferous forest growing further up the river. There were a good deal of exciting waterfalls.

We stepped out of the car, the sun beating down, and began our walk. I even left my jumper in the car. Brave move I know but a necessary one to keep my body temperature down. The river offered a wonderful sight and no sooner had we set of than we met our fist dragonfly. To be frank it would not stay still for me and despite my desperate struggles at taking a photo to work with the darn thing was just too fast. My parents carried on and left me to my struggles. Eventually I gave up too and joined them further up. It soon became clear, however, that dragonfly X was not the only one on this walk. There were loads of them, hunting and diving in all directions.

The first photo I recall taking however is featured below. Not of a bird or a dragonfly but of a magpie moth. I remember the first time i saw a magpie moth, in a toilet in south Devon only a few days after I bought my eye-spy butterfly's and moths book that originally got me interested in butterfly's and moths. It was my first moth over 10 points within the book at a whopping 20 points I was well pleased with my first magpie moth. Since then I have had patchy sightings but no real photos. Until now. At last I have a record shot worthy of my self criticism. I was slightly surprised by their presence here but I should see no reason why. I have seen them only down the coast on the rhins of galloway so why should they not be here. Anyway they are and I am pleased for them and for me.

a lot further up we began to see more and more dragonflys. Even before we saw them landed we could easily tell that there were golden-ringed and common hawkers. My mum had stayed slightly further down the hill as me, my dad and brother carried on a bit to have a look at a waterfall. As we reached the waterfall there were some golden-ringed resting allowing me to take my first photos of golden-ringed dragonflys this year. I was eager to see at least one of the 8 species that live on Arran but seeing two in one day and so close was extraordinary.

You may, if you were paying attention, would have noticed that I commented about there only being 8 dragonflys on the island. I have put in a list here for anyone interested in dragonflys going to Arran soon. Those with an asterisk are new species to me and those with speech marks I need a photo of

Keeled skimmer"*

Common Hawker"

Southern hawker

Common Darter

Black Darter"*

four spot chaser

golden-ringed dragonfly
so as you can see there are quite a few dragonflys on the island

When we rejoined my mum she was sat on a rock overlooking a waterfall. I decided to try and take a moving water shot on this waterfall and, if I do say so, is really good (although I don't really understand it!)

As I stayed at the waterfall taking photos my mum and dad had moved off. When I rejoined them mum mum told me to look at my dads face. I was quite shocked and amazed by what I found there-see below to look!

That's a great record shot of a common hawker. Now they realised their game was up however they started landing for photos everywhere allowing me to get some slightly more natural photos!

Just before we reached the gate the dragonfly above is sat on my brother pointed to a gigantic giant green Caterpillar marching along the floor. I tried to get some photos but my dad helpfully moved it onto a more outstanding rock to make it easier. I took some photos and then moved it onto the grass to avoid it being trodden on. Later identification proved it to be an emperor moth caterpillar. It would have been great to see the moth.

No sooner had we left the caterpillar than was our attention drawn to the path again. this time in the form of a green beetle running very fast. I recognized it but only vaguely and told my family with much doubt that it was a green tiger beetle. Later analysis proved that it was a green tiger beetle. look at the second photo I took. Tiger beetles are renown for their predatoryness and the second photo shows just how evil this creature looks. I was well impressed with that photo.

We were getting nearer the car all the time but the wildlife just would not stop coming. We found a large red damselfly, a species we are well used to having them in our garden pond, resting next to one of the pools around.

then I found my second garden tiger moth of the day, resting near the tiger beetle. It is a much more natural setting than the men's loos and so I took some more photos of them just for natural authenticity. a great day out.

But the gold rush just would not stop. A small brown bird landed in front of us and through my mums binoculars I recognized the unmistakable black mask of a whinchat, only my second. I took a photo but it flew across the river and so this is the only photo I have. I cant say whether I can find the bird in the photo or not but its there, hiding amongst the braken. I said "lets get out of here before something else turns up"

We finally arrived at the car but decided as my mum and dad got ready for the long drive back to have a mooch round the car park. I was rewarded witha blue butterfly. I can not say what type of blue it is. I have lots of feild guides but only one has maps and the british isles on that map the british isles are small and almsot unidentifiable. I know that small blues are very small and black so it couldnt be one of them and as a result have classed it as a common blue.

as i finished watching the butterfly I spotted a hoverfly on a nearby gorse bush. Huh I hear you cry whats a hoverfly just a bug. Yes well this was no ordinary hoverfly....

Look at the photo below. I have included a scale. A twenty pence peice and you can really see just how big this animal was. what a sight! and a great end to a great day out.

at the campsite me and my dad went for a walk just like last night only we got a bit furthur to the fulmar nests in the cliff although by the point in which the fulmars nest the path is incredibly inaccsesible. infact there is no path it is just a rockfall which is a free hand scramble to where the fulmars nest. still it was worth the effort. only I didnt bring the camera so I dont have the photos