Bugboys mission

[bugboy]

Thanks Dave and Wurzel, I do still have a few reports left to go so I will just have to leave you in suspense

Thanks Max, and yes you guess right

4/5th June, Ireland part 3

On the third day of our Ireland break the weather started off rather gloomy before beginning to re-enacting Bible stories, namely a particular story concerning a big boat.

We decided to go north of Galway this time, I was still hoping to find some Irish Marshies and maybe an early Large Heath, but driving along through what seemed at times to be never ending torrential rain it was quite clear that was rather unlikely. Occasionally the rain would relent and we would even venture out from the safety of the car if there was somewhere to park. It was a real shame the weather had turned on us, we drove past so much wonderful habitat that was just begging to be explored had it been sunny. The scenery at least was pretty breath-taking.

Remarkably I did actually find a butterfly, a Small Heath. I presumed I saw the same one twice but both times I spent some time chasing it to make sure it wasn’t actually a Large one

----------

Our flight back to London wasn’t until 9pm so we had most of the final day to ourselves and took in some coastal destinations. The Cliffs of Moher (which sounded to me like something from Lord of The Rings) came highly recommended and since I was also hoping to tick of some seafaring avian lifers we set of. The weather had improved slightly from the previous day in that there was much less rain but it was still far from butterfly friendly and so it was to be that the previous days Heath was the last Irish butterfly I was to see.

The Cliffs however lived up to their billing and I was able to tick off Puffins, Guillemots, Fulmer, Chough and Shags to my avian list. We probably also saw Razorbill but our bins couldn’t tell from the distance we were at.

The Cliff of Moher!

Guillemots, Puffins and Shags

The Auks were all lower down and could only be made out through our bins but the Fulmers on the other hand were all over the cliff face and regularly drifted up mere feet from us on the top path. I spent quite a lot of time admiring their flying skills and I’m pretty sure I never saw one flap from any bird, just the slightest twist of the tail or tilt had them turning on a sixpence mid-air, remarkable skills.

So ends my Irish trip I managed the primary target, saw lots of unforgettable scenery and came back with some good memories. The next day I was shooting off to Scotland

[millerd]

Glorious scenery, as you say, Buggy - looking forward to the Scottish adventure...

Dave

[David M]

Well, Bugboy, you saw stunning countryside that day even if conditions weren't butterfly friendly!

[Wurzel]

Cracking photos Bugboy. The last time I saw Fulmars was in Iceland and they were a mile in land, nesting on what were once sea cliffs

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

6th June, Scotland

It was only after all the booking for Ireland had been done that the opportunity to visit some Scottish glens during Chequered Skipper season presented itself. Janet Turnbull posted on here that she was going up and asked if anyone wanted to join. Obviously I jumped at the chance and after a few weeks email exchanges things were set, it just meant I had to hop on a 6am train the day after flying back from Ireland to meet Janet in Manchester. Just to add a bit of spice to proceedings the flight back from Ireland was delayed and I didn’t actually get home until 1am. So rather than risk missing my train and ruining the whole trip I decided to stay up and go through my Ireland pictures. Thankfully the train terminated at Manchester so I was able to get a bit of kip on that.

The journey up to Scotland was, in a word, wet. That Biblical weather that had tried to ruin my Ireland trip had followed me over to the mainland, only this time it really didn’t stop raining for the entire journey. Even so the scenery was once again spectacular and we couldn’t help stopping occasionally to admire it through the mist and rain.

The forecast for the next day looked significantly better, in fact it looked like the only reasonable day for our stay. I for one was hoping we could pack the day full of butterflies of a Chequered variety but before then I really needed to get a decent nights sleep!

[bugboy]

7th June, Scotland part 2, the main event.

So the first full day in Scotland and our first attempt at looking for some Skippers. Janet had been in contact with the local branch of BC who had recommended Allt Mhuic on the north shore of Loch Arkaig and I had been recommended Glen Loy by PhiliB (and also by Neil Freemans diary posts from last year).

We had breakfast, made a packed lunch and set of for the days search, heading for the ultimate destination of Allt Mhuic. I didn’t realise at the time but the route took us straight past Glen Loy and seeing the sign I suggested we turn off and have a look around. We drove down the windy road that followed the River Loy until we came to a bridge and found a parking spot, slathered ourselves in insect repellent and went for a wander. Next to the bridge was, what seemed to my eyes, a perfect little clearing and it didn’t take too long for a distinctive skippery insect to flutter past and land on a Bluebell, the golden spangled reason for the trip. Here’s a brief interlude in my ramblings…

I tried calling Janet over but unbeknownst to me she had wandered over the bridge and couldn’t hear me. I needn’t have worried though, there were plenty around and we both managed to fill our boots with insects in a variety of stages of wear and tear. We ended up spending around two hours here.

It was when we decided to move on to Allt Mhuic that the day took an unfortunate twist, we found that we had managed to get a flat tire and were now stuck in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal and struggling to put the spare on (I can’t even drive, what use would I be!) Help came in the form of a friendly white van man. As well as helping fit the spare he then pointed us in the direction of a garage to get a new tire which we found would take about an hour and half. What else to do but kill the time back at Glen Loy chasing more Skippers .

By the time we eventually made it to Allt Mhuic, complete with a brand new wheel, it was gone 5pm. bumped into a couple of butterflyers just leaving who informed us very little had been seen all day, perhaps three or four. Within a few minutes I had found one roosting but it took a walk round the whole site for a second to appear, posing on some heather.

Chequered Skipper well and truly ticked off !

[David M]

Fantastic, Bugboy. I'm so thrilled for you. Shame about the weather and the flat tyre but you got your quarry and have bagged some excellent images too.

Is that the full set of UK species for you?

[bugboy]

Thanks David. Not quite, Chequered Skipper takes me up to 57 out of 60

7th June, Scotland part 2, the support act.

As attractive as Chequered Skippers are, there was also a fair bit else to look at. Before any Skippers showed themselves I noticed lots of Clouded Border moths, almost every step would disturb another one. It’s a species that would send Wurzel to an early grave I think, no two are the same…in fact no two wings are the same, they can’t even be bothered to be symmetrical!

Green-veined White were also reasonably plentiful. The females, typically for this part of their range, beautifully marked.

Another species I had hoped to see here were Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and again it didn’t disappoint. Several were found flying on the other side of the bridge. They were mostly quite flighty and tended to rest down in the turf but I managed a few shots.

Chimney Sweeper moths proved very difficult to pin down and I spent some time chasing an Argent And Sable moth, a Silver Hook moth and what turned out to be a Small Heath (I desperately wanted it to be a Large one).

Argent & Sable

Silver Hook

It would seem that the Common Blue season up here has just started, with only reasonably fresh males seen.

And if anyone knows what type of Orchid this is….

Unknown Orchid

Some sort of Leaf Beetle

At Allt Mhuic, not a great deal else was seen. A Scalloped Hook-tip moth welcomed us at the entrance and Janet found a rather fat Slow Worm

Scolloped Hook-tip

[David M]

Thanks David. Not quite, Chequered Skipper takes me up to 57 out of 60

Which have you now got left to see?

[William]

Great stuff Bugboy, very jealous! The orchid is one of the Fragrants, my gut is saying Heath, but I don't have any books on me at the moment.

Cheers,

Will

[Maximus]

Excellent Scottish trip report and photos, Bugboy .
I know the bridge in Glen Loy very well, but we didn't find any Chequered Skippers there during our visit in the last week of May 2013, as they weren't out, we were a week too early still we did manage to see them at Glasdrum

[millerd]

Well done seeing the Chequered Skippers, Buggy! I really must make the effort one day.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Fantastic Chequered Skippers I always think of them as my skipper due to the genus name

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Ps I am aware of Clouded Borders but I make it a rule to ignore them

[Janet Turnbull]

Love your report, Bugboy! Just as I remembered it.. I must catch up with my own report too!

Janet

[Goldie M]

Sounds like you'd a fantastic time Bugboy well done, 10 out of 10 for the White Van Man has well Goldie

[trevor]

Great success with the Chequered Skipper.
A tricky one for us down here, distance, lots of money, time, then the weather.
I can only guess at your excitement on finding that first one .

Trevor,

[bugboy]

Thank you all, as with many of my other lifer moments in recent years, it was very exciting when that first one appeared

At this stage in proceedings I still had Large Heath, Mountain Ringlet and Northern Brown Argus left David
Thanks William, I had a look and Heath Fragrant looks good
Glad you managed them at Glasdrum Maximus, we decided to avoid Glasdrum because by the time we got to Scotland they'd already been on the wing for the best part of a month there!
Definitely well worth the effort Millerd, just for scenery alone.
It's a wise move on your part to avoid those Clouded Borders Wurzel, they could become very addictive to a weaker individual

Good to know my memory is still in good working order Janet
Yup Goldie, we might still be there if it hadn't been for Mr white van man
Tricky Trevor, but most definitely worth making the effort. I highly recommend a trip up there. The Skippers only seem to need a sniff of sun to come out to play

8th June, Scotland part 3.

We awoke on our second day feeling somewhat more relaxed having already achieved our goal. The forecast predicted a cloudier morning and a rainy afternoon but we both wanted to investigate Glen Loy in more detail. The previous day we’d hung around the bridge so today we decided to explore further afield.

We parked the car (with four fully inflated wheels) in the same spot and had a brief search for Skippers where we'd found them the previous day, finding a few of lethargic individuals, before beginning a very slow, meandering stroll along the river.

I was particularly on the lookout for Large Heath, still one of the remaining three species I have to tick off on my mission, the occasional Small Heath just tormenting me relentlessly!

The forecast was true to its word, it stayed resolutely cloudy for most the morning, only the occasional sunny spell brightening the landscape. Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary showed up occasionally but despite the cloud they were all very flighty and only allowed the occasional distant record shot… that is until our wandering stumbled across a damp meadow which seemed to be some sort of SPBF Nirvana. I suspect the previous days warm weather had prompted a mass emergence and these ones were all only too happy to pose for us, so much so we stayed for an hour .

SPBF 'Nirvana' meadow

The occasional Skipper was also present, but unlike the previous day, they were merely part of the support act today.

Chequered Skipper in the style of Padfield, courtesy of my phone :)

When cloud began to thicken we returned to the bridge where we met some fellow butterflyers. I pointed out a couple of roosting Skippers and although it did drizzle a bit, the worst of the rain missed us.

Other things seen during the day were this rather magnificent Longhorn Beetle,

An Argent & Sable ab. (pathological rather than genetic)

And a Dragonfly lifer for me, a Golden Ringed

Another excellent day butterflying in beautiful scenery.

[SimonC69]

Excellent reports and very inspirational (I'll be refering to these in the future if/when I finally get to go up there )Any one of those "Chequered Skipper on Bluebell (or bracken)" shots would keep a smile on my face for the rest of the year if I'd taken them.

[Goldie M]

I second that , But i also like the SPBF with it's wings spread, Goldie

[bugboy]

Thank you Simon and Goldie , glad I inspire someone . I can't recommend the Scottish glens highly enough Simon, beautiful butterflies in a beautiful landscape!

9th June, Scotland part 4.

Our third full day in Scotland didn’t look too promising, mist, drizzle and general greyness seemed to be the general theme for the day but the forecast did hint at a bit of clear sky at some point. After the Marshie fail in Ireland I was keen to find some Scottish ones and so taking my lead from Neil Freemans diary entries from last year I suggested we check out Cuil Bay and explore some promising looking habitat a bit further south.

We found a working conifer plantation with some public access near North Shian but the weather made sure nothing much was seen for the first few hours, a single roosting Small Heath, some Newts and a few moths were all we found.

Small Argent & Sable

Exploring around though I was hopeful that any sun would wake up plenty of butterflies. After around two hours the promised sun actually appeared, waking up a few Small Heath (still no Large!) and a Chequered Skipper or two.

We watched the one on the Foxglove for a while, licking up the rain drops on the flower, but he was after something stronger and vanished up inside the flower!

A clearing that I had explored in the light drizzle was now lit up by the sun and was alive with skippers and Green-veined Whites. The first one I saw here seemed to be quite heavily marked, possibly verging on ab status.

I came over all Wurzelesque with this one!

No Marsh Fritillaries though .

We drove a bit further and were tempted again when we found the other end of the plantation, finding a couple more Skippers (they were starting to become ubiquitous now) but still no Fritillaries.

There was a very tempting meadow in the middle of the plantation which I was sorely tempted to explore. Sadly it would seem to have no public access and was also inhabited by some Highland Cattle, I don’t know what their temperament is like, but looking through binoculars the place was covered in Whites, probably mostly GVW but there was at least one male Orange-tip.

Finding nowhere else to explore we drove back up to Cuil Bay where we were forced to wait for some time for some more sun but even when it arrived there was little about. A few Small Heath again, one of whom looked a bit on the large side and was hunted down with some determination.

A rather large Small Heath!

We did manage a roosting Green-veined White before leaving