www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Lawts:

I'm on Mull 23-26th and catching the morning ferry on the 26th and heading for Glasdrum

Extraordinary. I will be on Mull (staying Tobermory) from late on Sunday 20th until Saturday 26th and then perhaps going to Spean Bridge and/or Glen Loy.

Roger gave a description of the locality at Spean Bridge:

The Spean Bridge area is South of Glasdrum, and the best spots are along the roadside verges of the road that runs parallel with, and south of, the A86. The best spots are after it crosses the railway, and the next mile or so.

I am a map rather than a descriptive person. I presume you mean east of the railway bridge about here:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=22 ... 81530&lm=0

Jack

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=22 ... &A=Y&Z=120
Indeed Jack. The link above shows the spot where I saw my first ever Chequered Skipper in 1998.

I celebrated with an excellent fish and chip supper in the hotel in Spean Bridge.

I saw my first in 1977 in the Glasdrum area. That was a genuine self-found. In those days, there was a lot of secrecy and far less information about sites. I used my nous and was in luck.

Later during that holiday I did use a little fore-knowledge. The info I had said something deliberately vague like "along the side of a popular tourist road to the west of Fort William". I presumed this might be the "Road to the Isles" and found my quarry quite easily at about:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=20 ... 78465&lm=0

Thank goodness today we have a far less secretive attitude and have little to fear from collectors - except those collecting with cameras who selfishly get in the way at the vital moment.
Yes it has happened to me

Jack

My first CS was also near Spean Bridge at http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=22 ... &A=Y&Z=120 We (wife, son, and self) had driven there direct from Oxford (sharing the driving between us) and parked by the small bridge over the side river for some tea. There was a small clearing next to the road and, as the others were making tea, I wandered in and saw my first CS:

My call brought the others running! We joked that we could have made it a day trip from Oxford but, instead, continued to our hotel by Loch Lochy, where we celebrated completion of photographing all the British breeding species with a bottle of Champagne.

Mike

In May 1974 I had the good fortune to be the first person to see, or at least to recognise, the Chequered Skipper at Glasdrum. There is a story to tell about how this came about, but this thread is probably not the place for it. For purely historical reasons I attach a scan of the Kodachrome 2 slide of my first Scottish C.S. This was before I had acquired a good macro lens, and was taken with a Konica Hexanon 135mm lens on extension.

M.

Yes I did find Chequered Skipper without foreknowledge in the Glasdrum area 35 years ago, but I cannot for the life of me remember exactly where.

The ukb link gives a good general locality:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=20 ... 45855&lm=0

but my recollection is that it was relatively flat ground where I found it, not a steep hillside. I suspect the spot was most likely further up the valley at perhaps (or thereabouts):

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=20 ... 48595&lm=0

Can anyone throw light on where best to search in the Glasdrum area? Spean Bridge sounds far easier but Glasdrum is much closer to Oban where the ferry lands from Mull.

I have never managed any photos of the Chequered Skipper. Is it skittish like say a Silver Spotted Skipper or easily approachable like a Dingy Skipper?

Not far away from Oban and Glasdrum I note that Marsh Fritillary is reported from Shian Wood:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=19 ... 41950&lm=0

Does anyone have recent experience there?

The weather in that part of Scotland has been good recently as is so often the case in spring. Easterly winds which can bring misery are a blessing in Western Scotland to the lee of the mountaians. Oban is currently (1100 hours Tuesday 24th April) reporting gentle easterly winds, small amounts of cloud and +11 degs C.

And finally, a question about Isle of Mull where I will be spending the best part of a week before any Chequered Skipper hunt. No sites are given on ukb but surely there must be something of note on the island? Marsh Fritillary surely? Up to me to find them I guess. I’ll do my best and report back.

Jack

The Glasdrum NNR leaflet can be downloaded from http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications ... um_nnr.pdf

The map in this leaflet shows the location of the carpark, which is signed from the road along the North side of Loch Creran.
It is a short walk along the trail to the waypoint marked 'Natural Power Point'. Chequered Skippers can be found along the clearing below the power line marked on the map. It is also a good place to see Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.
Mike

Thanks Mike. That's located it quite nicely. I just could not find the right links. Indeed, the NNR website you sent me too doesn't [seem to] give a grid reference, so I have just spent a happy half hour finding it. I'm sure the grid reference is there somewhere (I love Grid refs) but I have worked it out to be NN001454

So my plans are staying on the mainland in the area for two nights after getting back from Mull late afternoon Saturday 26th May.

Jack

Jack
I have not been able to find a detailed description of a MF site on Mull.
Two references I have found are-
"Close to Tobermory"
http://mullmagic.blogspot.com/2010/06/t ... ments.html
and Lochdon
http://www.mullbirds.com/ABOUT.html

If I get any better sites, I shall let you know

(NN001454 is bang on for Glasdrum)

Jack Harrison wrote:
Not far away from Oban and Glasdrum I note that Marsh Fritillary is reported from Shian Wood:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=19 ... 41950&lm=0

Does anyone have recent experience there?

Shian Wood isn't one of the better sites. Not only that but MF populations at least up here seem to be cyclical & we are in the lower part of the cycle currently.
I can give you some info on other MF sites in Appin.
You may also see Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth locally.

No sites are given on ukb but surely there must be something of note on the island? Marsh Fritillary surely? Up to me to find them I guess. I’ll do my best and report back.

you could do worse than look at http://www.southwestscotland-butterflie ... lary.shtml ...
Mull also has very important colonies of rare Burnet moths.
I can give you contact details for someone on Mull who should be able to give you guidance if you wish.

Oh, & whilst I'm sure that the people on here are responsible may I just mention that whilst we do have a "right to roam" in Scotland it's polite to ask permission of a landowner if you are going to be doing more than just following a path/right of way etc.

ScottD: thanks for some very useful information about Marsh Frits. I could find four "Appins" on the OS map so not sure which one. However, I will have more time available when on Mull so I ought to be able to find them there provided period 20 to 26 May isn't too early. There is a certain satisfaction in finding things for yourself. But that doesn't mean I ignore helpful inforrmation.

Jack

I've been idling my way through this thread again and there is certainly some useful information there.

I came across this:

east winds bringing the familiar 'harr' to east coast

Now I know that it is normally bad form to correct someone's spelling, but when I moved to the Aberdeen area in the 1980s, I learned that the spelling is in fact unusual with a double "a": haar.
Not many words in English have a double "a" (aardvark is perhaps the best known).

Now here's a challenge. There is (at least) one word in the English language with an alternative (however it is normally hyphenated) but correct spelling, that has three adjacent letters the same.
Hint: Chequered Skipper territory?

Jack

No relation to chequered skipper territories, but 'freeer' and freeest' both have three consecutive same letters.

I was thinking along the lines of grass-stem for the butterfly reference but I can't find any evidence of correct usage as a single word.

Guy

Freeest:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/freeest

Perhaps not legitimate spelling Guy. Not the word I had in mind. (I came across mine in a crossword some while back).

And Guy. Why aren't you teaching differential calculus or three-dimensional analytic geometry at the moment? Teachers always get far too much free time IMHO

Jack

Fair enough - not legitimate alternative spellings.

By one of those coincidences, I was teaching analytic 3D geometry when I made the last post - and the same students are now sitting the test I was then preparing them for! I'll forward it to you, Jack, if you want to try your hand.

I agree, teaching is great fun, with plenty of free time, and I wouldn't have any other job. But the problem lies with the other jobs, not with teaching...

And to return to an on-topic question you posed earlier: yes, chequered skippers are quite approachable. I would say they are similar in many respects to green hairstreaks - the males, at least. They are highly territorial and tend to sit off the ground, on leaves, grass stems or flower-heads. This means your shadow is less likely to be a problem:



Guy

Guy:

By one of those coincidences, I was teaching analytic 3D geometry when I made the last post - and the same students are now sitting the test I was then preparing them for! I'll forward it to you, Jack, if you want to try your hand.

Thank you for the kind offer, but undoubtedly I'd find some mistakes in your questions and I wouldn't want to cause you embarrassment in front of your students

Jack

How is Glasdrum pronounced? One of the Scots on ukb should be able to help.

Does the GLAS bit rhyme with MASS or rhyme with BACKSIDE? (well, you know what I mean).

DRUM. Is it DRUMM or with little stress sounding more like DRM?

Is the emphasis on the first or second syllable? Eg is it GLAS-drum or glas-DRUM?

I may see some of you at Glarsedrumm (or however it is pronounced) on Sunday 27th/Monday 28th.

The word with three consecutive letters is Invernessshire (though usually hyphenated to Inverness-shire).

Jack

Jack Harrison wrote:How is Glasdrum pronounced? One of the Scots on ukb should be able to help.

Well, I pronounce it as Glazdrum (as Glasgow is pronounced locally as Glazgo) but that doesn't mean that is right.
There are plenty of examples in Scotland where local names are pronounced other than you would think by looking at them.
I imagine that it comes from Gaelic, glas druim - green ridge.

In Scotland "a"s are generally pronounced as short as in "cat", we don't add an "r" or pronounce it as many English do in Bath (bawth).
Obvious exceptions like paw & saw etc.

ScottD suggested:

Glazdrum

Yes that makes sense (cf Glazgo), but it still leaves unanswered whether the emphasis is on the GLAZ or the DRUM? And is it DRUMM or a weak DRM?

Try to say these Norfolk places correctly: Wymondham, Costessey, Happisburgh (but Happisburgh won't be relevant in a few hundred years time - it's slowly being eroded by the advancing cliffs).

Jack