Thankfully I had the help of Iain Cowe, the local borders expert, and I managed to tick of the final Lycid on my UK list.
To my great relief Bugboy
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
I must admit to be being so downhearted that you did not get to see this species in all of its glory. I am as I said, very glad at least you did not go home empty handed. It was an on and off season for the NBA across the Scottish Borders as the weather just never settled for any length of time. I found a new colony further north on the Berwickshire coast, one that should not have been previously missed as it was extensive, unfortunately though, once again, the weather suppressed any great amounts of activity, and once again I had to resort to flushing tactics to find anything. At Burnmouth the Northern Brown Argus never really exceeded a dozen individuals at a time throughout the season, though I do have more hope for next season as the vegetation recovers from a 3 year period after an extremely high Rabbit population had grazed the slopes to dust. The Rabbits don't touch the Rockrose much, though exposing the Rockrose changes that microclimate the females find attractive for egg laying, so..the females tend to disperse further afield when there is any grazing pressure above a certain threshold.
We are attempting to update and map the current status of the species in the Scottish Borders starting next year. We may well have some of the best colonies in the UK within the Scottish Borders, but our recent picture of the situation as a whole is foggy. Looking at the historical data it will be a monumental task as the Scottish Borders is quite a large region. Away from the coastal strip, that is unsurprisingly the better recorded, the number of sites to visit are almost infinite.
Here are a few from 2017, all from that patch at Burnmouth overlooking the harbour.
Thank you David
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
It's your turn next to get up here and see them.