Dunskey Glen–11th May 2013

Sunshine and showers, so set off on one of our favourite local walks at Dunskey Glen to look for signs of spring. Plenty of birds about, busily nesting, we counted 35 species in total!

Great to see the beech trees finally have leaves!

Avenue

Port Mora

Port Kale

 

A pair of Ringed Plovers were on the shore line…

…they often nest here as last year we found chicks

 

Spring Squill just coming out

Herring Gulls

Crowberry

Port Kale, the Southern Upland way passes here

The old Coastal Interpretation Centre, not sure when it was last used

Plenty of water in the burn today

Wet Violets after a heavy shower

Gorse

Ground Ivy

Thrift

Sea Campion

Bluebells

Bridge

Scurvygrass

We would normally now return on the lower path up through the glen but it was closed as it is in a dangerous state so we had to retrace our steps.

Male Pheasant

Grass patterns

Fresh beech leaves

Bluebells only just coming out, very late this year

Song Thrush

Wee coo

I was’t quite quick enough with this shot, the Roe Deer saw us and took flight!

Out and about locally - 4th May 2013

 

Local walks doing surveys for the BTO and Plantlife today. First stop Loch Ryan near The Wig to do a Breeding Bird Survey.

At last a butterfly-Small Tortoiseshell!

Interesting beach find, a worn disc

Eider Ducks

Fumitory

Pied Wagtail

Sandwich Tern

Scurvygrass

Skull-Stoat or Weasel?

Vole latrine!

Wheatear

Next a local walk to do a wild flower survey for Plantlife.

Not much out at the moment but did find a few.

Chickweed

Greater Stitchwort

Roe Deer

April in our wildlife garden

 

NB All photographs on this blog are copyright Valerie Harrison, if you wish to use ANY of my photographs please ask first!

We started the month under several feet of snow and when we started to clear it we discovered several dead sparrows

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Male Blackcap

Chiffchaff

Beetle Aphodius-prodromus

Egg shell

Female Blackcap

 

Just one Snakes-head Fritillary in the orchard!

Most of the frogspawn has died after being under the snow for so long, although there are a few survivors!

Lots of Goldfinches about

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Most of the garden is badly damaged from the snow but the heather garden soon perked up and is buzzing with bumblebees

Our first hoverfly of the year Syrphus sp

Black Sexton Beetle - Nicrophorus humator with passengers!

The passengers are gamasid mites, which cluster between the body segments, under the wing-cases and anywhere else that the beetle cannot easily reach with its legs to dislodge them .The mites are thought to suck fluid from the beetles but this activity seems relatively harmless and many of them may be just 'hitching a ride' as the beetles fly off to new habitats in search of carrion.

Primroses

Not sure who did this but the Red Squirrel is making the most of it!

After the snow finally melted it exposed a lot of tunnels in the grass. I presume they are either mole or vole tunnels that would normally be underground but because of the snow they are on the surface

Water beetle

NB All photographs on this blog are copyright Valerie Harrison, if you wish to use ANY of my photographs please ask first!