Ray Collier Country Diary- Butterfliy sites around Inverness

19th May 2008 - Butterfly sites around Inverness

There are a number of good sites around Inverness for butterflies such as Glen Strathfarrar and Glen Affric where there is a mixture of old woodland, grassland and heather moor. To the east of Inverness is a coastal site at Ardersier where the combination of grassland and scrub supports a range of butterflies including one or two rarities. Further afield there is Loch Fleet on the coast near Golspie where the detailed recording of butterflies has been carried out for some years and part of the area is managed with butterflies in mind. All these sites fit the criteria which butterflies need starting with the food plants of the caterpillars. Some caterpillars feed on a variety of plants such as grasses whilst others are very specialised and only have one food plant which often means these butterflies are uncommon. The adult butterflies also need food in the form of nectar from a range of plants. Another essential requirement is sunshine but this has to be combined with shelter otherwise the temperatures are too low for the butterflies to be active.
Arguable the best site in the Highlands is on the eastern edge of Nairn where the sand dunes and their rich vegetation give a wide range of food plants for both the caterpillars and the adult butterflies. Eighteen species of butterflies have been recorded in this short section of coast which is around two thirds of all the species in the Highlands. Access to the site does not seem to be encouraging as you drive through seemingly endless lines of static caravans to reach the informal car park. The first part of the walk is through tall dense vegetation but any gaps give the shelter the butterflies need and then the open dunes appear and the butterflies can be overwhelming. In the next few weeks the flight season for some butterflies such as the small blue, dingy skipper and orange tip is in full swing. If you include the migrants such as painted lady and red admiral then it is still possible to see fifteen species of butterflies in one day.
Perhaps the most attractive of the smaller butterflies is the common blue as the males have an almost iridescent blue, sometimes called violet blue, on the wings. Their caterpillars feed on a range of low growing plants but the commonest is bird’s foot trefoil. The small yellow flowers are scattered in various parts of the dune system and the surrounding vegetation is often kept short by grazing rabbits. The small copper is also attractive and, as the name suggests, the wings are brilliant copper. This butterfly is unusual in that it can still be on the wing well into September. Of the larger butterflies in the sand dunes, the painted lady is one of the most attractive although, as it cannot survive our winters, the numbers depends on how many immigrants have come over each spring from the continent.
One of the rarest of the butterflies at Nairn is the small blue which, as the name suggests, is one of the smallest butterflies in the Highlands. It is apparently totally dependent on kidney vetch as a food for its caterpillars. Therein lies a mystery as the food plant is well scattered throughout the Highlands but the butterflies are almost restricted to sites within a few miles of Inverness. The exception is the isolated colony in the extreme north west of Caithness. Another rarity for the Highlands is the dingy skipper whose caterpillars feed on bird’s foot trefoil and only occurs along the east coast from Inverness. A world of butterflies hidden in the sand dunes.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Global Warming

12th May 2008 - Global Warming

Whether global warming is real or perceived is open to debate but the changes in the distribution of many birds and mammals have been put down to this phenomena. Insects have not escaped from this theory and some butterflies in the Highlands seem to fit the criteria. The small tortoiseshell is one of our best known butterflies and is certainly one of the most widespread and is regularly seen hibernating in the winter months in sheds and sometimes houses. In recent years there has been some concern over this common butterfly as in some years, such as 2007, the numbers seem abnormally low. However, the long term trends since monitoring began in 1976 seem to show that whilst the numbers fluctuate widely from year to year the overall trend is stable. For many years it was the only hibernating butterfly to be found in the Highlands but in recent years two others have started over wintering as adults.
One is the peacock that a few years ago was considered a butterfly that only occasionally wandered into the north. Then after an invasion from Scandinavia in September 2002 it seems to be over wintering in increasing numbers. In the last four years in the Highlands the peacock seems to have firmly established itself and last autumn many people were reporting larger numbers of peacocks in their gardens than the red admirals and small tortoiseshells put together. Like the red admirals and small tortoiseshells the food plant of the caterpillars is the common nettle although they are occasionally recorded on small nettle and hops.
The red admiral was a summer butterfly coming over from the continent each spring in varying numbers but was unable to cope with the very cold winters. Only two or three years ago a few were found hibernating in southern England and then slowly the records increased and in the last two years they seemed to have over wintered in the Highlands. Apparently no adults have been found hibernating but flying adults have been recorded early in February in a few places such as Aviemore. These are too early to have been migrants so it has been presumed that they did hibernate. Migrant red admirals still make up the bulk of records throughout the summer in the Highlands. The first ones come through and then lay their eggs and eventually emerge later in the year. The large numbers we sometime get in the Autumn are either from new migrants coming in and / or the ones that have emerged from eggs laid by the early migrants.
Whilst these changes have been put down to global warming there are changes in other butterflies in the Highlands that go back a decade or so and these have been the orange tip and the speckled wood. The problem is that just how long ago did this global warming start? As for recording the changes it all comes down to the records of so many enthusiastic volunteers. This will come to a head at the end of June this year when the new Highland butterfly atlas will be completed. The latest information is that it will be published at the end of this year. Then the true spread of various butterflies will be apparent. There is the other side of the coin as global warming may lead to the decrease in range of certain upland butterflies in the north such as the chequered skipper, northern brown argus, Scotch argus and even the large heath. Perhaps in the end it will turn out to be cyclic rather than long term climate change.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Gaelic Rhyme

5th May 2008 - Gaelic Rhyme

There is an old Gaelic rhyme that goes " Thrice the age of a dog the age of a horse / Thrice the age of a horse the age of a man / Thrice the age of a man the age of a stag / Thrice the age of a stag the age of an eagle / Thrice the age of an eagle the age of an oak tree." In some ways these lines epitomise the role of the red deer in myths, folklore and mysteries that surround this icon of the Highlands. One of the most outstanding myths that has been perpetuated over the years is the famous "Monarch of the Glen" painting. This was by Sir Edwin Landseer who painted this large oil, 64 x 66 inches, in 1851. It must be the most famous and best known deer picture of all time. It has been used extensively to advertise a very wide range of products and figured on the 18 pence stamp in 1987 to commemorate the centenary of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887.
It depicts a red deer stag with twelve points on its widespread antlers. The inference is that the stag is the monarch of all it surveys but nothing could be further from the truth. In red deer it is a matriarchy with the hinds ruling the roost such as the one in the photograph taken on the Isle of Rum. For much of the year the hinds live apart from the stags although they may have a few very young stags with them. When the rut is on the hinds may only be ready for mating for a very short period and out with this the stag is ignored. Hardly "Monarch of the Glen". Everyone know that antlers are used for fighting but are they that important as fights are normally few and far between despite what the media try to make out. Landseer’s stag is said to be a "royal" in having six points on either antler. But any six points will not do as a real "royal" has to have the lower three points in the right place. The top three points have to form a cup which is deep enough to support a glass of wine. In any case in the old days a ten pointer was called a royal so it can be confusing.
Another myth involves the famous parallel roads of Glen Roy near Fort William. These are parallel flat areas resembling roads that are found on the sides of the glen. The Kings of Scotland are said to have made these so that they could use them for their deerhounds to chase red deer. The dogs were reputedly kept on an island on Loch Laggan. This may be an interesting reason for these strange flat areas that form spectacular lines seemingly edged round certain glens in the area but the truth is equally fascinating. The roads are the old shorelines of ice dammed lakes during the glaciation. There is a mystery even in the venison which, as long ago as 1542, Andrew Boorde described as "meat for great men" and nowadays the meat conjures up thoughts of home made rowan jelly and a dram of malt whisky. In reality the situation is almost farcical as currently the British housewife does not seem to be enamoured with venison. As for the old Gaelic rhyme at the beginning, the inference of "Thrice the age of a man the age of a stag" is far out as a stag peaks as far as the breeding season is concerned around eight years old and relatively few stags live to reach fifteen years of age.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Nest boxes

28th April - Nest boxes

The current trend of large nestboxes being erected around Inverness started with the first nestbox successfully used by goldeneye in 1970 at Loch an Eilein, Rothemurchus. In the following 20 years around 100 nestboxes were in use by this attractive diving duck. Now there are around 150 pairs of golden eye breeding in Scotland and this success has largely been because of the nestboxes. The distribution has, for some reason, been mainly localised to Speyside with few pairs breeding outwith that core area. The nestboxes around Inverness were never used by goldeneye although they did attract others birds such as tawny owls and mammals such as pine martens. The nestboxes eventually fell into disuse and fell to pieces. The problem is that old trees that provide natural large nesting holes are few and far between and there is much competition by birds and mammals for the few holes still present.
Then in 1993 a few of the nestboxes were erected near the River Nairn at Farr mainly because a pair of mandarin ducks bred nearby the year before in a large natural hole in a large tree. In 1994 two pairs of mandarins nested in the nestboxes so a few more were erected and used. The photograph is of a pair of mandarin ducks feeding on a garden bird table near Farr and near a nest box they were using. Now there are a large series of these nestboxes around Inverness, mainly to the south of the City. Some of the nestboxes are on trees by the sides of rivers or burns whilst others are on trees at the edge of lochs or in woodland. Whilst there was surprise that the goldeneyes did not originally use nestboxes in the area it was also a surprise just how many other bird species used them. Then there were the two mammals and the first one, the pine marten, caused quite a stir. Someone checking a nestbox in the breeding season put his hand inside and was promptly bitten by a pine marten who obviously objected at being disturbed. Red squirrels occasionally use the nestboxes along the edge of Loch Ness near Foyers.
Two owls have utilised the nestboxes with the main one being the tawny owl that are now on eggs and will soon have chicks. They have taken full advantage of the increase in brown rats around the City in recent years and this prey is commonly taken by them. The rats are active at night and the owls have no problem in detecting them because of the combination of their ears and eyes that are so sensitive. The other owl is the much rarer barn owl and the new book "Birds of Scotland" sums up the situation in a sentence about this bird "Nestboxes will remain an essential conservation tool for the foreseeable future". Another bird that has utilised the nestboxes has been the goosander, a bird that has caused considerable controversy over the years. Hundreds have been killed under licence for allegedly adversely affecting game fish numbers by eating small fish but the evidence is scant.
Another bird that uses the nestboxes is the jackdaw and despite their size and black plumage they can be surprisingly secretive and go undetected. Mandarin ducks have no problem getting in and out of the nestboxes because their body to wing ratio is well fitted to flying between trees and their branches. The mallard has a different wing ratio and is nowhere near as agile but just occasionally they do use the nestboxes. Feral pigeons and stock doves complete the current bird list.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Food for Free

21st April - Food for Free

"Food for Free" is a phrase that became commonplace on the publication of the book of that name written by Richard Mabey and published in 1972. These days it means different things to different people such as collecting blackthorn sloes to make sloe gin. Others collect brambles - as blackberries are called in the Highlands - to make tea, cordial, wine or syrup. Fungi grow for most of the summer and autumn although you have to be absolutely sure of identification and there are many pitfalls. Rowan berries produce a delicious jelly much loved by people that like venison whilst the nuts of the beech mast make a good coffee. There has been an upsurge of interest in these foods - so often widely available - particularly as a few more books have been published in recent years on the subject. In contrast there is one source of food from the wild that seems to have declined in recent years and these have been in use for a few thousand years - namely shellfish. Many of the early colonists in the Highlands would have settled along the coast where the weather was relatively milder. Various types of shellfish would have been abundant and easily collected between the tides and, when the contents were eaten, shells were discarded and often formed large heaps called middens. Middens on the Isle of Rum have been dated back to a few thousand years and many contained shells and limpets which , in some cases, outnumbered others such as mussels, whelks and cockles. It seems from the evidence of such middens scattered around the coast that limpets were an important source of food. These days you cans still buy cockles and mussels in shops in Inverness - but there is a mystery here as nobody these days seems to be bothered with limpets. This is despite the fact that limpets have twice the calorific value of oysters and four times that of cockles. There are plenty of recipes in old books suggesting this source of food was much valued - so why the disinterest these days? The answer seems to lie in the fact that limpets are time consuming to collect and you only have to try to prise one off the rocks to see why. Limpets may seem to be permanently glued to the rocks and they are so firmly attached that over the years - they can live up to 16 years - the stout shell actually forms a depression on the rock. This slight depression matches the outline of the shell perfectly and this has two main advantages. The strong muscle within the shell holds it firmly in place so that no predatory bird, such as an oystercatcher, can prise it off the rock. The other advantage is that the close fit means water can be retained - albeit a small amount - within the shell so that the animal does not dry out between the tides. Intriguingly, when the tide is in, the limpet goes wandering off, up to a metre, feeding on algae and seaweed but must return to their own exact spot on the rocks. If limpets are killed off by an oil spillage the rocks soon become covered with young, bright green seaweeds. Equally intriguing is the fact that most limpets start life as males - and change later into females. The spawning occurs between October and December and the young settle below the tide level but gradually move up the shore. Limpets are found anywhere around the coast of the Highlands and Islands where there is a rocky shoreline. The photograph was taken at low water on a rocky shore at Rosemarkie just north east of Inverness on the Black Isle.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Emperor Moth

14th April - Emperor Moth
One of the most fascinating moths in the Highlands, the emperor moth, will soon be on the wing and it is normally found over open moorland even at some altitude in the hills. The female is the largest with a wingspan of over three inches whilst the male is slightly smaller. The male has orange under wings and grey upper wings with intricate markings. The female is generally grey with wings that also have intricate markings. Both male and female have four large and conspicuous false eyes, one on each wing and there are two theories about these unusual and striking markings. One is that if a predator sees the moth it strikes for the false eyes thinking they are head markings and while the wing or wings may be damaged the moth can still fly. The other theory is that a bird will mistake the false eyes for the eyes of a small mammal such as a stoat or weasel and will leave it alone.
Another fascinating feature is the way in which the males find the females. The antennae of the males look feathery and they have a well developed sense of smell. Newly hatched females that lack the feathering of the antennae give off large amounts of insect hormones and the males can smell these at a distance of several hundred yards. Victorian moth collectors who needed to breed this moth through to obtain pristine specimens for their huge collections used this to their advantage. They would place a newly emerged female in a container capped with muslin and then watch for the males to home in. On a good day you can see the males from some distance quartering the open moorland as they get nearer and nearer to the scent.
The emperor moth is one of the largest moths that fly by day although, intriguingly, it is only the male that flies by day as the female flies by night although they can sometimes be found sunning themselves. This may be a survival factor as there are fewer predators at night for such a large moth. The caterpillars feed mostly on heather so it is important that muirburn is carried out correctly every year so that the heather regenerates and does not die off with age. The young caterpillars look black with spots but the older caterpillars are brilliant green with black bristles. Fully grown caterpillars are over two inches in length but they are surprisingly well camouflaged when resting in heather clumps. Whilst the main food plant is heather they will also eat the leaves of bramble, elder, loosestrife and blackthorn. There are a few other large moths that fly by day in the Highlands such as the fox moth and oak eggar. One of the commonest day flying moths in the Highlands is a small but conspicuous sooty black moth aptly called the chimney sweeper. Its caterpillars feed on pignut which is why it is so often flying low over grassland.
The photograph is of a female emperor moth that surprised everyone in Farr village hall, south of Inverness, last week when it flew into the kitchen one evening. It was collected to take away to safety and on the journey to the nearest moorland it laid three eggs in the box. These hatched a few days later and are now feeding on their own patch of heather and they will eventually fly back to the wild. The thin antennae can be seen and the red marking on the outer edge of the wings is missing on one side through damage.