Bee-hawk and Marsh Fritillaries.

 On our 2nd day in the Fort William area, during our searches for the Chequered Skippers, Lisa found what was possibly the find of the holiday. She spotted what she thought was a large bee, looking very odd. She called me over, and I immediately knew it was a beautiful Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth. One of my favourite species, and one that I hadn't really managed to get any decent photos of before. The moth was obviously just emerging from the pupa. Looking back, I should have searched for the pupa, but as it had just started raining pretty hard, we quickly took a few photos before retreating to shelter in the car.

Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth.

Underneath view.

After an hour or so, the rain stopped, so we headed back to where the moth was, and it was still in the area, pumping up its wings and looking even better than before.

Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth.

I have always enjoyed watching the Bee Hawk-moths, ever since I used to cycle out to a wood several miles from my childhood home to watch the Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moths. Unfortunately, the moths have not been seen at that site now for many years, so the Narrow-bordered is the one I see more often when I'm searching for Marsh Fritillaries. The Narrow-bordered and the Marsh Fritillary use the same larval food plant, Devil's Bit Scabious, so they are often seen in the same locations. Having said that, the nearest site to home for both the moth and fritillary is around 100 miles from home, so no chance of cycling there!!

For Christmas Matt had got me the superb book 'Much Ado About Mothing' by James Lowen. I was planning on reading bits from the book during the year, but as it was, I enjoyed the book so much that I read it all in a little over a week. Whilst reading the book, I came across the bit where James was looking for the Slender Scotch Burnet moth. A very rare moth, with a subspecies only found on Mull. As Lisa and I were having 2 weeks on Mull, I was determined to hunt the moth out while we were on the Island. We actually searched for it 3 times during our stay, but due to the cold spring the moth was late appearing this year so we missed it. However, James had also hinted that there were Marsh Fritillaries at the same site. However, it was still a surprise when I spotted a Marsh Fritillary almost as soon as we had arrived. This was one of the butterfly species that I thought I wasn't going to see this year, as I normally go to Wiltshire for it, but had decided against going this year due to the long trip to Scotland. It soon became apparent that there were good numbers of the butterfly here.

Male Marsh Fritillary.

We were quietly walking along one of the narrow paths, when we saw two Fritillaries take off. It was obviously a male and female. I watched them briefly, but Lisa had other ideas. She watched where they flew to and headed over to see if they had joined up to mate. Meanwhile I headed away from the area, when I spotted a Narrow-bordered Bee hawk-moth nectaring on the Bird's Foot Trefoil. I looked over to Lisa to beckon her over, but she was waving me to where she was. I realised straight away that she had found the two Marsh Fritillaries. Indeed they had joined up and it was brilliant seeing them mating. Good for Lisa for finding them.

Mating Marsh Fritillaries.

After telling Lisa about the Hawk-moth, we continued searching. There were some nice warblers and pipits about as well as the insects. While Lisa was concentrating on them I continued to search for the Burnet moths, although it was already clear that we were probably too early in the season. I did however, find a nice female Marsh Fritillary. This species lays lots of eggs and the female abdomen is very large to hold the eggs. It is very easy to tell the sexes apart due to this.

Female Marsh Fritillary.

As the afternoon warmth slowly built up the Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moths started to become more evident, and we both enjoyed the challenge of photographing them as they nectared on the wing, on the Bird's Foot Trefoil. At one point, one of the moths actually settled right in front of us and rested on the ground for a couple of minutes. This was a bit easier than photographing them on the wing!!

Resting Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth.

As it was we did both manage a few half decent photos of them nectaring. It really was a fabulous day spent in such a lovely setting of Duart Castle. Even though we didn't see the Burnet moths. We had thought we would only be there a couple of hours, but in the end we were there nearly all day!!

Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth feeding.

As far as the Burnet Moth goes, I will have to try and get to Mull again one day. However, I have just returned from a butterfly tour of the Dolomites, and amazingly I got to see the Slender Scotch Burnet moth there. Okay, not the mega rare subspecies, but it was crazy after all the hunting on Mull to see it, only to find it in Italy!!

Mull is Otterly Brilliant.

 Last year Lisa had a week on the Isle of Mull with one of her friends, and this year she was really keen for me to join her for a couple of weeks so she could show me why the island is so special to her.

I had never been there before, but knew, of course, that the island was well known for both Otters and Eagles.

Last year Lisa and her friend had 2 days with Brian Boyes, an Otter guide on the island, and once again she was keen to have a couple of days again with Brian showing us where the best spots for the animals are, as well as being able to drop us off when an otter was spotted and the direction of travel were clear. It was then a case of the two of us getting behind a large rock as quickly as possible near the water so we could photograph it when it surfaced. Also, if we were extremely lucky, and the otter caught something large, it could bring the meal ashore near us, to eat it!!

Brian was totally passionate about the animals and he made us aware of how we should be very careful and quiet to get the very best results without disturbing the animals. Something which is very close to my heart. It is always so rewarding getting good photos and knowing the animal wasn't even aware you were there!!

Our first day out with Brian, was to be fair, quite slow. Although we saw quite a few other interesting things, the otters had other ideas. The early morning went to mid morning without any sightings, and to be honest, I was beginning to think we were going to be out of luck. Fortunately, both Lisa and I are aware that wildlife doesn't often do what you want it to do.

However, it was almost lunchtime and then a dog otter was spotted. Suddenly everything changed, as Lisa and I quickly found a large rock to get behind as the otter had dived. We had to move only when the animal was underwater. Each time it surfaced, it seemed to have caught something to eat. However, these smaller morsels could be eaten in the water. A couple of times it caught something bigger and it brought the food ashore. I was really hoping that it would catch something larger when it swam past me, and allow me to get a shot of it reasonably nearby on the shore.

Eventually, it was getting near to where I was, when suddenly it caught a larger fish, a reasonably sized flatfish. The otter then came out of the water and started to come up the beach right to where I was. Well, this was suddenly ridiculous, as I had the 500mm lens on, and the large dog otter was only about 12 feet away!! All I could manage was a shot of the otter's head, feet and the fish. The picture below is exactly how it was, no cropping at all!!

Close-up of the dog Otter!!

I really wished I had taken the other camera down with me, as that one had a zoom lens on it, so I could have zoomed out to get the whole animal in the shot. However, it was a totally incredible moment. The fish took a few minutes to eat, before the otter went back into the water, oblivious of me being just a few feet away from it. Lisa was away to my left, and unfortunately she had a rock between herself and the otter.

For the rest of the day we were both on a high after such a wonderful encounter.

A week later we had an even earlier start, so as to get the tide at its best for Otter watching. Lisa and I had now moved to a different cottage on the south of the island. This cottage overlooked a different loch to where we had been last week. As Brian drove very slowly around the loch, the sun was still quite low, and we appeared to be the only people about. We were only a few minutes into the day, when I spotted two Otters not far from us. Once again, Lisa and I quickly got out of the van, quietly closing the doors. We headed to the boulders again, but this time the two Otters stayed out in the water. They were both hunting together, once again, catching small prey nearly every time they dived. Brian had a feeling that they would continue around the bay, so he drove a few hundred metres and dropped us off again, well ahead of the animals. We had to wade across some bits of water to get to a really big boulder we could both hide behind. It was then a case of waiting and hoping that they would continue to come our way. 

Eventually, they did come round the bay to where we were, but what happened next was just incredible, as both animals came ashore on a boulder that was covered with weeds, only around 25 feet away. 

Another Otter Encounter.

Brian had already told us, when I first spotted the Otters, that it was probably a mother and near fully grown cub. Both of us were then treated to some lovely interaction with the animals. A bit of grooming went on, and then, they fell asleep!! Lisa and I just had to hold on, as we couldn't move away as that may have disturbed them. 

After around 45 minutes I mentioned to Lisa that they will have to wake up soon, as the tide is coming in and the island that they are on will soon be covered with water. We also had a problem, as we could also be cut off from the shore in the position we were in. Indeed, as the tide came in the Otters both started to wake up. Even more grooming and play now took place. It was such a delight seeing these beautiful creatures behaving in such a way.

Lots of play and grooming from the Otters.

Looking at the photos in detail later, it became clear that the youngster had unfortunately lost an eye sometime. However, it didn't seem to affect it at all, and we had already seen, it was catching lots of prey as it swam around the bay.

Eventually, the tide covered the island the Otters were on, and they both went back to hunting. We had just had an amazing 2 hours plus of watching these lovely animals. Poor Brian was left sitting in his van, and as he had to park away from us he hadn't seen what was happening.

We thought that was probably the end of our Otter sightings for the trip. However, on our final full day, we drove to the other side of the loch to see if we could find some birds to photograph before the rain started. As we sat on the loch side we noticed quite a few people some distance away, looking through binoculars at something on the side of the loch. We assumed it must be an Otter, so we drove to one of the few car parking spots and walked back to where the people were, to be told that there had been an Otter, but it had just moved away. It was then a case of guessing which way it was going. A couple of times we saw the Otter surface briefly, so we rushed off on foot along the roadside to see if we could get ahead of it. Others were waiting back where it had been, so we were already away from most people. We kept getting further ahead of it and then got down a little on the bank where we would be hidden. Amazingly, once again we chose the right spot as the Otter came ashore to our left, and walked along the bank in front of us.

Otter walking along in front of us.

Someone at this point behind us closed their car door loudly!!

By this time the rain was falling quite heavily, and we were both getting very wet, but was it worth getting wet for!! After the animal had got comfortable amongst the rocks, it fell asleep. We were now realising that Otters seem to sleep an awful lot!! We waited and waited, all the time getting even wetter. Another good 45 minutes later, most of the other Otter watchers that were watching from their cars gave up and left, we were still hiding on the bank. Eventually the Otter started to wake up. We were thinking we may get some more shots if it walks back along in front of us, but no, the Otter went straight back down to the water and started to fish again. It very quickly came back to shore after catching a large crab, but it soon went back to hunting. Despite being very wet, we decided to carry on getting further ahead of it. 2 other people were also still keeping with the Otter. However, we took a bit of a punt on the Otter going further along, and as there was no access to the loch for about 70 metres, we headed there and were once again on our own. After 15 minutes or so, we saw the Otter surface with yet more food. Only a small morsel, so the diving continued. As it came nearer, we thought, could it really happen again. We then saw the Otter swim slightly past us before diving again, so we quickly moved along the beach to get slightly ahead again. Hiding quickly behind a large rock as the Otter surfaced. Then, we saw it had caught another large Crab, and the Otter was once again heading to shore, right where we were again. How could this keep happening. Did we have an Otter magnet or something!!

The next thing was, the Otter had brought the crab ashore, and was now munching away on it. At this time we didn't have a clear view of the Otter, but by very quietly moving just a little, as well as the Otter moving too a little, we started to get a pretty clear view. After finishing the crab, the Otter started to do some grooming, rubbing against the seaweeds and stones. I was wondering if we were going to be stuck there again for a long time if it fell asleep again, but fortunately, after grooming and showing off in front of us for 15 minutes it went back into the water. As we stood up, I looked behind us and was amazed to see 5 other people that had come onto the beach to watch the spectacle, obviously they had seen us on the beach and realised what we were watching.

We were now so wet, and starting to get chilled, so we decided we had had so much luck we should go back to the cottage in the warm!!

One Large Crab attached to an Otter.

Otter being watchful.

This is the life!!

Such a fabulous creature.

With so many photos taken, it was really hard knowing how many and which ones to post. Such memories from our fantastic trip to Mull. Our thanks to Brian for putting us in the right place and helping us get our Otter fix. We were also both pleased to have got the last one without help. This one is apparently a female, called 'Pink Nose', for obvious reason.

And, just when we thought our Otter experiences were over, the following morning, during our final breakfast, I spotted something on the water in the loch, which I suspected was an Otter. Quickly grabbing the binoculars, we enjoyed watching a hunting Otter from the comfort of the cottage. All the time we were packing up the car we enjoyed watching it. So much so, we very nearly missed our ferry back to the mainland!!

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries.

 On our 2nd morning in Scotland, before the rain, we were photographing the beautiful Chequered Skippers at Glen Loy, when a fabulous flash of orange caught my eye. It was a stunning male Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary warming up in the weak sunshine.

In Sussex, the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary became extinct in 2013, and although it has since been re-introduced, it is really struggling in the long dry summers. However, in Scotland, it remains a common butterfly. It is always rewarding seeing a butterfly as beautiful as a Small Pearl.

I quickly called Lisa over, as it could possibly have been the only one we saw, bearing in mind the weather forecast for the remaining 3 days before we were to head to the Isle of Mull. It was a very fresh male and as it was warming up, we had a few minutes to photograph it before it took to the wing.

Male Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

Just after it flew we went back to the Chequered Skipper, but it wasn't long before we saw a couple more Fritillaries flying around. A little while after, the torrential rain appeared and we took shelter in the car. 

Some time later, the rain eased off and we were able to resume our searches. We decided to head to the other side of the road bridge, an area where I had success when I was here before with Nigel. It wasn't long before Lisa spotted another Fritillary at roost on the Bracken, and then another that was roosting on a Bluebell. With another improvement in the weather the butterflies did start to become a little more active, before then deciding it wasn't going to improve enough, so it was back to sleeping.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary on Bracken.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary on Bluebell.

With the weather starting to deteriorate further we headed back to Fort William.

The following day at Allt Mhuic butterfly reserve, we did see yet more Small Pearls, although I didn't take any photos of them, however, on our last full day on the mainland, the visit to Glasdrum Wood was very notable for this lovely butterfly. With the Chequered Skipper past their best here it was the brilliant Small Pearls that made the day. Some of them, especially the females were in excellent condition, and as the weather, especially during the morning was still cool and cloudy, many of them were a bit sleepy!!

Female Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary on Bracken.

After having lunch on the bench overlooking the loch, the weather improved quite a bit, so we headed back to the main path and enjoyed watching and photographing many more butterflies.

The freshest female Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary that we saw.

It was whilst we were trying a slightly different approach to photographing the fritillaries, that I spotted a mating pair on the Bracken. Strangely, I can't remember seeing a mating pair of this species before. Certainly if I have I haven't photographed them. It was the last and biggest highlight of a fabulous day at Glasdrum Wood.

Mating pair of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries. (male on left).

I would guess we saw between 20 and 30 Small Pearls at Glasdrum as well as a couple of the earlier flying Pearl Bordered Fritillary.

During the rest of our holiday, both on Mull and in Cumbria, we did see a few more Small Pearls, but by then we had our sights on other species.

Chequered Skippers from Scotland.

 Lisa and I have just returned from a great trip to the Isle of Mull. As our timing was spot on for some of the northern butterflies, that Lisa had never seen, and I have only seen most of them once before, we decided to add a few days at both ends of the trip, to give us the chance of seeing and photographing them.

The first 4 days we were based in Fort William, the mecca area for Chequered Skippers. This species became extinct in England many years ago, although it has recently been re-introduced from continental stock. However, to see the genuine British butterflies in their home is for me, and Lisa, much more appealing. We decided on allowing 4 days just in case the weather was not looking good, and it is just as well that we did, as the forecast for all 4 days was for heavy cloud and rain, with just the odd sunnier intervals. At least it wasn't windy though.

We arrived in Fort William late afternoon in cloudy conditions, but with the odd sunnier bit, I suggested we should get over to Glen Loy, the most local site straight away, as it could possibly be the best weather of the 4 days. Already it was a bit late in the day for butterflies to fly, as it had got a bit chilly in the dull conditions. As we started to walk along the riverbank we did see plenty of insects, but they were all midges!!

After about 15 minutes of searching, I spotted our target, roosting on a reed. What a moment it was, seeing a Chequered Skipper just sitting there asleep. Lisa was thrilled as this was the first of a possible 4 new species for her.

Sleeping Chequered Skipper.

We really enjoyed the moments photographing this beautiful Skipper.

Lisa, being Lisa, really wanted to find her own butterfly. Fortunately, the sun actually made a short appearance, which woke the original butterfly up. She flew a bit before opening her wings briefly, before the sun quickly went behind more clouds. However, in that short window, Lisa did spot another Chequered Skipper that took to the wing. This one too was a very fresh female.

Female Chequered Skipper.

Lisa also found a very nice Green-veined White at roost. The Scottish Green-veined Whites are much stronger marked than the English butterflies. This showed up very well when I was able to photograph it with the sun shining through the wings, in a short window of brighter conditions.

Green-veined White.

We shortly departed back to our superb pod, that we were staying in, so pleased with what we had achieved so early in the trip. Lisa though, had so many bites on her forehead from the midges. She almost looked like she was suffering from chickenpox!!

The 2 Skippers we had found were asleep again when we left them that evening. The following day, the weather was actually a little better than forecast, so we decided to go back to Glen Loy to see if we could find any more Skippers and to see if the females from the evening before were still there.

One of the females from the previous evening was still in the same position, so we left her in peace, hoping that when the sun came out, she would open her wings wide for us. Meanwhile we set about hunting for more along the river. 

Eventually, we started to find some males. These were much more worn than the females we had found. In fact, during the whole 4 days we didn't see any fresh males, whereas every female we found was in fantastic condition. Most of the males were roosting very near to the water, and generally they were sleeping on Bluebells.

When, at last the brightness turned up, we were ready near the female from the evening before. First with some under-wing shots, and then as she gradually opened her wings to gain some heat we managed some nice open wing shots.

Female Chequered Skipper.

We also had our first Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries of the trip, and Lisa had one of the best finds of the whole holiday, with an emerging Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth, but more of both of those in later posts!!

Just after photographing the butterfly in brighter conditions, the heavens opened and we took shelter for some time in the car. Lunch was had further along the valley where we had been told a Whinchat was showing well. There was no chance of seeing that as we couldn't even see out of the window in the torrential rain. Eventually the rain did stop, and a bit of exploring in the new area gave us another Chequered Skipper.

The following day, we woke up again to poor weather, well, poor if you want to go looking at butterflies!! With the possibility of slightly brighter conditions later, we decided to go and check out the Neptune's Staircase, which is a group of 8 locks on the Caledonian Canal, just on the outskirts of Fort William. We had started to walk along the canal above the locks when the sun briefly appeared. Straight away, a few Damselflies appeared, and then just a few hundred metres beyond the highest lock, I spotted a Chequered Skipper. I never knew that they could be found along the canal. I guess it was a wanderer from a colony not too far away.

Moments later, it started raining again!!

After getting back to the car, wet again, we headed along past Glen Loy, to Allt Mhuic, a Butterfly Conservation nature reserve. Whilst we were at Allt Mhuic, the weather did start to improve slowly. Not far into the reserve we started to see lots of Chequered Skipper. Mostly males battling over territory. We also had a few dragonflies, including a splendid Golden-ringed Dragonfly. As we climbed up the hill beyond a gate, we had another great session with another beautiful female Chequered Skipper. After following it for a short distance, I managed to get a couple of nice pictures as it opened its wings fully, sitting on some foliage.

Female Chequered Skipper.

After a while we headed back to the area near the entrance, where all the battling males had been seen. They were still very active, and Lisa got some great video of them nectaring and battling away.

I then disturbed another female Skipper that flew to the far end of the area and started to roost sitting on a tall seed-head. Meanwhile, I had spotted a Green Tiger Beetle that was hunting on a large rock. I rarely get photos of these very active beetles, but this one was staying loyal to the rock, so for once I could get some close shots of it, showing off the gorgeous colours of green and purple.

Green Tiger Beetle.

Lisa then found a male Chequered Skipper roosting high up. This, although not particularly fresh, was probably the best of the males that we saw, so I have included one shot of him here.

Male Chequered Skipper.

As the afternoon went on, blue sky appeared in the distance. It seemed to take forever to come nearer, but eventually we were actually standing with the sun beaming down on us. By now time was getting on, but it was enough to get the butterfly to once again, gradually open her wings.

Female Chequered Skipper.

The following day, we went to Glasdrum Woods, the most well known of the Chequered Skipper sites. Although we saw a few skippers here, most were well past their best, so I didn't take any photos of them here. It was still a very worthwhile visit though as we did see a few other delights, that will be in a later post.

All in all, we were absolutely delighted with our Chequered Skipper moments in Fort William. My only sightings of this butterfly before was when Nigel and I visited the area in 2015, so another visit was definitely due. The weather on that trip was much better, but despite the rain and cloud Lisa and I surpassed our expectations!!

More from our Scotland trip soon.

Sussex 'Spring' Butterflies.

 A few days before I was heading to Scotland for a long photographic trip with Lisa, I had my Naturetrek tour, The Spring Butterflies of Sussex.

Unfortunately, the weather was not at all kind to us. It's always a problem when the hotel has to be booked and the van hire is sorted, but the weather has other ideas.

However, we always try our best and in the difficult conditions many rare butterflies were still seen and everyone seemed happy with the results.

The day before the trip I did a quick recce at one of the local river sites to see how the insects there were doing. It gave me some encouragement that we would at least see some lovely insects there.

Mayfly.

Beautiful Demoiselle.

Thick-thighed Flower-beetle.

The following day, I was able to show the group several Mayflies and some of the aptly named Beautiful Demoiselle.

When I am leading a group, although I carry my camera, I rarely use it. This is of course, because my job is to find things for the group to admire and photograph. Therefore, I have only a few images taken during the tour. These are from the 2nd day in the field where we scored with our two main targets. The rare Duke of Burgundy and the rarer Wood White.

Duke of Burgundy.

Wood White.

It is always a wonderful experience showing people new species, and our group was mixed with experienced butterfly watchers as well as a couple of people that were new to butterflies. Even the experienced watchers had the Duke of Burgundy and Pearl-bordered Fritillaries as new species, so it was a very rewarding tour.

The final day was unfortunately, a complete wash-out. This was after opening the moth trap in my garden, where a few moths had bravely ventured out the previous night.