A glorious day spent ambling through the woods and bogs alongside the River Spey between Grantown and Boat of Garten.
 |
| Stonefly |
Crested Tits eventually showed well at a couple of spots and a Dipper did its thing from the old bridge but Crossbills were frustratingly confined to gypping flyovers and between us we did not even glimpse one!
 |
| Dipper waiting - Bob Fraser |
 |
| What are you all doing down there? |
 |
| Dipper |
 |
| Crested Tit |
Spotted Flycatchers were found quietly feeding in the pines and Treecreepers were a little more accommodating too. A carpet of delicate Twinflower followed the mossy forest floor contours and the fattening buds of Creeping Ladies Tresses were found on the roadside.
 |
| Treecreeper |
 |
| A close encounter with a Song Thrush and it fledgling |
 |
| Twin-flower - what a delightful little plant |
 |
| Chickweed Wintergreen - Trientalis europaea |
 |
| Lady's Mantle |
 |
| Ladder Fern - Blechnam spicant |
 |
Ladder Fern - Blechnam spicant |
 |
| Marsh Cinquefoil |
 |
| A wet area in the woodland was covered in the most amazing mossy humps. |
 |
| Creeping Ladies Tresses on the way |
 |
| A different Peltigara I think |
The central Cairngorms were on show all day but with no funicular railway there was no way the crew was getting up there - another time.
 |
| Cairngorms |
We made a concerted effort to find the localised Odonata and managed three White Faced Darters, at least six Northern Damselflies and a solitary male Northern Emerald along with Four Spotted Chasers, Common Hawker, Golden Ringed Dragonfly and Large Red, Common Blue and Blue Tailed Damsels.
 |
| White Faced Darter |
 |
| White Faced Darter |
 |
| Four Spotted Chaser |
 |
| Northern Emerald |
 |
| Northern Damselfly |
 |
| Northern Damselfly |
 |
| Large Red Damselfly |
Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries were the only butterflies but there were plenty of day flying moths with Bordered White, Silver Ground Carpet, hurtling Eggars and a very smart Phiaris schulziana.
 |
| Silver Ground Carpet |
 |
| Phiaris schulziana |
There were a few Hoverflies too with both Sericomyia lappona and silentis as well as the giant Cranefly - Pedicia rivosa with highly patterned wings and Bombus muscorum, monticola, hortorum and lucorum.
 |
| Sericomyia lappona |
 |
| Sericomyia silentis |
 |
| Didea fasciata |
 |
| Dor Beetle |
 |
| Pedicia rivosa - what a stunning Cranefly |
 |
| Pedicia rivosa - it was very big! |
 |
| Araniella sp |
 |
| Large Pine Weevil - Hylobius abietis |
To finish the day off in style a huge female Dolomedes fimbriatus was found laying in wait on a sphagnum filled pool. Quite a beast.
 |
| Dolomedes fimbriatus |
Look at Ladder Fern - Blechnam spicant - for that fern :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Su!
ReplyDeleteI think that 5-spot ladybird should be findable among the unstable river shingle - a very local species.
ReplyDelete