Scotland for Bird's Wildlife & Nature Tours Day 5: 20th June 2024

 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