WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND BUTTERFLIES

With the birding scene relatively quiet this time of year, I've visited the West Coast of Scotland and called in at some Butterfly sites whilst up there.

Glasdrum Wood Nature Reserve-Argyll and Bute 

I visited this site for Chequered Skipper back in 2017 but had no luck seeing any. Returning to the site, it didn't take long before I found two sitting out on the bracken.

Confined to just the north-west of Scotland and with a distribution centred largely around Fort William, chequered skippers are a true Scottish speciality. Other butterflies of note were Ringlet, Large White, and at least six small pearl-bordered fritillary.

Moving on from here, I visited Appin, which is just a few miles down the road and is a site for the Marsh Fritillary, which is threatened not only in the UK but across Europe and is, therefore, the object of much conservation effort.

I walked around for a few hours but didn't even see a butterfly on site, and then the rain set in, so I gave up and decided that I would give it another go tomorrow as the weather looked ok—well, as good as it gets in Scotland.

I arrived back on site midmorning and it didn't take long before I found one deep down in the grass.

The Marsh Fritillary was once widespread in Britain and Ireland but has declined severely over the twentieth century. The Marsh Fritillary populations are highly volatile, and the species requires extensive habitats or habitat networks for its long-term survival. It is now confined to the western side of Britain and Ireland. There were also good numbers of small pearl-bordered fritillaries flying around, and heath-spotted orchids were on show in all their glory.

A nice few days away, which was finished with a bird that I needed for Scotland, a little owl. I found out about a site and called in on the way home, and I was lucky enough that one was sitting out in a tree by the side of the road.