CHASING SCOTTISH MOUNTAIN SPECIALITIES – A MOUNTAIN MOTHS WORKSHOP IN BRAEMAR

Leaving work in Oxfordshire this afternoon, I headed north on the long drive up to Braemar in Aberdeenshire, where I had booked onto a two-day Mountain moths workshop run by Wild Discovery. The company is run by Dan Brown and his wife Rachel, and I had been really looking forward to this trip after booking it just after Christmas. The main aim was to search for some of the Scottish speciality moths that I had always wanted to see.

I had booked myself into the youth hostel in Braemar, somewhere I hadn’t stayed for years, and I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived to find it was really quiet. There were only two other people in a massive dormitory, so I had plenty of room to spread out.

After the long drive, I was absolutely knackered, so it was an early night as I had to be up and ready to meet the group in the morning.

I met the group at 8:00am the following morning at Braemar Pond, and it was great to see Dan again, as I hadn’t seen him for a long time. Dan had put out several moth traps overnight, and once we started opening them, there was a good variety of moths on show.

It was a great start to the day, and I managed to add two new species to my life list.

After we had gone through all the traps, we headed up Morrone Mountain in search of one of Scotland’s most sought-after moths, the Scottish Burnet.

The Scottish Burnet is a montane species that is restricted to bare, rocky mountaintops in Scotland. As we made our way up the mountain, the views were absolutely stunning, with the Cairngorm Mountains stretching out to the north of us.

The walk up produced some excellent wildlife, with great views of Northern Brown Argus and Small Pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies along the way. 

Northern Brown Argus

Small Pearl-bordered fritillary

A stunning Golden-ringed Dragonfly was also spotted resting beside the path, adding another highlight to an already fantastic morning.

We were incredibly lucky, as one of the group found a Scottish Burnet before we had even reached the summit. After a bit more searching around the surrounding vegetation, we eventually found another three individuals around their food plant, Crowberry.

This montane species has a very restricted distribution in Scotland and is one of the true specialities of the Scottish mountains. Adults usually emerge from late June into early July, although this is very dependent on the season. They fly low over the ground in sunshine, often settling on short vegetation when not active.

The larvae live on bare rocky mountaintops in areas with short, sparse heather and crowberry cover. They feed mainly on Crowberry and are very sunshine-dependent, basking and feeding when the sun is out before quickly disappearing back into the vegetation when conditions change.

We all managed some fantastic views and photographs of the moth, and it was a real privilege to see such a special species in its natural habitat.

The walk back down Morrone brought an end to an excellent day in the field. The combination of stunning mountain scenery, good company and some brilliant Scottish wildlife made it a day to remember.

A fantastic start to the Mountain Moths Workshop, and one that had already delivered one of the species I had travelled north for.