Wagtails

I saw a nice gathering of Piedwagtails at the Tormiston end of the Stonyhill Rd last night. There were over thirty moving about in the meadow sweet, field and about hands with the burn.

The rise and rise of the blue butterfly

A couple of years ago I noticed in the height of summer weather one or two blue butterflies. These to me seemed the most exotic of things, vivid blue flashes of colour dancing amongst the dry grasses. The last few years seem to have been marked by an increase in the amounts of common butterflies that are to be seen. Small tortoiseshell, Meadow browns, Red admirals and whites all seem far more common than they used to when I was a youngster…..all those years ago!!! The largest increase seems to be with the Common blue. A couple of years ago they were noticeable last year they seemed quite common, indeed there were loads to be found along the grassy places of the west coast. This year they seem to be fairly abundant, I have seen them all over the mainland in suitable heathland habitat. I am not any sort of expert when it comes to our Lepidoptera! and cant say definitively that numbers are on the increase but it looks like for what ever reason their numbers are on the rise across the county……and a colourful addition they are too!!

Death mask