The 29th June dawned bright and sunny which was ideal as today we were going in search of a rare day flying moth, the Scotch Burnet. Known from only a few hills surrounding Braemar in the eastern Cairngorms, meant that it required a degree of effort to see it. First though we had to process the moth trap which was once again quiet due to the clear and cool night. There was, however, a stunning Dark Tussock in attendance which was new for both of us. After another huge breakfast we set off around the northern edge of the Cairngorms towards Braemar and arrived at the base of the hill mid-morning.
The hill in question required a 500 metre climb to the top from our starting position so if nothing else we were in for some exercise. The path climbed gently up the lower slopes through broken birch and scrub where Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries and Northern Brown Argus were very much in evidence as were plentiful Heath Fragrant Orchids and a few Wintergreens. As we started the steep climb through the heather clad hillside we started to see male Northern Eggars charging around the hillside doubtless in search of a mate.
At about the half way mark we started to see a few Burnets which we ascertained quite quickly were our target - Scotch Burnet. We stopped at a flower-rich flush where several Burnets were nectaring before continuing up towards the summit. The higher we climbed, the more Burnets we saw and we saw several hundred if not more before we reached the top. I think we had timed our visit perfectly as almost all of the moths were in pristine condition and had surely just emerged - it was quite a spectacle.
When we reached the extremely short vegetation near the top, we started to search for our other target for the day - the enigmatic Black Mountain Moth. It didn't take long before Robert found a female flying just inches above the ground before landing and running to seek cover. This is a real mountain specialist and we watched her seek shelter from us by crawling into cover. We managed a few reasonable pictures before we left her in peace and took in the incredible views over lunch. While we ate we noticed a couple more female Black Mountain Moths scrambling about in the turf.
It was mid afternoon by the time we got back to the car and drove back to Kincraig. There was a football match on TV at 5pm so we headed back to the hotel to enjoy England beating Germany in the Euros. Not a bad day all in all! At dusk we put the moth trap out in a clearing in the woods by the Loch and noted that it felt much warmer than previous evenings.
Dawn on the 30th found me alone at the moth trap as Robert was feeling pretty tired from the previous days exertions. The good news was that the warmer night had indeed delivered a much better catch of moths. Amongst the commoner species were several fresh Pale-shouldered Brocades, several Common Lutestrings and a couple of stunning Green Arches - a species I don't see in Surrey. Also, there were a couple of hoped for local specialities - a Pretty Pinion and an absolutely stonking Saxon - a real treat.
Todays road trip would see us travelling a couple of hours to the North West to try and see our other dragonfly targets - the Azure Hawker and the Northern Emerald. We drove to Loch Maree and headed for the car park at Slatterdale at the western end of the loch. We followed the obvious footpath alongside the burn for a few hundred metres until we came to a clear-felled area where we started scanning the numerous stumps for our quarry. Once again it was Robert who found the first Azure Hawker resting on a tree stump a little distance away. Unfortunately it flew before we could get close and didn't come back. I decided to search the area adjacent to the burn and within minutes found another make Azure Hawker resting on a dead tree trunk. This one was much more co-operative and we watched him for a long time hawking his territory in the small clearing.
Pleased with our success, we returned to the car to find an absolutely stonking summer plumaged Black-throated Diver just off the beach and it was a real treat to watch this impressive diving at fairly close range. Time was moving on so we left the diver to his fishing and drove back east along the loch to search for our other target the Northern Emerald. By this time there was quite a stiff breeze blowing which is far from ideal when searching for dragonflies. We searched open areas with boggy pools all afternoon but apart from a couple of very brief fly-bys we failed to get satisfactory views of the Emerald. We did manage point blank views of Common Hawker and several impressive Golden-ringed Dragonflies plus a real bonus - a grounded and co-operative Wood Tiger - an excellent moth find. In he end our time ran out and we hit the road for the scenic drive to Spean Bridge where we arrived early evening.
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