Another month goes by and it is my turn to write the Ranger Blog, not quite sure where the time goes but it is certainly disappearing fast.

We have been very lucky with the weather this summer so far, and according to the weather forecasters, with global warming we should expect more of these hots summers, sadly it also goes with wet winters.

 

So what has been going on?

The flowers continue to bloom on the Machair at Calgary and we have a pretty good species list, and the height of the grassland (the sward) is also higher, both a good sign that we are heading in the right direction.

Bird’s foot trefoil,

Biting stonecrop

Black medick

Buttercup

Common centaury

Common knapweed

Common mouse ear

Common ragwort

Common sorrel

Common spotted orchid

Common stalk’s bill

Common valerian

Creeping thistle

Daisy

Eyebright

Fairy flax

Flag iris

Harebell

Hawkbit/cat’s ear

Hedge woundwort

Horseshoe vetch

Kidney vetch

Lady’s bedstraw

Meadow rue (common?)

Meadowsweet

Milkwort

Mossy saxifrage

Mouse-ear hawkweed

Nettle

Oxe-eye daisy

Pyramidal orchid

Red clover

Ribwort plantain

Selfheal

Silverweed

Spear thistle

Thyme

White clover

Yarrow

 

We have changed our ‘Fun in the sun’ children’s fun mornings to ‘Going Wild’ (as it always rained) and those that attended did just that, with a selection of bug hunts and environmental games and activities. It was great to have such an enthusiastic bunch and the sun did shine this year.

We held our annual fishing competition up on Loch Frisa, and Connor won the special junior cup again this year presented in honour of his Great Grandpa, Lachie McDowall. He seems hard competition to beat but Struan and Theresa gave him a run for his money. Jim MacFadden won the senior prize.Although off duty I had a lovely afternoon at the Uisken Games yesterday catching up with lots of acquantainces that I had not seen for a while and managing a toss of the haggis as part of the beach games. Great fun was had by all.

 

We are preparing for the Salen and Bunessan show and hope to attract lots to our stand to try out our educational and fun activities.

By Jan Dunlop.

 

So if you hadn’t noticed, it has been boiling hot on Mull…

*wipes sweat from forehead*

… and our events have been hotting up too!

Our event this week ‘Hike up Scallastle’ was tough and the scorching sun didn’t make it any easier. We had a small group of four, starting in the car park we checked our water supplies and insect repellent (boy was it needed!) then set off up the gravel track.

As we made our way up the track there were dozens of cinnibar moth catterpillars munching their way through the ragwort. Our first species of the day and an interesting one at that.
We continued be drawn in by the caterpillar covered ragworts until our attention was caught be a real island star, a MALE HEN HARRIER!

We watched the harrier dancing above trees until it was out of sight. What a captivating first 10 minutes we’d had.
As we proceeded on I was talking (or maybe boasting…) about a garden tiger moth caterpillar I had found at Tiroran forest and then as if by magic Nick found a dead one right on the track!

Seeing as so far any animal we had talked about had appeared in some shape or form I tried my luck with giraffe and mammoth, but unfortunately neither beast made an appearance. As the biting insects homed in on us we quickened the pace and had almost got to the bridge but something caught my eye… CARNIVOROUS PLANTS!

There were both round-leaved sundew and butterwort on the moist boggish ground by the bridge. Some of them even had unlucky midges caught in their traps.  As we started the steep part of the walk, sundews filled the side of the track much to the amazement of Nancy who walks at Scallastle regularly but had never noticed them before. As we got closer to the next bridge I noticed what I thought was a fritillary flying just ahead. So I marched forward to get a closer look and sure thing it was a small pearl-bordered fritillary! We then found a couple more floating above the water and even managed to get the scope on them for a closer look.

I then went to look for some smooth newts I had seen up there a week ago but the pool they were in had dried up. Nothing left but a toadlet hiding in the flakey mud. The final incline was ahead of us and it was a real scramble, but the bench at the top plus our packed lunches were calling. With the sun still beating down on us, the rest at the top was needed.

While we tucked into our lunches, or an apple in my case, there was a tree pipit perched and calling right in front of us. Suddenly it flew off and we could hear a couple more pipits calling too, although this call was slightly higher and more frequent. SPARROWHAWK! A male and it flew right past us and perched on a tree towards the ridge. I quickly positioned the scope but sods law just as it was in the frame it flew off. As we rested and scanned the mountains a grey wagtail flew over calling in its usual manner. We were almost ready to start heading back down to the carpark when Nancy spotted a bird near the summit. I got the scope on it and it was another island star, a GOLDEN EAGLE!

We watched the eagle soaring around for a few minutes before it flew out of sight, this felt a natural time for us to descend back to the carpark.
We had almost made it back to the carpark when we found this…

A Dark giant horsefly, they are almost 3cm long and can give one heck of a bite. Hence why I crushed it with my heal… sorry if that offends you.

Before I sign off here I just want to thank Nancy, Yvonne, Jenny and Nick for making the walk a real pleasure!

Cian