Palnackie - round walk

Lovely, really varied walk from Palnackie - down through woodland and lanes to the estuary looking across to Kippford. Then across the saltmarsh - rather a hard ( non-existant!) track to find but lovely views and plants including sea lavender in flower. Then a scramble through woodland (stink-horn fungus and clouded magpie moth) out onto the top where there were again, good views, massive old oaksand some spectacular stands of foxgloves. An interesting detour on the way back to a really well preserved round tower house - the only one in Scotland.

Kippford moths

Lovely to put the trap out somewhere different and see some new, and familiar, and rare moths.

Swallowtailed moth; spinach - new record for Dumfries and Galloway; clouded magpie - rare in D&G; grey arches - new to us; pale emerald and the gorgeously green grass emerald - fourth record in D&G; and I couldn't resist taking the elephant hawk again! 

Kippford to Castlehill point via Rockcliffe

What a fantastic little walk: great views; interesting stone faces; lovely flowers - thyme, rockrose, dyer's greenweed, stone crop, sheep's bit  ...and sunshine!

Beautiful peach blossom

Maryport Harbour at it's best!

A fabulous time of year to visit this once threatened site. Orchids - northern marsh; common spotted; pyramidal and bee were fantastic. The bloody Crane's-bill is good and the rest harrow is just coming out. The yellow rattle is rattling and the small blues are at the end of their season. Oh and there're broomrapes too!

The light house; yellow rattle; common-spotted orchids and over looking the harbour. 

Hundreds of pyramidal orchids.

Small blues;large skipper and burnet moth.

Beautiful bee orchids. 

Displaying Gold Swifts

A lovely, balmy evening and once again we have displaying Gold Swifts - lekking. In the video two males are displaying, using pheromones, to an already mated pair in the background. 

Tumbling Dog Roses

The verges around us are just breaking out into tumbling masses of pungent dog roses ! Astonishing!

A new textile card and photo card. 

A good moth trap.

A good few days with the moth trap.

Beautiful Golden Y; Coxcomb Prominent; Lunar Thorn; Grey Dagger; then a trio of Ghost Moth, Poplar Hawk Moth and Elephant Hawk Moth. 

Muker to Keld

A lovely walk along the riverside from Muker to Keld, meadows were spectacular and the Melancholy thistle is just about perfect. Lovely views of moorland birds - especially three baby wrens trying to fly /crawl up a wall in a manner reminiscent of wall creepers in Spain.

Elephant Hawk Moth...

A good moth trap..

Elephant Hawkmoth; Poplar Hawkmoth; Heart and Dart; Pebble Prominant; Spectacle.

New Hebridean beach card

A lovely day dying fabric and then pasting and sewing.

Procion dyed fabric, stuck down and then onto card with some sewing. 

Tree bumblebees arrive!

Well our cotoneaster has been buzzing today with tree bumblebees - and the more we look elsewhere locally, the more we see!

Allonby and Mawbray flowers

Lovely bloody crane's-bill and bladder campion, together with burnet rose; silver weed; a ringed plover nest and a billowing clump of irises that have presumably been washed in by the winter storms.