Scotland 19/07 to 06/08/2023
Itinerary:
19/07 - Drive to Cumbria, night in Smithy House
20/07 - Drive to Rowardennan, Loch Lomond; ascent of Ben Lomond (Munro 104); 2 nights in Rowardennan Hotel
21/07 - Walk along Loch Lomond - West highlands way
22/07 - Drive to Camas-luinie (nr Dornie, Kintail); 7 nights in Rocky Mountain cottage with Alan, Gaye and Benedict
23/07 - The Saddle via Forcan ridge, Sgurr na Sgine (Munros 105, 106) with Alan and Benedict
24/07 - Day of rest
25/07 - Cycle to Iron Lodge
26/07 - Sisters of Kintail (Munros 107, 108, 109)
27/07 - Day of rest
28/07 - A' Ghlass Bheinn (Munro 110)
29/07 - Drive to Tomich; Glen Affric; night in Tomich hotel
30/07 - Drive to Kingussie; 7 nights in Kintulloch
31/07 - Carn Dearg (Munro 111)
01/08 - Insh Marshes
02/08 - Insh Marshes
03/08 - Insh Marshes
04/08 - Creag Meaghaid NP - Carn Liath, Stob Poite Coire Adaire (Munros 112, 113)
05/08 - Inshriach Forest
06/08 - Drive south
19/07 - Drive to Cumbria, night in Smithy House
20/07 - Drive to Rowardennan, Loch Lomond; ascent of Ben Lomond (Munro 104); 2 nights in Rowardennan Hotel
21/07 - Walk along Loch Lomond - West highlands way
22/07 - Drive to Camas-luinie (nr Dornie, Kintail); 7 nights in Rocky Mountain cottage with Alan, Gaye and Benedict
23/07 - The Saddle via Forcan ridge, Sgurr na Sgine (Munros 105, 106) with Alan and Benedict
24/07 - Day of rest
25/07 - Cycle to Iron Lodge
26/07 - Sisters of Kintail (Munros 107, 108, 109)
27/07 - Day of rest
28/07 - A' Ghlass Bheinn (Munro 110)
29/07 - Drive to Tomich; Glen Affric; night in Tomich hotel
30/07 - Drive to Kingussie; 7 nights in Kintulloch
31/07 - Carn Dearg (Munro 111)
01/08 - Insh Marshes
02/08 - Insh Marshes
03/08 - Insh Marshes
04/08 - Creag Meaghaid NP - Carn Liath, Stob Poite Coire Adaire (Munros 112, 113)
05/08 - Inshriach Forest
06/08 - Drive south
Moths
I trapped most nights, but the main aspiration was to find 3 macro species: Barred Carpet, Dark Bordered Beauty and Cousin German - all rare species with a northern distribution in GB, and was successful in finding all three. I had a list of target micros as well but the night temperature was never high enough to give reasonable optimism of trapping these and my efforts to find them by day were both limited and unsuccessful. I netted 2 Barred Carpet on a walk at Dog Falls in Glen Affric, though they were both rather worn and not identified until later; I trapped an even more worn specimen at Inveruglas. |
Dark-bordered Beauty is only known from 3 sites in Britain, one of which is Insh Marshes. Here its larvae feed on young aspen trees and Insh Marshes has the best stands of aspen in all Scotland. Interestingly/oddly the English colonies feed on creeping willow. While staying at Inveruglas I participated in a month long survey of this species, contributing records from 6 trap locations over 2 nights. I found 3 males and 1 female.
Cousin German is a species of upland bich woodland with heather and cowberry understorey found only in the eastern Scottish highlands. "Cousin-german" is an antiquated term for a first cousin; the "german" bit deriving from "germain" rather than "from Germany". There are other species of moth in Africa and North America with "German Cousin" as their English name. It is not entirely clear why a moth should be given this name but it probably refers to the difficulty of distinguishing it from several closely related species (and the terms "Suspected", "Confused" and "Uncertain" had already been taken). |