Learning on Field Trips

March, 2010

CENTRAL BORDERS MEMBERS CENTRE

Issue No 5

NEWSLETTER

Margaret Little - A wildlife stalwart

As we struggle through the coldest and most snowy winter of re-

cent years thoughts of new growth and greenery are much in mind.

No doubt the cleansing effects of the cold will bring benefits to our

wildlife though there may also be an immediate detrimental effect

on species vulnerable to prolonged cold. We may for example see,

as we did in the 1980s, a great reduction in the number of some

bird species such as kingfisher and stonechat.

We are planning four field outings during 2010. Eric Middleton is

organising our annual “Bird Bus” in May. Motherwell may not

seem an obvious wildlife venue but there on the banks of the Clyde

sits the delightful RSPB reserve of Baron’s Haugh where we are

sure to find an interesting variety of birds, plants and inverte-

brates. Further trips in early June will be to the wildlife-rich

Whitmuir Farm near Lilliesleaf and to Glenkinnon Community

Woodland. In the autumn we will return to Lindisfarne where we

greatly enjoyed our visit in 2009.

These outings offer an excellent opportunity for beginning or devel-

oping your wildlife identification skills and conservation knowl-

edge. Experts are always on hand and ready to offer hints and

advice. I know that that the friendship shown and education given

to me on SWT field trips many years ago was responsible for my

own lifelong interest in natural history.

So, whatever your age (and accompanied children are especially

welcome), please do consider coming along to any or all of these

outings.

With best wishes Malcolm LindsayChairman, January 2010

NEW LOOKNEW LOOKNEW LOOKNEW LOOK————

NEW IMAGENEW IMAGENEW IMAGENEW IMAGE

A glance at the top of the page will

reveal a new look to the Scottish

Wildlife Trust logo. Gone is the famil-

iar eagle over the mountains, to be

replaced by a more comprehensive

montage of wildlife illustrations. It is

more representative of the diversity

of Scottish wildlife—there’s not many

eagles or mountains here in the Bor-

ders! Sharp eyed traditionalists

among you will be pleased to see the

reappearance of the Scottish Prim-

rose, which was the Trust’s first

emblem, way back in the mists of

time. Even the European beaver is

represented, bringing it bang up to

date.

What do you think? Let us know.

Mrs Margaret Little died

peacefully on October 20th

2009.

Over many years Margaret

was one of our most stalwart

members and chaired our

Central Borders group dur-

ing the 1980s. Margaret was

a tremendous wildlife enthu-

siast with an enquiring mind

and keen observational

skills. Botany was her main

interest and she contributed

significantly to knowledge of

the Borders flora. However

she was interested and well

read on many aspects of

natural history. With a vig-

orous and occasionally eccen-

tric personality Margaret

was always great fun to be

with on field trips. She will

be much missed.

Several of our members

attended her very lovely

funeral service and were

able to pass on our regards

and condolences to her

sons, Graham and David.

Her husband, Arthur had

predeceased her in 2008.

The proceeds of a retiring

collection have been most

kindly donated to the Scot-

tish Wildlife Trust.

BRAMBLING BO-NANZA

The Brambling is one of those iconic

birds that you hope you will see some-

time during the winter. Arriving

during September, they can stay with

us until April some years, before

heading back north to the birch and

willow scrub of Scandinavia and the

Russian taiga. Related to the chaf-

finch, they are far smarter, especially

the male, with his orange breast and

shoulders, white belly and in summer,

a stunning black head. The female is

more muted. When they first arrive,

they mix with chaffinches, seeking out

beech mast, to which both species are

partial, but as hard weather sets in,

that is when we see them in gardens.

Recently at the height of the snow,

between my neighbour and ourselves,

we had at least 20 Bramblings. What

a sight and delight to have these

normally shy birds so close. In fact on

one very cold day I reckoned in our

garden alone, we had over 100 finches

feeding.

WATCH THE BIRDIE!

What are these Borders birders looking at? Turn to page 2 to find out

2010

THURSDAY MAR 11

Liz Hanson “The Art of Nature”

THURSDAY APR 8

AGM followed by Henry Gray “Wildlife on Film”

SATURDAY MAY 8

Annual “Bird Bus” to Baron’s Haugh RSPB Reserve near

Motherwell. Seats (£15) must be booked in advance by

contacting Eric Middleton on 01750 21829

SUNDAY JUNE 6

Guided walk round the wildlife friendly Whitmuir Farm near

Selkirk. Meet at the farm steading (NT495 267) at 10am.

(Bring packed lunch)

THURSDAY JUNE 10

Guided walk round Glenkinnon Community Woodland. Meet

at car park (NT436 348) at 6.30pm.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

Philip Ashmole “Carrifran Wildwood” - ecological restoration

from grass roots.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14

Julian Warman, “SWT Reserves in Lothians & Borders”

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11

Peter Clark, “Outward Vision”

*All events except walks and outings are illustrated talks

held in the Langlee Centre, Marigold Drive, Galashiels, at

7.30pm. Admission to members is free and there is tea,

coffee & biscuits and a raffle at the interval.

Raffle prizes are always welcome, so why not bring some-

thing along.

WATCH GROUP

Galashiels SWT Wildlife Watch Club For 8 – 12 year olds, meets last Tuesday of month, 3.30 – 5.30pm, Focus Centre, Livingston place, Galashiels. Lots of activities and out-ings for youngsters interested in learning more about local wildlife.

TUESDAY MARCH 30

Frog , toad and newt survey, Gala Policies clean up and plant seeds for wildlife. Nature raffle game.

TUESDAY APRIL 27

Bird Survey, expedition walk—Gala Policies

boundaries. Migrant bird game/wordsearch.

FRIDAY MAY 14

Evening session meet Focus Centre (back

for 9pm). Bat and moth survey. Nocturnal

theme wildlife walk and activity. Bat and moth

game.

TUESDAY MAY 25

Habitat survey (trees, birds, plants & mini-beasts.) Activity in 2-3 locations in woods. Predator game.

TUESDAY JUNE 15

Pond survey WATCH summer picnic and barbecue at Wooplaw Woods woodland treasure trail. Game woodland craft. Meet at Focus at 3.30pm return at 7pm.

Watch Group Contacts:-

Susan Kevan (01896) 752889

Rachael Coyle (01896) 753143

Dates for your Diary

The Northern Brown Argus—A success Story

Page 2 The Scottish Wildlife Trust is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland (registered number SC040247) having its registered office at Cramond House, 3 Kirk Cramond, Edinburgh EH4 6HZ. It is also a Scottish registered charity (charity number SC005792)

The Northern Brown Argus (Aricia artaxerxes) is a local

butterfly in the Borders. Its caterpillar food plant is Com-

mon Rock-rose (Helianthemum nummularium), which

generally grows in base-rich soils - so the distribution of the

butterfly is linked to the rather scarce calcareous outcrops

found in the Borders. However over recent years, and

largely through the excellent work of Richard Buckland,

Organiser of East Scotland Branch of Butterfly Conserva-

tion, a number of new colonies have been discovered. Armed

with maps showing the Borders distribution of Rock-rose,

Richard surveyed many of these sites searching for presence

of the Northern Brown Argus. The adult butterflies can be

inconspicuous especially in dull weather so he concentrated

mainly on looking for eggs which are laid on the upper

surface of the food plant. Though they are tiny they can,

with practice, be spotted fairly easily. Using this method,

Richard discovered a number of new Borders breeding sites

Here we encountered an exhausted snow bunting settled on the shingle and quite prepared to be photographed at very

close quarters.

The coarse grasses on the way to the bottom of the straight lonnen provided the habitat for numerous, large, hairy caterpil-lars of the fox moth. These larvae overwinter in the moss and leaf litter at the base of the grasses. Just before turning into the straight lonnen a characteristic call drew the sharp eyes of one of the group to a bird perched prominently on top of a hawthorn bush. This was a corn bunting, becoming quite an uncommon bird these days, and a good record to have. In the same vicinity we saw a very handsome male reed bunting, and at the begin-ning of our walk back up the lonnen to the village a pair of stonechats busied themselves on the fence wires. A chattering overhead came from a group of a score of snow buntings flying to and fro but disappearing from sight on landing. Almost at the top of the lonnen areas of down-trodden grass and weeds alerted us to bird watcher activity. At first only robins, tits, finches, a wren and a couple of redwings were observed, but then flitting amongst the leaves of hawthorn bushes a yellow- browed warbler. The bird of the day and seen by everyone! Well content we retuned to the cars and set off for home but not before one last stop as we were leaving the island added greenfinch, golden and grey plover, brent geese, godwits and curlews to our list, and eventually the last bird of the day - a jackdaw; giving a grand total of 50 sightings and the end of a

very pleasant and rewarding outing

The Northern Brown Argus

for Northern Brown Argus and found that even very small

areas of Rock-rose are capable of housing a colony.

In the course of these searches, Richard found a small colony

of Northern Brown Argus on a streamside between Ga-

lashiels and Lauder. Bordering this site was a disused

south-facing quarry and Richard wondered if it would be

possible to significantly expand the colony into the quarry.

There was no Rock-rose within the quarry itself but it

seemed possible that the thin soil might be base-rich.

Richard raised over a hundred Rock-rose plants from seed

and in 2005 and 2006, having recruited my help and that of

Sandy Bruce (Stow), these were planted out.

The planting effort was followed by regular sessions of

weeding. Some targeted chemical spraying of rampant

willowherb was also necessary.

About 20% of the Rock-rose plants survived and by 2008

were thriving, flowering and forming mats of significant

size. One egg was found on a new plant in 2006 and six in

2007 but in 2008/2009 we have been delighted to see several

adults flying within the quarry and to find many eggs on the

leaves of the new plants.

There is therefore no doubt that the Northern Brown Argus

butterflies from the adjacent colony have “found” the new

Rock-rose plants and are attempting to breed within the

quarry.

The site is not protected but the landowners are aware of

our work and of the presence of the butterfly.

We will continue the necessary “gardening” and will care-

fully monitor the situation over the next few years. Over

that time we hope that we may see the establishment of a

strong colony within the quarry.

Malcolm Lindsay, 22 January 2010

Last October a group of enthusiasts turned out for what has become our annual joint bird and geology outing to Holy Island. The weather was bright and sunny but with the usual island wind blowing unfortunately from the west and there-fore no help to the migrants from the continent which we, and presumably the hordes of other birders we encountered laden down with binoculars, cameras, telescopes, digis-copes,etc., were hoping may make landfall. We set off from the village towards the castle noting the usual birds in the village gardens and fields before a diligent search of the harbour revealed the antics of a red- breasted merganser and a number of cormorants busily fishing as the tide ebbed. This proved a good point to briefly describe the geology of the area and the echelon nature of the basaltic intrusions through the underlying limestone could be clearly seen in the series of upstanding prominences left by the erosion of the softer rocks. The magnificent castle standing high above the surrounding landscape on its majestic basal plinth is a first class example of the use made by man of this natural fea-ture. A number of small waders, mainly redshank and turn-stones , were probing the shingle of the harbour but attention was concentrated on the fields on the other side of the road where an obvious raptor with a yellowish head was noted

beyond the feeding mallards, teal, lapwings and two swans.

After serious consideration it was agreed it had to be a juvenile female marsh harrier, and decision made we contin-ued past the castle to the restored lime kilns at the end of the track along which limestone was transported from the quarry some two miles away. Production of lime was an important industry on the island in the 1860's and a Dundee company built the original lime kilns and also the marker beacons on the Bamburgh shore to guide their boats through the deep water channel to the jetty below the castle for the loading of the lime. The lime was used on agricultural land to improve the soil quality by flocculation and 'sweeten' the poorer

moorland soils which were being brought under cultivation.

Continuing along the track towards the bird hide a spot of sea-watching rewarded us with a couple of red-throated divers, eider ducks and drakes, and a number of adult gannets, and juveniles with their dark plumage, perfecting their plunge diving technique close in to shore. Oyster catchers, redshank and turnstones were feeding amongst the rocks. A number of seals were also present in the water, intently watching us watching them. On reaching the bird hide we were ready for lunch and while tucking in we watched shovelers, coots, mallards, tufted ducks, dabchicks and a pair of gadwalls on the loch. Skylarks, pipits, a variety of tits, robins, pied wagtails, chaffinches, blackbirds, thrushes, amongst others added to our ever growing list

during our walk to the marker beacon at Emanuel Head.

LINDISFARNE

OUTING