Sunday, June 18, 2023
It was a hot and dusty walk up the quarry road until we reached the bridge over the Ullapool River, where we sat on rocks and had coffee and cake. A dragonfly landing nearby could, I thought, have been either a common or azure hawker; but despite some greenish spots on the thorax, the markings on the abdomen seem to confirm this as an azure.
An insect that might have been a potter or digger wasp was restlessly searching the ground, perhaps for a place to lay eggs; and a probable meadow grasshopper was present.
My identifications of other orchids are more tentative - I find them quite difficult! I think this is northern marsh-orchid.
While this one could be heath fragrant-orchid.
Birds heard or seen: Several willow warblers were still singing, a party of long-tailed tits and a coal tit were seen; a distant cuckoo was heard twice but then fell silent; a grey wagtail flew upstream near the bridge and a wren sang lustily; an unseen tree pipit was singing near the lower quarry. A buzzard flew over carrying something - possibly a slow worm.
There were a few common blue butterflies on the wing, and my first dark green fritillary of the year was nectaring on wild thyme.
// posted by Christine @ 2:19 PM 
