Saturday, 12 June 2010
Sunday, 13th June 2010
On Sunday morning we met at 9:30 in the car park of the Bettyhill Hotel on a rather drizzly morning. When all had arrived went down to the old Farr Parish Church, now the Strathnaver Museum. The museum is closed on a Sunday but we were interested in the bumblebee meadow maintained behind the museum. We were hoping to find the great yellow bumblebee (Bombus distinguendus) but with constant light rain and cloudy skies none were flying. We did see the chimneysweeper moth which didn’t seem to mind the weather. From the meadow we moved down to the graveyard and the Farr stone a fine Celtic decorated of cross-slab.
We drove on to Strathy Point. After a coffee stop, we headed out to the lighthouse over the fine machair-like clifftop vegetation on carpets of sea-pink, spring squill, tormentil and ragged robin. All were extremely environmentally dwarfed being a couple of centimetres high at most producing strange site such as ragged robin flowers growing directly from a grassy sward. On the point we found our first Primula scotica rosettes of powdery leaves but disappointingly with no flowers. We spent some time sea watching: gannets, guillemots, kittiwakes and the ever-present bonxies. Just as we were about to leave the point Chris said she had seen something large in the water off the point. A quick search showed up a basking shark. It seemed to be a large specimen of this the second largest of fish. It cruised back in forth off the point turning bask on itself at least three times. Most of the time we could only see the dorsal fin but occasionally the caudal fin and once or twice a upper jaw.
We move on along the cliff on the west of the point. Part way along David F. spotted a pod of common porpoise then Chris noticed another large shape in the water this time a minke whale. We watched these two cetaceans off and on as we went along the cliffs looking for plants. Russell took us to the area where he and Chris had found Primula scotica last year. Almost at once Heather found a almost open flower and then we started finding flowers right along the edge of the crag.
A happy group returned to the cars where we had a late lunch before setting off home.
David
Plant list
Roseroot
Birdsfoot Trefoil
Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil
Black Medick
Scots Lovage
Thyme
Eyebright
Buckshorn Plantain
Purging Flax
Carex maritima – old seedheads
Butterwort – flowering
Black Bogrush
Milkwort of various colours
Sea Milkwort
Saxifrage
Plantago maritima
Mountain Aven
Silver Weed
Creeping Willow
Orchid
Fairy Foxglove – Erinus alpinus
Mountain Everlasting
Kidney Vetch
Juniper
Aspen
Alder
Willow
Bog Bean
Moon Wort
Purple Octo???
Bedstraw
Purple Mountain Vetch
Milk Vetch??
Primula scotica
Sea-pink
Spring Squill
Tormentil
Ragged Robin
Bird List
Sky Lark
Hooded Crow
Raven
Buzzard
Wheatear
Herring Gull
Great Black Backed Gull
Bonxies
Gannets
Guillemots
Kittiwakes
Butterfly List
Chimney Sweeper moth
Dragonfly List
Cordulegaster boltonii – Golden-ringed Dragonfly
Insects List
Mammal List
Minke Whale
Common Porpoise
Fish List
Basking Shark