As a small headland jutting out into the Irish Sea the Mull of Galloway can occasionally feel quite isolated. Never more so than if you are a male whitethroat looking to attract a mate with no females around. This has not dampened the ardour of our currently resident male whitethroat though. Male whitethroats often arrive back in the UK prior to females and begin to build what are referred to as “cock nests”. These are typically a partially formed, deep cup shaped nest, usually in shrubs or brambles. He will then display fervently around these nests in an attempt to attract a mate. If successful, a female will select one of his partially constructed nests and line it with softer material.
Male whitethroat on the lookout for a mate from the roof of the visitor centre (photo credit - Robert Conn)
However, after around four weeks of frantic singing our male has not been able to attract a mate and we are suspecting that all migrating females have passed him by. But like our lonely male, often seen signing from the visitor centre roof or in the walled garden, we are not giving up hope yet.
Many of the other smaller birds that you can see around the reserve, such as wheatear, meadow pipit and stonechat have fledged their first broods and are either feeding a second brood or incubating eggs. Adult birds are frequently seen gathering food in their beaks for demanding young chicks, and fledgling birds, tricky to identify at times due to their still forming feathers, can often be spotted throughout the heathland.
Fledgling stonechat (Photo credit - Robert Conn)
Egg laying and nest building from the kittiwakes continues to make progress, especially below the foghorn, where their distinctive call can easily be heard as they fly on and off of the cliffs. Fulmar appear to be sitting on eggs nearer to the Gallie Craig and herring gulls are already feeding young. These opportunistic gulls will time their chick rearing to coincide with that of the egg laying of other birds, which provide a nutritious source of food for young herring gulls. A stroll along some of the cliff tops at this time of year is often greeted by fragments of guillemot and razorbill eggshells.
Fragments of guillemot egg (photo credit - Linda Hodson)
There are several broods of shags that are looking well developed and may even be approaching fledging soon. Keep your eye out if visiting for slightly smaller, brown looking versions of the adults.
Adult shag and youngster on nest (Photo credit: Andy Hay - rspb-images.com)
This week has seen a large increase in both the abundance and diversity of butterflies around the Mull of Galloway. Green-veined whites remain by far the most common but painted lady, common blue, red admiral, small copper, wall brown, small white and dingy skipper (a priority species for conservation effort within the UK) have all been recorded. There has also been many reports of large fuzzy caterpillars which we identified as that of the garden tiger moth.
Garden tiger moth caterpillar (Photo credit - Robert Conn)
Other moths recently recorded during a moth trapping session include buff ermine, true lover’s knot, chamomile shark, map-winged swift, marbled coronet, lychnis, tawny shears, bright-line brown-eye, middle-barred minor, common rustic and an angle shades.
Chamomile shark (Photo credit - Robert Conn)
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