A welcome change of
scenery last week looking at reserve issues on Islay, with The Oa and Loch
Gruinart being the main sites visited.
An Otter in the bay below the campsite at Port Charlotte was a good
start. Management for Chough was one
focus of the visit. They prefer places with short, grazed pasture,
less than 5 cm in height, and soft soils where they can probe to find food. A specialist feeder on invertebrates, they
will take beetles and their larvae, fly larvae (especially tipulid (Cranefly)
larvae), ants, their grubs and pupae, and spiders. Dung invertebrates are an important source of
food. Such food resources can be
patchily distributed, as we found by sampling various areas of turf but we did
turn up some particularly juicy tipulids in a key feeding area.
Marsh Fritillary butterflies are locally frequent on Islay. Attack by parasitoid
wasps appears to have an important effect on the population dynamics of the butterfly and may help to explain
its requirement for large habitat patches. Two parasitiod wasp species, Cotesia
bignellii and C. melitaearum, are
present in the UK and are of
conservation importance in their own right, one being specific to the Marsh
Fritillary. Studies suggest that the parasitoid and its host may have a shifting
metapopulation distribution, with the butterfly 'escaping' parasitism in some
areas by dispersal and colonisation, with local extinctions occurring in other
areas.
Highlights of the trip included 30+ Chough, 6 crekking Corncrakes, 4
Golden Eagles, Hen Harrier, Tystie and Great Northern Diver. Loch Grunart produced Corncrake and Quail
calling together in front of a pair of Whooper Swans. As well as an approachable flock of 20+
Chough, Ardnave Point also produced a typically tame migrant Dotterel. And all this sandwiched between a daily menu
of various local delicacies; from full Scottish breakfast with ‘square’ sausage
and tattie scone through to sampling the local whiskies.
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