A few Highland butterflies

A Chequered Skipper Carterocephalus palaemon sunbathes on a patch of Highland grassland. May is one of the best times to visit the Highlands and it is the month when these marvellous little butterflies begin to fly.

Loch Arkaig, Lochaber, in the west Highlands of Scotland. And the road into the general area where I found these rare and protected skippers.

Glen Dessary at the head of Loch Arkaig. The slopes of the upper glen are clothed in moist grassland, dominated by Purple Moor-grass Molinia caerulea, the main food plant for Chequered Skipper caterpillars. The butterfly's stronghold in the UK is in the western Highlands, where this habitat is abundant.

A site shot of where I found the skippers. The butterflies were making short flights over the grassland on the edge of the woodland, landing frequently to disappear into the herbage. If they hadn't flown I would not have noticed them. There were four of them flying and chasing one another.

Fortunately they all settled with open wings after their short flights, so identification was easy by the chequered pattern on their wings.

A Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi rests on a clump of sphagnum moss. They are named after the faint white line across the underside of their wings. There were three of these in the same little sheltered patch as the skippers. The main food plant for their caterpillars in the area is Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus. These are more common and widespread in the Highlands, and mostly fly in May or June. 

And there was also a Large White Pieris brassicae flying over the area. They are abundant over most of the country.

Spring hare

On the same day I took the previous set of photographs of ptarmigan, I took these shots of a Mountain Hare. I followed its fresh footprints in the snow for a few hundred metres to find it in amongst boulders. Most hares dash off when approached, but some are confiding, like this one, which I sat and watched for several minutes as it moved around the boulders looking for food.



The hare was feeding on heather, blown free of snow on top of a ridge. Fortunately, the most nutritious parts of the dry looking plants are the buds, and they are at the tips of the stems, the parts mostly free of snow. The hare was moulting out of its white winter coat and the mix of browns, greys and white blended so well with the mix of old heather stems, rocks and snow.

I was feeling the cold north wind, but the hare was perfectly comfortable in its thick warm fur.

After its feeding bout, the hare hopped over to sit in the lee of some boulders, sitting with its back to the wind, or any wind that might have curled around the rocks. Then is began to groom its fur. This must be important for an arctic-alpine animal to keep their fur in tip-top condition and peak performance.

Then it gave a long stretch of those long hind legs and toes.

Next was a face wash. It looked so warm, with the fine fur on its face and those soft woolly gloves.

And don't forget behind the ears.

Once satisfied, the hare settled down into a relaxed hunch. This is how hares sit when fully resting; head and ears are tucked into the shoulders and legs all snuggled underneath the body. This is important to maintain body heat. The hares body shape also helps aid heat retention; its face and ears are shorter than a brown hare's, as reducing exposure to cold via extremities all helps conserve a liitle warmth.

The hare then sat motionless, a last final trick to conserve energy and heat. Although, it didn't quite fall fully asleep, it kept twiching an eye open. So, as it might have been my presence that was keeping it from fully relaxing, I walked away and left it alone. It had been a great experience to spend time with it, to be accepted as much as is probably possible on a first encounter with a wild animal. And such a beautiful animal.