checking the leaves of two species under the microscope helped sort the correct names. The narrow cruet moss was seen producing spores way back in April, whilst the leggier bright green stems of the mosses close by couldn’t correctly be identified until late July when bright green gave way to red and the slender cruet moss was confirmed. The colour is so vivid that in the last few weeks this moss has been visible close to the summits of three local mountains, possibly growing on mammal droppings or the bone fragments in birds of prey pellets (left) close to the rock cairns. Amazing.The highlight of early June though was the trip to Drumochter Pass and the Sow of Atholl to try again to see the flower, blue heath - Phyllodoce caerulea, and the
realisation that on my first trip, some 20 years ago, I might have even gone up the wrong hill! The more impressive of the two big hills close to the A9 as you drive through the Pass is the Boar of Badenoch and this is probably the one I climbed. Not surprisingly, no blue heath on that occasion, but locating the moth northern dart made the outing well worthwhile. So rucksac packed and boots on there would be no mistake this time, but was the weather going to do the dirty on me again? I left Nethybridge in gloriously hot sunshine and packed in the car was sun-cream and a bottle to carry water, but south of 
Kingussie I ran into low cloud and even bits of drizzle. So as I parked by the A9 the sun-cream and water were left behind and, so confident had I been about the weather forecast, I really was a bit light on clothing for these condition close to the top of The Sow. I wasn’t about to drive back 45 miles for more clothes so, at 8.30am I left the car, nipped across the A9 and the railway line, and headed off up the hill. A short way up I met with a legacy of the winter weather a dead red deer hind and what could have been h
er calf close by. Half way up I was surprised to see a patch of Ostrich-plume feather-moss (Ptilium crista-crastensis), something I usually find in the depth of the pinewoods, and a little further on a patch of flowering dwarf cornel, black and white and beautiful (left). On the summit were the first flowers of trailing azalea and amazing views for several miles north and south of the A9 (above right), with its constant roar of traffic and the occasional train on the adjacent railway line. With a view like that you realise how impossible it will be to stop the planet over-heating! A quick bite to eat and the search started, the first find being a patch of dwarf willow (Salix herbacea). As the ground got steeper (walking lines between my Leki poles) a few large purple flowers came in to view (right), 
similar to cross-leaved heath flowers but much larger. The timing was perfect and most of the flowers were just at their best. Without flowers it would be almost impossible to find, the leaves look just like the leaves of the crowberry plants nearby. Time for a sandwich and as I sit watching the traffic down below, a mountain hare suddenly appears just a few metres down the hill from me. A few minutes later an RAF jet passes by – just below me! Two other nice plants are found on the way down, sibbaldia and bog bilberry, and as I head back towards the A9 the sun comes out. Typical.
A week later the phone rang “Do you undertake site surveys to look for key Cairngorms National Park species?” And so I undertook my first site survey of a proposed house site just outside Aviemore. A day’s survey, a day sorting species and a day report writing, and I’d completed my first job in the world of self-employment. Normal service was then resumed and it was off to Grantown to count (as a volunteer!) the number of flowering spikes of one-flowered wintergreen (right with twinflower), cutting out patches of
invading rhododendron whilst on site. This amazing site, with no protection designations, also boasts masses of twinflower and patches of creeping lady’s tresses orchid. The patch at Abernethy was counted a few days later and another day was spent searching the woods close to this site to see if more could be found. No flowers but, as last year, a patch of leaves will be worth re-visiting. A leopard slug (left) crossing a tra
ck in the rain one morning was new to me and to Abernethy. The purchase made during our attendance at the Giles Pearson “Appreciation Society” meeting came home, an amazing Welsh-type dresser (right), though this one probably originated in Ireland.It has been a bit of a struggle to find good days to walk the Loch Garten butterfly transect but when the sun has shone a few butterflies have been seen along with a few other interesting species. A dark-green fritillary caterpillar was found on Tulloch Moor c
overed with masses of “bottle brush” type protrusions. The star though has to be regular encounters with a few northern emerald dragonflies (Somatochlora arctica), usually one of the most difficult dragonflies to see let alone photograph (left). However, a kind dragonfly stayed perched long enough to allow me to carefully creep up on it and get so close that only part of the dragonfly fits into the last photo.Towards the end of June we get towards the orchid counting season but with a wee change having taken place during the winter, there will be help this year. During the early part of the year the Cairngorm Park Tourist Board and House Building Society – sorry, Cairngorm National Park Authority, appointed Andy Scobie (right) as the Park’s Rare Plants Officer (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8611779.stm)
with a remit to establish the true population levels of the lesser butterfly orchid, twinflower, small cow-wheat and intermediate wintergreen within the Park and to work to retaining and enhance their populations. The main site for the lesser butterfly orchid locally, if not in Scotland and possibly the UK, is at Flowerfield/Glencairn by the B970, I site I have counted for the last two years. Last year, the field was counted in the most systematic way that it has ever been counted, using line transects, canes, tapes and a hand tally counter. Being one of Andy’s target species the count this year was to be a joint effort with Andy leading the way with me helping, building on the methodology of 2009. This years count took 
place over 28-29 June, and within the first hour of counting, in supposedly the less populated area close to the house, we had already counted several hundred flowers. On one of the first section counts in the main field, again, several hundred plants were recorded and at this point, we realised we were involved in possibly the highest count ever made at this one site. By the time Andy had to leave to attend a meeting at 5pm we had only completed about 2/3 of the area, and the count would continue into the next day. The next day I had to walk the butterfly transect and was only able to join Andy mid-afternoon, but by 5pm the count was finished. 2,800 butterfly orchids (left) had been counted, twice the count in 2009, and several hundred small white orchids had been counted but no attempt was made to 
count the 1000+ fragrant orchids. Absolutely incredible, and a real honour to have been involved. In addition several six-spot burnets were seen, several mating (right) and many flying around with the pollinia from the fragrant orchids stuck to their heads (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchidaceae for explanation of the role of insects & pollinia). Counting of another field nearby where no lesser butterfly orchids were found last year had 30 flowering spikes along with 5 small white orchids. An after effect of the severe winter? Who knows.The last day of June was very busy. With little wind, and the sun shining the Loch Garten butterfly transect was walked at 11am and completed in an hour and a half and then there was a rapid dash to my BTO breeding bird survey square near Grantown on Spey, where I had taken up a request for the same transect to be walked to record butterflies (and moths and
dragonflies). The site is half an hour from the nearest road so didn’t get underway until 2pm. Unlike last year when no butterflies were recorded under marginal conditions, this first walk found 1 green-veined white and 2 small pearl-bordered fritillaries and finished at 4pm. Before the walk back to the car I sat down to eat an apple and suddenly just a couple of metres to my left, a stoat popped up, meerkat-like, wondering what I was! Sadly, I didn’t have the camera out and ready. Meadow pipit’s feeding a young cuckoo nearby rounded of the day nicely. You can’t win them all. A bonus for the day though was seeing an ugly looking fly called Laphria flava, waiting for passing bees to rob. It obviously thought I was a useful perch as I was stood, with camera in hand, waiting for it to land!July’s diary will follow very shortly.
Happy reading
Stewart & Janet
Rhinocerous beetle in an aspen wood at Crathie
Fruiting dwarf cornel - just as beautiful
All photos © Stewart Taylor
