More news via the wildlife cameras.

Swallows.

The swallow family on camera at Kailzie now have three chicks hatched and the busy parents are swooping into the nest taking turns to deliver food for their brood.  The parents seem to have chosen a good location for the nest on a ledge at the back of the fishery building.

Pond Camera.

The pond camera is revealing good views of the diving beetles swimming about, with the characteristic air bubble on their backs to enable underwater breathing.  The newts have not been seen for a while, so perhaps the adults have left the pond now, and we are hopeful of seeing young newts (efts).

Efts resemble the adults only with dragon-like adornments to their heads - external gills for their underwater life cycle until they are ready to become truly amphibious adults with lungs for breathing out of the water.

Wildflowers

At Glentress the wildflowers are in full bloom all around the wildwatch room and car parks. There is an abundance of birdsfoot trefoil, yellow rattle, clovers, oxe-eye daisies, and vetches, all attracting plenty of butterflies, moths and bees. One of the cameras has been fixed on to the flowers to watch bee activity.

Glentress wildwatch

The wildwatch room has live ospreys and highlights from previous years. There are live cameras on to the bird feeders and ponds, which are showing great views of woodland birds and a female mallard having a good soak.
Outside the newly landscaped area has been seeded with wildflower mixes and the whole area is ablaze with birds foot trefoil, vetches, clovers and oxe-eye daisies. The flowers are attracting butterflies and bees and look tremendous as well as serving the invertebrate population well for nectar.
One of the volunteers at the centre on duty, spotted a hummingbird hawk moth in the wild watch room as it flew in through the window and then back outside.