In and around Lockerbie

On our second day on our recent trip to Dumfries, we visited two nature reserves near Lockerbie. In the morning we walked round Castle Loch at Lochmaben.

This is a lovely loch

with a very attractive, mostly wooded walk round the edge.

There are several lovely wood carvings round the walk

We had lunch in Lockerbie, a town which previously we had only ever passed through on the train. Sheep graze fields very close to the town centre though the only sheep we got photos of were these cute statues in the town centre

After lunch we made our way to Eskrigg Nature Reserve, 1 1/2 miles outside Lockerbie, on the site of a former curling pond, but now an area of wet woodland 

It's a wonderful place for wildlife, this picnic area particularly was full of interest

In just this small area we saw lots of butterflies

including peacocks (left) and red admiral (right)

there were also a number of common lizards

and this female common darter dragonfly

The nearby bird-hide offered great views of this lovely red squirrel, who seems to have been in the wars a bit, with part of his left ear missing.

So if you're ever in the Lockerbie area, these are two definite places to visit!