Nature Walks around Lockerbie

Back in 2017, we discovered two nature walks near Lockerbie, and this year we repeated the experience. Lockerbie is only a few miles from Dumfries where we were staying, so this made a great day trip. In the morning we visited Castle Loch at Lochmaben. 

It's a lovely loch which you can walk round very easily, mostly through woodland. 

The weather was quite changeable, with dark clouds adding drama to the scene at times

There's lots of wildlife to enjoy on this walk.We saw good numbers of dragonflies, including this male Common Hawker - click on  the image for a closer look at this gorgeous insect! 

There were a lot of Whirligig beetles on the surface of the loch - it's fascinating to watch them as they spin around

We were intrigued by this plant below, which seemed to be a magnet for hoverflies of various species (mostly Banded Hoverflies (Syrphus sp) and Marmalade Hoverflies (Episyrphus balteatus) - see if you can find any! 

At the end of the walk we came across a large area of ivy, which was also host to a lot of hoverflies, including this Batman Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

This Red Admiral butterfly was also enjoying the ivy (which is such a good source of food for all sorts if insects at this time of year)

The woodland walk has several wood carvings, like this heron 

and a children's play area which includes dens and these very useful magnification posts, which are a great way for children to get a closer look at insects 

After lunch in Lockerbie we went to Eskrigg Nature Reserve. 

 

This reserve has a lovely wildflower area that was full of insects when we visited. We were particularly delighted to see this Small Copper Butterfly  sharing a flower with a hoverfly that I can't recognise from this angle...

This Painted Lady

and this Small Tortoiseshell 

There were dragonflies here too including this male Common Darter

and a female Common Darter close by (she's much less red in colour) 

Elsewhere on the reserve we found this dragonfly, which looks like a Southern Hawker to me, but please correct me if I'm wrong

It was good to find a Footballer Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus) 

and this Bog Hoverfly (Sericomyia silentis)

We also saw this handsome Common Sexton Beetle

So it was a wonderful day of walks, and particularly nice to see so many dragonflies, butterflies and hoverflies.