17th July 2009

In the morning I drove out to Bragar, where we would hold the Bumblebee Safari that evening.  Along the road I met Martin Scott, Conservation Office with RSPB who has been hear several years and has a wealth of knowledge, as well as holding the record high count for the island of 14 Great Yellow Bumblebees…at Bragar.

 

He was out checking a few sites but had followed up a Corncrake report at Bragar and found there to be a Quail calling there. I didn’t here it when I went up to the meeting point, but thought there was a good chance in the evening.  Bragar is again a very interesting and flower rich site, with an intricate mosaic of cropped and fallow land, and uncultivated areas that held much Common Knapweed.  No two patches in the mosaic were alike, with one fallow all Corn Marigold and another complete with the daisy-like Mayweed.  There was plenty of Red Clover too, and plenty of bumblebees, so all looking good.

 

Then on to Carloway to meet Margaret Mackay, who has been our expert in translating materials from English to Gaelic.  I was greeted, as at Benbecula with Agnes, by a beastie.  Not a timorous wee one either.  It was a splendid Greater Horntail Wasp Urocerus gigas, harmless to us (despite a fearsome protrusion from the rear).  Martin has told me that they are in Stornoway Woods, along with the Gypsy Cuckoo Bumblebee.  Perhaps this one came from the logs that had been brought in last night – a lucky escape!  She warmed up in the sun and powered away to the west.

 

A quick visit to the Morven Gallery at Barvas to say ‘Hi’ to Janis and Rob – this is where the evening talk would be tomorrow night, and a wonderful location –check out the Gallery website!  Next I was to meet Martin and also Julie Sievewright, ranger for the Galson Trust – the Ness area (north of Barvas) was subject to a community buyout a couple of years back.  We visited a croft where RSPB have helped transform a rushy field with little biodiversity interest into a grassland field, that was cropped successfully for silage last year.  Wildflowers were re-establishing well here, so the transformation is remarkable.  There was a range of bumblebees, including a first male bumblebee since Tiree. We then moved to the Eoropie area, which had seen some landscaping of dunes around a play park, and it was clear that there was a lot of Red Clover and other widlflowers available.  While the Great Yellow Bumblebee may be easiest to see at Bragar, it is probable that the Eoropie to Ness area supports the largest number of nests.  It was a concern, therefore, to see where planning permission had been granted for a house on a ‘decrofted’ part of the machair.  The ‘decrofting’ or apportionment from common grazings is not in itself unusual, but it could be the starting point for further development in what may be a significant area for Great Yellow Bumblebee.  One may have flown by, but we couldn’t catch up!  We did, however, catch a fresh queen Northern White-tailed Bumblebee (unworn fur and undamaged wings), but one that had collected pollen.  Presumably she was a daughter queen taking the pollen back to her natal nest - as does happen with some species – rather than initiating a nest this late in the season.

 

I grabbed a cheese roll at Bragar before the Bumblebee Safari, and chatted with a young man who brought a pristine-looking Massey Ferguson tractor down to the machair.  The model dated from 1974, and had been completely refurbished.  It was off to a new home, in Bragar, so a last chance to get some photos in the evening sunlight before saying goodbye.  The Quail was calling, and even a Corncrake fluttered along and ditched into part of the barley and oat crop, legs dangling.

 

Martin joined me for the Safari and we found a Great Yellow Bumblebee worker, as usual at Red Clover and with pollen, so another nest nearby!  We also caught a queen Cryptic White-tailed Bumblebee.  These days, Bragar is almost unique on Lewis in terms of its cropping pattern, and is well worth a visit – but don’t go into the cropped areas.

 

A final stop was at South Galson, where I was staying in the small but very well kitted out bunkhouse.  David, the crofter, had been in contact previously and was keen to show me round in the evening.  Bucking the trend, he had introduced cattle – Belted Galloways – as part of a five year plan funded under an earlier, Rural Stewardship Scheme.  The management seemed closely linked with the current availability of flowers in the wetland and machair areas.  A month ago, the fields had been a carpet of White Clover and Yellow Rattle, and full of bees, perhaps, as at Scarasta, drawing bees from a huge area where grazing had considerably reduced the number of flowers.  David’s reported count of three Great Yellow Bumblebees fits well with the timing of emergence and the flowering of these species.  A key next step, with appropriate support, would be for the management to be continued and allow other species to establish, such as Red Clover and Common Knapweed, providing crucial summer pollen and nectar.