Hundreds of bumblebees, honeybees and flies of various ilks were frenetically busy on the michaelmas daisies first thing this morning, encouraged by bright sunshine and a warm southerly wind. It's as if they know that the weather isn't going to hold: the forecast for today was for a maximum of 20C: tomorrow's midday is for 12C and the week gets colder.
Once again, sadly, nowhere was there any sign of a butterfly. It's as if they've given up on the year, and are hibernating in the hope of something better next year.
With such a glorious day promised we set off for Ferry Woods in the hope of seeing one last dragonfly of the season but, although we visited the rather overgrown Loch Unes twice, we didn't see one. It should have been plenty warm enough as....
....other insects were still on the wing, but perhaps dragonflies have other triggers that announce the end of the season, like day length.
We reached the beach at about an hour after low tide, stopping to watch a small group of gannets, many of them juveniles, attacking some bait fish a hundred metres or so off shore. They, along with....
....cormorants - this view looks across the mouth of Loch Fleet towards the small village of Embo - oystercatchers and eider duck were the only species in any numbers.
The tide had been running in for well over two hours by the time we returned to the car, from where there is a good view across Loch Fleet to The Mound, yet the incoming water had only just reached the main basin of Loch Fleet. Masses of gulls, the first wigeon of the season, a few oystercatchers and even fewer curlews were working the rich muds of the tidal flats when they were joined by....
....several small but noisy flights of greylag geese.
The seasons are changing: the butterflies, the dragonflies, and summer visitors like the sandwich terns, have gone, and the winter residents are arriving.
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