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Items from September to December 2007 appear on this page

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06/12/2007	Countryside Rangers with The Highland Council's Planning and Development Service are organising efforts to clear gorse at Ardersier Common, thus encouraging a mix of scrub and flower-rich turf, and improving overgrown footpaths. Ardersier Common, on the inner Moray Firth between Inverness and Nairn, is home to the Dingy Skipper butterfly, which is in decline elsewhere in the UK.
11/11/2007	The Branch AGM was held in the morning, followed by a demonstration of MapMate biological recording software in the afternoon.
11/10/2007	The continuing spell of warm, sunny weather in the Inverness area has resulted in a few more late sightings. On 10/10/07, Jimmy McKellar spotted a solitary Peacock by the Caledonian Canal, near Charleston Academy. Things improved on 11/10/07, when he saw a Peacock in his Scorguie garden, another at Dochgarroch, and a Red Admiral on the canal tow path between Inverness and Dochgarroch.
05/10/2007	In the Inverness area, Friday 5th October was fairly warm, with a good deal of sunshine and light breezes. In most years it would be reasonable to expect to see Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, perhaps Painted Lady, and the odd Green-veined White, Small Copper or Speckled Wood on the wing. In the late morning I cycled from North Kessock to Redcastle, following the south-facing shoreline of the Beauly Firth - usually a productive route - but didn't see a single butterfly. In the afternoon, while cutting a cypress hedge, I disturbed a hibernating Peacock. Roy Leverton, in Banffshire, reported that Small Tortoiseshells emerging from August on were going straight into hibernation. Branch Chairman Jimmy McKellar painted a similar picture in his contribution to Butterfly Conservation Scotland's Autumn e-newsletter 2007. He adds that the best place to look for butterflies at this time of year is on flowering ivy. Has it been any different in your area? We'd be delighted to hear from you, especially if you live on the west coast, or in the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland. Bill Slater
22/09/2007	Highland Branch AGM will be held on Sunday 11th November 2007 from 11:15 to 13:15 at Charleston Communty Complex, General Booth Road, Inverness. It is appreciated that this is Remembrance Sunday, but we were unable to obtain a room on the Saturday. The Agenda for the AGM appears in the latest Branch News-sheet (No 12), in PDF format. After the AGM, Tony Mainwood will give a presentation on "Butterfly recording and moths count in Sutherland". During the afternoon, Jeff Waddell will run a training session in using MapMate biological recording and mapping software, at a level designed to get people started. If you would like to take part, please contact Tony Mainwood, and let him know whether you can bring your own laptop. We are already looking to 2008, and provisionally four butterfly field trips have been proposed. Click on the Field Trips link for further details. There will also be a number of moth events, details of which will become available later. Please note that National Moth Night in 2008 will take place on 7th June.