9 April) I thoughtI would have another go. The Moss is gradually shaking off its winter lassitude and is moving towards the summer business of air filled with birdsong and the bog surface being as busy with insects as the Royal Mile in festival season. The wind was still bitterly cold but there was a warmth to the sun and a brightness to the light intensity that is missing in winter. So I headed out onto the west side with invertebrates on the mind. The willows on the edge of the moss were already buzzing with activity, they are one of the first nectar sources available for insects so are a magnet at this time of year. Once out on the moss I started searching the south sides of the bases of the tree trunks. A cream-spotted ladybird stood out, as did various sawflies and weird looking wasps. A beautiful Engrailed moth did anything but stand out, matching the lichen covered trunk perfectly. And then finally the fluff. There clinging to the trunk was a small ball of grey and orange fluff, a female Rannoch Brindled Beauty moth soaking up the sun and waiting for a male to turn up. Gradually as I got my eye in I found more, after 30 mins 10 females and also 1 male with its delicately decorated tent like wings matching the lichens that it sat on.
All these insects are early birds, they get their life cycles going early in the year before there are too many predators about by trading less danger for colder temperatures and less available plant food. Even on the Moss there are species adapted to just about every niche and time of year.
