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Lennoxlove, seat of the Dukes of Hamilton and home to the white
Cadzow cattle (Fig. 1), was the venue for the July recording
excursion, which was well attended by over a dozen recorders,
in spite of it being during the holiday season. In the morning
we headed west from the car park towards the woods by the Colstoun
Water (Fig. 2), where a Kingfisher was seen. Other new bird records
were Nuthatch and Spotted Flycatcher. Here we found the Wood
Speedwell, Veronica montana, an ancient woodland indicator
species. Nearby was the first of several aliens that we found, the
Arrow bamboo (Pseudosasa japonica), which was providing a
home for some snails, including one of our hairy-shelled species,
Trochulus hispidus. The other hairy snail, Ashfordia
granulata, was also present nearby (Fig. 3).
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Fig. 1. Some of the white Cadzow cattle at Lennoxlove (© Adrian Sumner).
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Fig. 2. The Colstoun Water flowing through the woods on the west side of the estate (© Adrian Sumner).
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We returned to the car park for lunch (Fig. 4) – not a typical car
park, surrounded as it was by parkland where we saw jays and
woodpeckers, and hares and squirrels. The leaf litter from the
adjoining ha-ha also proved to be rich in a variety of invertebrates.
The afternoon saw us proceeding to the more easterly woods on the
estate, where pollen beetles (probably Meligethes sp.) and soldier
beetles (Rhagonycha fulva) were active on a good many flower heads;
the Wood Speedwell was also found in this area. Near the sawmill,
on the north side of the estate, the uncommon Hoary Willowherb
(Epilobium parviflorum) was found on waste ground, as well as a
number of alien plants, including Maltese Cross (Silene chalcedonica)
(Fig. 5) and Stern’s Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster sternianus), the
latter being a new vice-county record. Altogether a very successful
outing, producing several hundred new records.
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