SWSEIC Recording Group at Tardoes Farm, Muirkirk, 12th June 2025
The recording day at Tardoes Farm, Muirkirk was attended by seven recorders. The site is situtated in the Muirkirk uplands and had few previous records so most of the records we collected on the day are likely to be new for the site. Altogether we recorded 173 species.
As usual mammal and moth traps were placed outside the night before. Unfortunately all of the mammal traps failed to catch, but the moth traps produced good results. There were a number of interesting finds including Dotted Cloak Eana osseana which has only been recorded a few times in our region before. Light Streak Pleurota bicostella, an upland bog specialist, was another uncommon find. Two of the three traps additionally caught Devon Carpet Lampropteryx otregiata, a species that 10 years ago would have been a very rare and exciting find but has been spreading widely in our area and throughout the rest of the country. In additional the Large Marble Phiaris schulziana was disturbed and netted by several recorders on the day.
A few birds were recorded on the day best finds being Merlin Falco columbarius and Whinchat Saxicola rubetra. On our risk assessment day Malcolm Haddow and Cora Cooper flushed a male Black Grouse Lyrurus tetrix which is a good find for this otherwise rare and declining species. Jim Galbraith put together a good bird list from the day which added to our species total.
We looked for Large Heath Coenonympha tullia on the site which had previous older records but sadly the weather wasn’t with us on the day. However the day was not a loss for butterflies as Lee Johnson found Dingy Skipper Erynnis tages which we think is a completely new colony for this locally rare species.
John Fergusson recorded a number of fungi species which was great, as even on our recording days these often get missed out due to lack of local expertise. Two highlights would be Heath Navel Lichenomphalia umbellifera and Bog Bell Galerina paludosa. Both of these species are probably ubiquitous in upland settings but both suffer from chronic under recording. The former is unusual in that it is a basidiolichen, a lichenised fungus which produces fungal fruiting bodies.
Another nice find was Viviparous Lizard Zootoca vivipara which was recorded by Lee Johnson. Despite being widespread throughout much of the UK, Ayrshire records are scattered and local so it was good to confirm the species’ presence on the farm.
Notable invertebrate finds from the day were the solider beetle Cantharis figurata, only a third record for the vice-county, and the Green Drake Mayfly Ephemera danica, a favourite of anglers which seems to be uncommon, or at least under recorded, in the region.
A special thanks to the landowners David and Cora Cooper or giving us permission to record on the site and helping SWSEIC to set up the traps the evening before. Thank you to our recorders who gave their time to help us find things on the day.
Malcolm Haddow
SWSEIC Support Officer
If you are interested in joining our recording group you can do so here.