The Hoverfly Spotter’s Solway Birdwatching Holiday

Trip to Scotland 23^rd-26^th October 2025 

Sheffield & Chesterfield RSPB Groups.

Organised by C.Brydone.

My account of sightings and observations from the trip and is by no means a full list of all the sightings or species seen by the group. The photographs are my own unless otherwise indicated, taken with my mobile phone.

Panoramic view of Mersehead

23rd October RSPB Sheffield trip: WWT Caerlaverock wetland centre.

A super sunny day, 43 species of birds logged including:

Whooper Swan, numbers were low so there was no feeding, we were informed they hadn’t all migrated in yet. The numbers did seem to grow as the day went on.

Pink-footed Goose small flock on the way into the reserve, Peregrine Falcon chasing birds not sure it caught one though.

Barnacle Goose in large numbers definitely the dominant geese on the reserve and they made a superb soundscape.

Common Gull, 3 Great White Egrets, Kestrel, Little Egret, Marsh Harrier, Raven, Snipe, Stonechat, nice flock of Tree Sparrows and a Treecreeper which was a bit of a surprise as there were not many large trees on site. Would have been nice to have seen the Hen Harrier but you can’t be everywhere all at once.

Hoverflies Logged:

3♀ Common Banded (Syrphus ribesii), 2♂ Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax), Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax), Common Grey Spotted (Platycherius albimanus), Broad Banded Epistrophe (Epistrophe grossulariae).

24th October RSPB Sheffield trip: Creetown and Wigtown

Creetown overlooking the Estuary, just off the A75:

Birds logged 13, it was only a short 30min stay.

Hoverflies Logged, ♀+♂ Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax) & Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) on Bramble and Ivy.

Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax) & Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Wigtown:

Walked from Wigtown harbour around the embankment following the river Bladnoch, through Maidland Wood finishing at the Martyr's stone.

Red Admiral still on the wing. Birds logged 27 in total, highlights being 3 Greenshank and a 60+ flock of Fieldfare feasting on the berries at Maidland Wood. To clearly hear the chattering of the Fieldfare schack-schack-schack was just wonderful, best sighting I have ever had.

It was warm and sunny such that the flowering Ivy on the track to the Martyr’s stone was abuzz with hoverflies. All were Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax), I counted at least 15, a mix of males and females.

Can’t believe I didn’t buy a book in Wigtown! But I did get in the café of Reading Lasses for a nice hot cup of coffee with cake at the end of the day, thank you Richard & Jean.

25th October: Mersehead & Kippford.

A lovely day split into 2 halves, it was a bit gusty and colder than the other days, so expectations of seeing a hoverfly were low. If the Hoverfly Spotter is well wrapped up, then any hoverflies would probably be in torpor.

Mersehead (A.M)

Birding highlights include Pintail, Merlin, Red Kite, Barnacle Geese in large numbers, Goldcrest, Tree Sparrow and Stonechat. There were 30 birds logged.

I headed for the beach on arrival where we found Whelk egg cases, one egg case of the Small Spotted Catshark (Scyliorhinus carnicula), Sea Rocket (Cakile maritima) and some Cuttlefish, amongst the many Cockles and Tellins, few birds as the tide was way out.

Sea Rocket (Cakile maritima) & Small Spotted Catshark egg case (Scyliohinus canicula)

Remarkably one hoverfly was spotted: Tapered dronefly (Eristalis pertinax) on an Aster bush. It was the only one seen all day.

Kippford (P.M)

Went looking for the Crossbills, up the hill behind the village but with no such luck; the group did startle a Roe Deer out of the shrubbery, no doubt displeased with our arrival. 

We did find an old limestone wall full of lichen and mosses, which caught some peoples interest due to the lack of birdlife. Bryophytes are another passion of mine and I was more than happy to show a few people some of the species here and explain the succession of wall-->lichens-->mosses-->plants.

Common Greeshield lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata), The Wall, Frizzled Crispmoss (Tortula tortuosa)

Common Greenshield lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata), Broom Fork moss (Dicranum scoparium), Common Tamarisk moss (Thuidium tamariscinum), and potentially ……… Frizzled Crispmoss (Tortula tortuosa) which would be new to me. This is a species found on limestone walls in the northwest uplands, wish I had taken a sample back for microscopic examination.

A Raven did eventually fly over but most of the group had gone by that time, so no Crossbills but I was glad we went up the hill and saw the lichens and mosses.

In the town we found a grassy verge, in front of the public toilets, full of fungi including waxcaps, an indicator of unimproved grassland. We attracted a lot of attention scrambling up and down this bank, crawling on our hands and knees.  Local members of the Kirkcudbright Botany Group came over to enquire what we were up to, they seemed pleased with what we found.

Scarlet Waxcap (Hygrocybe coccinea) & Meadow Coral fungus (Clavulinopsis corniculata)

Meadow Coral fungus (Clavulinopsis corniculata), Scarlet Waxcap (Hygrocybe coccinea), Witches Hat also known as the Blackening waxcap (Hygrocybe conica), Golden Waxcap (Hybgrocybe chlorophane) and Crimson Waxcap (Hygrocybe punicae).  What surprised me was not only the variety of waxcaps on this small grass verge but that it was next to a busy road into a village. Just shows how exciting a bit of grass can be if left untreated from chemicals.

26^th October: Leighton Moss

The weather was awful, I don’t think it stopped raining from the moment we got off the bus. However, that did not dampen the enthusiasm of the birding group, and much was seen.

The best sighting of the day must be the Otter (Lutra lutra); it was seen fishing from the Lower Hide. It wasn’t an easy spot as it was just visible, breaking the water in the far distance. The Otter caught a fish and then disappeared into the reeds to eat it. A Cormorant took interest in the Otter's dinner, but I wasn’t sure it got a bite and flew away. We walked around to the Causeway Hide and saw the Otter fishing again. I think it might have been a dog otter as there were no kits in tow.

Around the bird feeding station, at the visitor centre, we got a pair of Marsh Tits until a Sparrowhawk flew through making all birds scatter for cover. So, time for coffee and cake before heading off home.

In Summary

Super weekend, well organised, hotel staff were great, James the driver was awesome, weather helped with the spotting. 

Six hoverflies logged for the trip, which at the end of October was super, more than I expected.

There were 72 birds logged but I am sure the overall group got much more.

There is no doubt we missed a lot of species, our count being a mere 114. This list was generated from the interests of the people with me at the time, as well as my own, thus the hoverflies. 

Thank you to all those that helped me spot the above, it was such fun.

Looking forward to the next trip in Pembrokeshire 2026.

A view from the coach on the way home