Arthur is coming up to his 1st birthday on the 5th August.
He has been moved to join Dom in ‘the boys’ field’. Arthur didn’t have the best start in life, being born premature and in a terrible thunderstorm. When he was 6 days old, he had to have emergency help from MBM Vets, and the ranger team had to step in and supplement him daily with extra milk feeds. These feeds were at all times of the day, from 6am every few hours until midnight!
Arthur was a bit of a nightmare sometimes at taking the bottle of milk, but the ranger team managed with special thanks to Adam, Lucy, Louise, Emily C, Alison, Mo, Sharna and Carol.
Harebell (Campamula rotundifolia)
Also known as the Scottish Bluebell and Fairy Flower. Flowering between June and October the Harebell tends to grow in hedgerows, grasslands, and hillsides but can grow almost anywhere.
The Harebell is the County Flower for Dumfriesshire, Yorkshire and County Antrim. Ayrshires county flower is the Green-winged Orchid (Orchis morio), a rarity in Scotland.
This is the first time we’ve noticed Harebells in this location so hope they will become a regular appearance.
Common Toads (Bufo bufo)
Some of the rangers have been busy rescuing toads!
This one was stuck 2 foot down a drain in the campsite and had to be scooped out and one was found in the chicken pen and had to be moved before the chickens could have a snack!
Toads are regulars at Kelburn all summer and disappear in the winter when they head off to hibernate. They do this by hiding in burrows, burying themselves in leaf litter and hiding in log piles. Toads are most commonly found in damp areas and lay strings of eggs unlike frogs clumps.
Summer Moths
Although sunny evenings have been few and far between the live-in rangers have managed to get the moth trap into their garden a few times in July.
This Magpie Moth was spotted at the Summer End Stables last week.
Other common species include: Antlers, Angle Shades, Elephant Hawk Moth, Heralds and Silver Y.
‘Buddy’ the lost Mallard duckling
As the Kelburn Garden Party was closing down for the year some kind festival goers found ‘Buddy’, an abandoned duckling at the Waterfall. They looked for the adult duck but she was no where to be found so the live-in rangers are now raising Buddy.
Luckily, he’s been joined by some Call Duckling friends to keep him company and they’ll all go out to live in the animal field when they’re big enough.
