Kidney vetch planting at Scrabster – June ’09
On Sunday 21st we met at Scrabster harbour to plant kidney vetch. This was to help provide habitat for one of the colonies of the small blue butterfly as the caterpillar only feeds on this plant. The most northerly colonies of small blues are located within the dune system at Dunnet Bay and along the coast at Scrabster.
At Scrabster there has been ongoing work and some kidney vetch has seeded into the gravel stone vreges of the harbour road and roundabouts that lead to the ferry terminal. To increase the population of kidney vetch local seed was collected and then grown at the Shinval Garden Centre. It was these we planted on what was another very hot day!
The protection of the small blue butterfly is regarded as being of high priority throughout the UK as its population has fallen largely due to lack of habitat and also poor early summer weather.
Another high priority species is the rare great yellow bumblebee, which has also been seen at Scrabster. It is also proposed to plant other flowers such as mouse ear hawkweed, bird’s foot trefoil and scabious to enhance the mix of wild flowers already growing in the area to provide nectar for both butterflies and bees.
The project is being led by senior countryside ranger Mary Legg on behalf of the Caithness Biodiversity Group, with support from the Scrabster Harbour Trust. It is funded through the council’s Landfill Communities Fund.
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