Erosion

Walking towards Dumbarnie Links noticed that the sandy bank at the top of the beach had partially collapsed leaving the root system of this small tree completely exposed.

New Year's Day at Dumbarnie Links.

World War II tank traps at the eastern edge of Dumbarnie Links surrounded by a winter lochan.

The New Year ushered in a beautiful day, cold and frosty to start with but warming up by midday. After lunch parked in the old station car park at Lower Largo and set off along the railway track. The good weather had brought out many other like-minded walkers - the Temple Car Park was full and the beach was busy. The track was very muddy in places from all the recent rain and the winter lochans at Dumbarnie Links were as extensive as I have ever seen them.
Dumbarnie Links Wildlife Reserve is a small area of calcareous dune grassland in the centre of Largo Bay managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. In Winter, hollows with short, rabbit-grazed turf and moss, become flooded to form 'winter lochans' as the underground water-table rises.

Large winter lochan at the centre of Dumbarnie Wild Life Reserve.

Largo Law in the background.

The coastal path goes through the reserve but today the sign was marooned.

Normally take the path through the reserve, but today (not being prepared to wade!!), had to make for the beach.

Looking back to Lower Largo from the beach with the Lomond Hills beyond.

Looking east to Ruddon's point.

Rainbow Over Largo Bay

The sunshine and showers weather yesterday produced this rainbow over Largo bay looking from Lower Largo Pier towards Dumbarnie Links. 

Searching for Butterflies

Common Blue Butterfly - Dumbarnie Links.

Presumably because of the wet, rather cold weather there has been a distinct lack of butterflies in the garden this year and even though there are many buddleia bushes in Lundin Links village, I haven't seen

any butterflies on the flowers. This morning, with the Big Butterfly Count in mind, decided to walk along the old railway lines to Dumbarnie Links, to try for better luck there. There were quite a lot of meadow browns, flashes of blue from the common blue, a few whites and tiny day-flying moths and also some 6-spot burnets but not as many as last year. Unusually no peacocks or red admirals.

Meadow Brown Butterfly on Self-heal - Dumbarnie Links

Meadow Brown Butterfly on Scabious Flower

Meadow Brown Butterfly - Dumbarnie Links

6-Spot Burnet on Knapweed Flower.

Small tortoiseshell on thistle flower on the return walk along the track

Not a very clear photo but I think this is a green-veined white, again on the old railway track..

Art Amongst the Dunes

Sometimes people leave their creations for everyone to enjoy - this one of shells and stones on the Massney Braes in Lundin Links.

This striking sculpture of flotsam, jetsam and litter stands high on the dune between Dumbarnie Links and Shell Bay. I took this picture last year but I think that it is still there.

Views from the Walk to Dumbarnie Links

 Looking inland to Largo Law

 Looking across the Forth to North Berwick Law

 A nice sky over Largo Bay

 Lochans in Dumbarnie Links. Normally these are seen in the winter, but we had so much rain in the early part of August that the water-table must be very high.

The hard heads and yellow flowers make a colourful display. Yellow daisy flowers are difficult to identify but I think from the lanceolate leaves that these are smooth sow thistle

More Lepidoptera

Six-spot Burnet Moth (Zygaena filipendulae) on Scabious. Walking along the disused railway track in Lower Largo, saw a number of these moths. Knapweed and scabious seemed to be the flowers that were attracting them.

 Treble-bar Moth (Aplocera plagiata) This pretty silver grey moth was in the hedge in the garden.

 A ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) butterfly, a little bit tatty, at the edge of the disused railway track .

Not a very good picture but I think this is a dark green fritillary (Argynnus aglagia) taken in Dumbarnie Links.

Dumbarnie Links - Dune Stabilisation

On Sunday we parked at Shell Bay and walked to Dumbarnie Links from East to West. We normally walk from Lower Largo. We passed a dune stabilisation area, which we hadn't seen before.

The fencing traps the sand and allows plants to re-establish.

Dumbarnie Links

The winter lochans at Dumbarnie Links are now quite extensive, presumably because of the melt water from Largo Law, which can be seen in the background in the picture below. There is flooding of some of the footpaths through the site. The Coastal Path Sign has become marooned.

Winter Lochans, Dumbarnie Links

Snow on Largo Law Again

View of a snowy Largo Law taken from Dumbarnie Links

It snowed last night but didn't lie for long at lower levels, however, Largo Law had a snowy cap.

Winter Lochans - Dumbarnie Links

Looking from Dumbarnie Links Wildlife Reserve over the wartime defences to a winter lochan.

An extensive partly frozen winter lochan at Dumbarnie Links yesterday, with Largo law in the background. In winter these lochans are formed in the hollows of short rabbit-grazed turf and moss.

A redshank and its reflection at the edge of the winter lochan.

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

Icy Weather

Icy patch within the rocks.

Very cold and icy morning. It's not often that there's ice lying on the beach here but today a lot of the rock pools were frozen.

Frozen winter lochan Dumbarnie Links.

In the Dumbarnie Links Wildlife Reserve, hollows with short, rabbit-grazed turf and moss, become flooded in winter to form 'winter lochans' as the underground water-table rises. Today these were frozen.

Snow on the Lomond Hills, seen from the disused railway line in Lower Largo.

The Lomond hills look quite close in this picture but they are several miles inland to the North-West. The two hills East and West Lomond also look very close together but the ridge between the two is actually 4 miles in length. East Lomond at 434 metres (1471 feet) overlooks the village of Falkland at its foot. West Lomond is the highest point in Fife at 522 metres (1713 feet). It is the more exposed and looks to have more snow on it.

A Mossy Bank

A mossy bank - Dumbarnie Links Wildlife Reserve

In the winter, when so much of the vegetation is drab and brown, the brilliant green of the mosses stands out.

Close-up picture of the moss. (Click on photo for larger image)

Dumbarnie Links - Land Snails

Land snail shells from Dumbarnie Links (Click on Photo to see larger image)

Dumbarnie Links Reserve is a small area of calcareous dune grassland in the centre of Largo Bay and according to the information board there are 25 species of land snail living amongst the dune grassland. This includes two rare species, the colourfully patterned heath snail and the tiny cylindrical whorl snail.

The photo shows the shells of just a few that I came across on the sandy path through the reserve. Most numerous was the brown-lipped banded snail (top left). The number and spacing of bands is very varied and they are sometimes absent. Top middle is the common or garden snail. I'm not sure about the identification of the others. Some may be variants of the banded snail. The small snail bottom left is the only one to have a hollow - the umbilicus - on its underside.

Dumbarnie Links

Dumbarnie Links Wildlife Reserve sign. A pill-box, a legacy of the Second World War can be seen in the background.

Dumbarnie Links Reserve is a small area of calcareous dune grassland in the centre of Largo Bay. It is a habitat of a type that used to be much more extensive along the East Coast of Scotland., (before so much of it was turned into golf courses!!). The reserve is rich in a large variety of plants and wildlife. The site was purchased in 1998 by the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) with help from Fife Council, and is open to the public at all times. The reserve can only be reached on foot from Lower Largo or Shell Bay in Elie.

Map showing the position of Dumbarnie Links in Largo Bay. (Click to enlarge)

Winter Lochan.

In Winter, hollows with short, rabbit-grazed turf and moss, become flooded to form 'winter lochans' as the underground water-table rises. The above picture was taken a few weeks ago, but I plan to make further visits during the year, to see more of the flora and fauna. The map and information is based on that in the SWT leaflet.