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As ever the weather seems to dominate everyone’s conversations this summer. Living in Scotland the weather should never put anyone off wanting to go out and enjoy the countryside and as August always seems a quiet month for wildlife. Now is a good time to head to the coast for a spot of beach combing.

The Solway Firth is an amazing place and as such attracts many visitors. Many people make their living from the Solway either directly or indirectly in some way or another. If we forget the coastline itself and just think about the tidal waters of the Solway. How much do we actually know about what’s out there? I suspect a lot more than other parts of sea around Britain and as such we know its importance to the local economy both in terms of tourism and the local fishing industry. Not forgetting parts are Site of Special Scientific Interest, National Scenic Areas, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, etc.

A report in the national press a few years ago reported a possible sighting of a Great White Shark off the south coast of England and didn’t that cause an awful lot of hype!
This week we have had a juvenile Minke Whale washed up.
Here in the Solway we have our own sharks! But sharks without a bite. Dogfish, of which there are two types the Lesser Spotted and Large Spotted (they do go under other names from time to time) are both harmless even although they are members of the shark family. They can often be found in fishmongers under the name of ‘Rock Salmon’ or ‘Flake’, very popular with some people due to the lack of bones in them.

Similar to ‘real’ sharks dogfish have a series of 5-7 gills along each side of the head, breathing water in through their mouths and emit it through these gill slits. Unlike many fish their fins have no bony rays but are supported by tough cartilage and their entire skeleton is made up of cartilage. Although not as rigid as bone it does look like it and is just as hard. Most fish have swim bladders that allow them to stay buoyant in the water. Sharks however don’t, but compensate for this by having large oil-filled livers which act in the same way as a swim bladder.

Unless you are a fisherman most of us are unlikely to ever see a dogfish, although occasionally you can find one washed up on the shore. So if you fancy a bit of beach combing keep you’re eyes peeled. What you should definitely find on almost any beach tideline are ‘Mermaid’s Purses’. Unlike most other sharks that give birth to live young dogfish lay eggs in egg cases that are known as Mermaids Purses. The females move into shallow water and lay these cases that are around 6cm in length and have a tough leathery look to them with long curling tendrils at each corner. These tendrils become entangled in seaweed and other structures underwater keeping the case safely anchored for nine months or so that it takes of the young dogfish to develop and hatch. The female usually lays 2 at a time, with 6-8 eggs per week during the breeding season from November through to July.

Dogfish are very much an ocean bottom dwelling fish with a liking for sandy, coral type structures, mud, gravel and algal areas. They feed on mainly crustaceans (crabs and shrimps) and molluscs (especially whelks) occasionally small fish and squid.
If you spend time near any freshwater habitat during the summer months I’m sure you too will become enthralled by the antics of those masters of aerial flight, Dragon and Damselflies, after all they are the essence of summer. Dragonflies are among the most ancient of living creatures. From fossil records we know that these amazing insects were flying some 300 million years ago, even before dinosaurs roamed the earth. Over the centuries extensive folklore has seen dragonflies revered in some cultures as symbols of strength, regeneration and pure water, and feared in others as shamanistic creatures with supernatural powers.

Whatever your thoughts are they are beautiful, they also act as indictors to water quality and with the recent threat of ‘blue tongue’ it would bode well to remember that they are an excellent biological control for mosquitoes and midges.

They are some of the easiest species of wildlife to watch. Fascinating, beautiful and quite harmless to humans, they have no sting and will not attack or bite. They are best seen on a nice warm sunny day and no need to get up at some unearthly hour, as they are most active during the hottest part of the day. Males in particular are highly territorial so they don’t fly off never to be seen again the way many species of birds do. In fact if you place a branch at the side of the water within their territory and sit quietly close by it won’t be long before one perches on it. They are very inquisitive and will checkout anything new in their patch. They may even use it to hunt from, making a short dart out to catch prey then returning to devour its catch from that same perch.

They are very colourful creatures making identification relatively easy in many species and as they often allow you to approach very close there is no real need for optical aids. Having said that, a pair of binoculars with close focus of around two metres does give you an added advantage. Personally, I would never encourage anyone to catch and handle them. They may look robust but the use of the wrong type of catching net and incorrect handling and you may well injure or kill the specimen, and that’s the last thing we want.

Keith can do One to One or small group tuition on the use of DSLR cameras in relation to the natural world. Contact him for details.