Rare species discovered at Ellisland & Nith Life Midsummer nature event

A special midsummer event at Ellisland Farm has revealed just how rich the site’s natural environment remains — with rare moths, kingfishers and even a bat roost spotted during an evening of wildlife exploration.

The event, delivered in partnership with local environmental group Nithlife, invited visitors to explore the riverside walks created during Robert Burns’s tenancy in 1788. Guided walks and nature monitoring focused on the flora and fauna that still thrive in the poet’s beloved surroundings.

One of the highlights came courtesy of naturalist Malcolm Haddow from the South West Scotland Environmental Information Centre, who set moth traps around the site. His efforts recorded an astonishing 82 different species and around 500 individual moths, including several rare and nationally significant discoveries.

Among the notable finds:

• Bluebell Shade (Eana incanana) – first ever recorded in Dumfriesshire
• Small Marbled (Eublemma parva) – a very rare migrant with only a handful of Scottish records
• July Belle (Scotopteryx luridata) – scarce in Dumfriesshire
• Broom-tip (Chesias rufata) – a species declining both locally and nationally

Malcolm described it as “one of the best moth trapping sessions I’ve had this year,” and expressed interest in returning for future events.

The evening also featured bat monitoring with Faith Hillier from the Galloway and South Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere. A Soprano Pipistrelle bat roost was recorded in one of the historic buildings at Ellisland, with 95 bats observed emerging at dusk.

Local ecologist and Nithlife volunteer Ben Hobman led walks along the river and delivered a fascinating talk on the aquatic richness of the Nith and its tributaries. Attendees enjoyed the twilight atmosphere with refreshments in the midsummer dusk.

Joan McAlpine, Project Director of the Robert Burns Ellisland Trust, said:

“Ellisland has always inspired creativity – and now it’s inspiring conservation. The landscape that fed Burns’s poetic imagination continues to offer wonder and discovery. We’re thrilled to work with Nithlife and experts like Malcolm and Faith to share this with the wider public.”

“We’ll be feeding these important findings to the design team working on the site’s restoration, to ensure that Ellisland’s precious ecology is fully protected.”