Off the wonderfully-named Flowbog Road towards the south western end of the Belfast Hills lies the Local Nature Reserve of Slievenacloy. The site is also designated as an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI), and comprises 125 acres of unimproved, upland meadows and heath managed by the Ulster Wildlife Trust. If you visit in June, as I did, you will be enthralled by wild flowers, butterflies, moths and birdlife: not to mention the outstanding views.
I parked alongside the main entrance and began to stroll up the hill into the site. Fields of species rich grassland and damp meadows stretched out either side of the path. Their lure proved irresistible, and soon I was climbing stiles to wander through the meadows, rather than looking at them from a distance. I was able to see at close quarters the hordes of common spotted orchids, the pinkish tufts of ragged robin and the sharp spear-like leaves of the rushes. Species with ‘meadow’ in their name were also very much in evidence: meadow buttercup, meadow vetchling and meadow sweet, for example - not to mention the numerous meadow brown butterflies.
I was watching the butterflies: ringlets, common blues and a single rather bedraggled green-veined white butterfly, when my attention was caught by a flash of bright orange. A dark green fritillary was flying irregularly across the meadow. This is a striking species – its orange wings, marked with black edges and black spots, seem to glow in the sunshine. My specimen settled on the flowers of marsh thistle, just as I spotted a second one feeding on white clover nearby. Its wings were half closed, affording me a glimpse of the silvery spots and the olive-green tinge on the underside of its wings. It is this colouring that gives rise to the name dark green fritillary.
As I climbed up through the fields I came across drier areas with finer, sparser grass – less competition for the ox-eye daisy, self heal and heath bedstraw growing there. There were masses of red clover, covered in feeding white-tailed bumble bees, and I discovered spikes of twayblade and greater butterfly orchid. Despite its name, the latter species is pollinated by moths rather than butterflies. Among the most distinctive and visible day flying moths at Slievenacloy are the burnets. I saw a number of narrow-bordered five spot burnets, which are less common in Northern Ireland than their six spot relatives. Both species have dark blue fore wings with cerise-coloured spots (five or six on each fore wing), but are difficult to distinguish when flying.
Eventually, I tore myself away from the meadows and rejoined the main path, refocusing my attention from the flowers and creatures beside me to what I could see along the horizon. The Mourne Mountains peeped out from behind the rather ugly netting frame that encloses the landfill site of the former Aughrim Quarry. Turning southwards I took in Slieve Gullion, Stoneyford Reservoir, Lough Neagh and the Sperrins beyond.
There are three colour-coded walks around the reserve - I was following the blue trail, which led me through a gate and up Priest’s Hill, my progress watched by a group of cattle. The rough pasture around me gradually gave way to heath: a mosaic of ling heather, bilberry, purple moor grass, cotton grass (bog cotton), Sphagnum moss and numerous sedges, dotted with the subtle colours of heath speedwell and tormentil. Small heath butterflies were plentiful. It seemed as if I was disturbing one with every step. These small insects never stay at rest for long – they flit from stem to stem, hardly pausing long enough for me to have a decent look or to focus my camera on them.
Despite the attempts of several clegs to feast on my bare arms, I enjoyed the entertainment provided by meadow pipits and skylarks singing, and swifts performing high speed flypasts. I also continued to be impressed by the views: Divis and Black Mountain to the north and across to Scrabo tower at Newtownards. I followed the route down to the Stoneyford River, which turned out to be a rather modest affair and then turned back westwards to the old farmstead in the centre of the property. There, the only mature trees on the site were full of chaffinches, coal tits and willow warblers. A final dark green fritillary appeared to wish me farewell before I left this fascinating reserve.
As I passed the meadows on my way out I thought about the waxcap fungi that grow there and for which Slievenacloy is renowned. These little species are often described as the orchids of the fungi world, for they come in various shades of red and orange. They are indicative of ancient, unfertilised grasslands and no less than twenty-three species have been recorded on this site. I vowed to return in late summer to search for them.