Haggis Highway: Blue Butterfly Traditional Cache

Part of the Haggis Highway trail and part of a series of events as shown below, please do not look for or log this cache before Thursday 4th October.

Thank you and happy caching from the Highland Haggi team.

To celebrate the creation of this section of the Haggis Highway events will take place on 13th and 14th October 2012.

The events are as follows:
Inverness ~ Dinner GC3PYR5 - Saturday 13th October from 17:00, 18:00 for dinner
Bridge of Brown ~ Lunch GC3PRW9 - Sunday 14th October from 12 noon ~16:00

When I initially pulled into this layby to check if there was anything interesting here I was disappointed by the amount of rubbish that some people leave behind and was just about to leave when I spotted a whole 'bunch' of Blue Butterflies dancing around the wildflowers and debris.

The Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) is a small butterfly of the genus Lycaenidae which is widespread over much of the Palaearctic. Recently though it was discovered in Quebec, Canada by an amateur entomologist who contacted the Canadian National Collection of Insects, they identified it as a new alien butterfly to Canada and North America. It seems to be well established and extending it's range from year to year.  For a small blue butterfly that's some epic flight it made across the Atlantic to establish itself in Northern America!

There is also a small waterfall which runs off the hill  to join the Allt Dearg before it heads into the river Beauly and out into the Beauly Firth. The area also has many stone circles marked on the ordnance survey maps.