Homing in the gloaming.
One of several flocks of geese heading for the safety of the loch after a long day on the fields.
#bird #birds #birdphotography #scotland #scottishwildlife #AngusGlens #wildlife #naturephotography #nature

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, though not the best view. It appears very lacking in red, only v small patch on underbelly, so may be a juvenile female. Heard it calling before seeing it in the air. It then sat above us untroubled for a few minutes before flying off at speed. So few birds about by woodland around Cocksburn Reservoir. Really scary for the future! Relieved to see this one at least. #ScottishWildlife #ScottishBirds #woodpeckers

Forest Bug, aka Red-legged Shieldbug yesterday, which is reported to be herbivorous, feeding mostly on the sap of Oaks, although on other broadlespaf trees too.. Usually lives along woodland edge. #ScottishWildlife #InvertFest
More info on it here:
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bugs/forest-bug

Lots of Common Darters by Cocksburn Reservoir today, males, like this one, glowing in the sunshine. #ScottishWildlife #InvertFest #dragonflies

Although it’s been pleasantly warm and sunny today, signs of autumn are all around too. Some trees showing first signs of leaves colouring from night frost, Hawthorn’s berries now fully ripe /ruby red, and bramble flowers beginning to turn pink too. #ScottishWildlife #berries #autumn

Numbers of Speckled Wood butterflies have increased so much in our area this year, that I can just about ID them from their zany flight pattern. They seem to really like sheltered spots, as do I, of course. More info on them here, including caterpillar food plant- grasses. https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/speckled-wood
#ScottishWildlife #InvertFest #butterflies

He said, no photos please!!! 😜 #bird #birds #birdphotography #naturephotography #nature #wildlife #scotland #scottishwildlife #AngusGlens #Pheasant

Lime Tree seeds and Sweet Chestnut Tree flower spike and nuts seen by Darn Walk between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan recently. The Lime was seeding profusely, the Sweet Chestnut only sparsely, as not really warm enough here for profuse flowering/ nutting. #ScottishWildlife #Trees

I said no photographs please!!! 😂
#bird #birds #birdphotography #naturephotography #nature #wildlife #scotland #scottishwildlife #AngusGlens #Pheasant

Think this might be Blackening Waxcap fungus, Hygrocybe conica. Usually a fungus of grasslands or dunes, but here was below beech trees, not exactly confirming the ID. However, not thriving too well there, maybe suffering fom drought. Seeing a group at all stages of blackening is normal for this species, as here. #ScottishWildlife #FungiUK More info on it here:
https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/hygrocybe-conica.php

Goats and wheatears.

#mountaingoat #wheatear #sailmhor #antealleach #scottishwildlife #scottishbirds #nature

Water Mint by a burn near Doune yesterday, but can be seen in lots of ditches, by ponds etc. Photo is from a different day/ location, but always lovely to see, and to crush and sniff a small piece of leaf, if you can do so with feet still dry. Flowers July onwards. #ScottishWildlife #ScottishWildflowers #wildflowers

Golden Eagle

On my way home after running a workshop on Mull, I decided to take a detour around some moorland near Inverness.

I certainly got lucky when I spotted two golden eagles circling a hillside, and was surprised to see one drop down into the heather.

Moments later, it took flight with a mountain hare dangling from its talons.

#GoldenEagle #eagle #scotland #scottishwildlife #wildlifephotography

Think this is Thread-leaved Water Crowfoot, at Gartmorn Dam recently. Daisy-like flowers, and it likes slow-moving waters. It has rounded seedheads which become covered with bristles. A bit more about it here:
https://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/thread-leaved-water-crowfoot

#ScottishWildlife #ScottishWildflowers #AquaticFlowers

Field Scabious, photo 1, and Devil’s Bit Scabious, photo 2 are both very appealing to me. Second half of the summer is their time, when other widlflowers are going past. Makes them extra valuable for pollinators as well as for people. #ScottishWildlife #ScottishWildflowers #Wildflowers

A beezer of a Shaggy Inkcap fungus a few days ago by path between Macrae Monument and Dykedale, by Dunblane. Height 30cm. Just beginning to deliquesce already. (Wonderful when botanical artists use its Shaggy Inkcap ink to produce illustrations of the species!) #ScottishWildlife #FungiUK

This was a lovely Hoverfly on Native Hogweed recently in Doune area. Might be Epistrophe grossulariae, which is recorded on NBN Atlas Scotland in our area. Has a wide body and a short tail. Also, thorax is a dullish green, and grossulariae in Latin name refers to gooseberries so presumably means gooseberry-green. (The things you learn from posting!!) #ScottishWildlife #InvertFest #Hoverfly

And here’s another attractive but very different fungus, a bit like a button! Think it is Entoloma genus, but not sure what species. These were growing in amongst the Wax-caps posted a few minutes ago. #ScottishWildlife #FungiUK

A friend helped me find this perennial flowering plant, Hemp-agrimony, growing in a very sheltered south-facing wildish site near Alva. It is native to parts of the UK, a Red-Listed native plant for Great Britain but described as an ‘Escape’ in Scotland. So it is a bit of oddity, Red-Listed, but not on the Scottish Biodiversity List. Described as attractive to butterflies, in a similar way to Buddleia. Always learning new things! #ScottishWildlife #ScottishWildlfowers #Wildflowers

Posted with photos a few weeks ago about development of Broad-leaved Helleborine flower spikes. Here are those photos again but this time including seedpod stage! (Open photos right up.) #ScottishWildlife #ScottishWildflowers #Wildflowers