Emily Richens
@emilyrichens.bsky.social
Ecologist, keen birder, rower and lover of the great outdoors 🍁🌍
Based in Highlands 🏴
Based in Highlands 🏴
Last month we moved house and these are our new neighbours!! Also recently had our first White-tailed Eagle over the garden and a cracking sighting of a Barn Owl from the sofa!
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
September 16, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Last month we moved house and these are our new neighbours!! Also recently had our first White-tailed Eagle over the garden and a cracking sighting of a Barn Owl from the sofa!
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
A driver I met in Tana, Madagascar 1yr ago promised me bird stamps he’d collected. He later passed them to my friend who travelled there - and now I’m finally in possession of these beautiful artworks!
September 7, 2025 at 4:17 PM
A driver I met in Tana, Madagascar 1yr ago promised me bird stamps he’d collected. He later passed them to my friend who travelled there - and now I’m finally in possession of these beautiful artworks!
A day trip on the Ullapool-Stornoway ferry last wknd with @matt-eade24.bsky.social & Matt Broadbent; glassy conditions meant cetaceans were easily spotted with lunge-feeding Minkes stealing attention from the deck. A single Leach's made an appearance near Priest Island as well as G & Arctic Skua.
August 30, 2025 at 4:08 PM
A day trip on the Ullapool-Stornoway ferry last wknd with @matt-eade24.bsky.social & Matt Broadbent; glassy conditions meant cetaceans were easily spotted with lunge-feeding Minkes stealing attention from the deck. A single Leach's made an appearance near Priest Island as well as G & Arctic Skua.
Great to find Field Gentian (Gentianella campestris) in Sutherland today! I’ve seen plenty on the continent but they are scarce in Britain due to our overgrazed and mismanaged grasslands. Let’s hope this one survives to seed this year.
#wildflowers #britishwildlife #botany #scottishflora
#wildflowers #britishwildlife #botany #scottishflora
July 10, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Great to find Field Gentian (Gentianella campestris) in Sutherland today! I’ve seen plenty on the continent but they are scarce in Britain due to our overgrazed and mismanaged grasslands. Let’s hope this one survives to seed this year.
#wildflowers #britishwildlife #botany #scottishflora
#wildflowers #britishwildlife #botany #scottishflora
Enjoyed another afternoon with White-faced Darters. They’re so skittish but after a while lying on the ground I befriended this individual who seemed to enjoy the limelight, even tucking into dinner in front of my lens! Also found nationally scarce Bee Robberfly (Laphria flava) - an added bonus!
June 26, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Enjoyed another afternoon with White-faced Darters. They’re so skittish but after a while lying on the ground I befriended this individual who seemed to enjoy the limelight, even tucking into dinner in front of my lens! Also found nationally scarce Bee Robberfly (Laphria flava) - an added bonus!
Female Adder found on my hike over a bog, not necessarily the place I’d expect to see one!
June 26, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Female Adder found on my hike over a bog, not necessarily the place I’d expect to see one!
Lovely day spent hunting down rare orchids and Odonata with several new species for me inc Coralroot and Small White Orchids, White-faced Darter and Northern Emerald. Fantastic day in the pinewoods and bogs!
@matt-eade24.bsky.social @dragonflydamselfly.bsky.social
@cairngormsnews.bsky.social
@matt-eade24.bsky.social @dragonflydamselfly.bsky.social
@cairngormsnews.bsky.social
June 21, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Lovely day spent hunting down rare orchids and Odonata with several new species for me inc Coralroot and Small White Orchids, White-faced Darter and Northern Emerald. Fantastic day in the pinewoods and bogs!
@matt-eade24.bsky.social @dragonflydamselfly.bsky.social
@cairngormsnews.bsky.social
@matt-eade24.bsky.social @dragonflydamselfly.bsky.social
@cairngormsnews.bsky.social
Always good to explore ‘new’ places on our doorstep! Lovely warm afternoon walk in a secluded pinewood, what’s not to like?
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
June 20, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Always good to explore ‘new’ places on our doorstep! Lovely warm afternoon walk in a secluded pinewood, what’s not to like?
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
Why is this not a crime? Appalling and upsetting to see road verges strimmed to the ground. Beautiful species-rich grassland destroyed at its peak. Yet, just up the road is a verge left aside for nature, supporting @mariecurieuk.bsky.social
What is the absurd reason behind this @highland.gov.uk ?
What is the absurd reason behind this @highland.gov.uk ?
June 14, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Why is this not a crime? Appalling and upsetting to see road verges strimmed to the ground. Beautiful species-rich grassland destroyed at its peak. Yet, just up the road is a verge left aside for nature, supporting @mariecurieuk.bsky.social
What is the absurd reason behind this @highland.gov.uk ?
What is the absurd reason behind this @highland.gov.uk ?
You can go out searching all you like, but sometimes wildlife comes to you! We had the pleasure of this stunning Azure Hawker yesterday, an uncommon species found in the Highlands.
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
June 13, 2025 at 4:37 AM
You can go out searching all you like, but sometimes wildlife comes to you! We had the pleasure of this stunning Azure Hawker yesterday, an uncommon species found in the Highlands.
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
@matt-eade24.bsky.social
A cracking week reminding me how lucky I am; there aren’t many places you can see Osprey, Black-throated Divers and Hen Harrier in the same view!
And today saw my first Black-throated Diver chicks (tiny black fluffballs!) and my second ever pair of Wood Sands in Scotland 😄
#birdingscotland
#birds
And today saw my first Black-throated Diver chicks (tiny black fluffballs!) and my second ever pair of Wood Sands in Scotland 😄
#birdingscotland
#birds
June 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM
A cracking week reminding me how lucky I am; there aren’t many places you can see Osprey, Black-throated Divers and Hen Harrier in the same view!
And today saw my first Black-throated Diver chicks (tiny black fluffballs!) and my second ever pair of Wood Sands in Scotland 😄
#birdingscotland
#birds
And today saw my first Black-throated Diver chicks (tiny black fluffballs!) and my second ever pair of Wood Sands in Scotland 😄
#birdingscotland
#birds
Always a joy to hear a Wood Warbler belting out its song! This one was very obliging for photos (and patient considering my inability to get the exposure right & manual focus)
#birdingscotland
#birds
#birdingscotland
#birds
May 18, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Always a joy to hear a Wood Warbler belting out its song! This one was very obliging for photos (and patient considering my inability to get the exposure right & manual focus)
#birdingscotland
#birds
#birdingscotland
#birds
Brilliant to see a Pearl-bordered Fritillary near Inverlael en route up to Beinn Dearg yesterday! They’re a BAP priority species and definitely worth looking out for!
May 11, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Brilliant to see a Pearl-bordered Fritillary near Inverlael en route up to Beinn Dearg yesterday! They’re a BAP priority species and definitely worth looking out for!
Smashing Ptarmigan views up Beinn Dearg today! 😍
May 10, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Smashing Ptarmigan views up Beinn Dearg today! 😍
Great Goldie sightings today - both Plover and Eagle! 😅
May 9, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Great Goldie sightings today - both Plover and Eagle! 😅
Quite literally stumbled across this otter today!! Think we were both as surprised as each other! Amazes me how they manage to vanish so easily, even more so considering this was an enclosed waterway up on top of a hill…
May 8, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Quite literally stumbled across this otter today!! Think we were both as surprised as each other! Amazes me how they manage to vanish so easily, even more so considering this was an enclosed waterway up on top of a hill…
Beinn Eighe always delivers fantastic views, but hiking with Calum Urquhart always means investigating bryophytes - this time a rare liverwort called Northern Prongwort only found on this mountain massif!!
April 26, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Beinn Eighe always delivers fantastic views, but hiking with Calum Urquhart always means investigating bryophytes - this time a rare liverwort called Northern Prongwort only found on this mountain massif!!
Wonderful views of my first Grasshopper Warbler this year singing its chest out! Also first Green Hairstreak on the wing and a very obliging Green Tiger Beetle allowed for a photo.
#birdingscotland
#birdingscotland
April 21, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Wonderful views of my first Grasshopper Warbler this year singing its chest out! Also first Green Hairstreak on the wing and a very obliging Green Tiger Beetle allowed for a photo.
#birdingscotland
#birdingscotland
Chuffed with this find! A freshly emerged Emperor moth! My first in to the UK!
April 9, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Chuffed with this find! A freshly emerged Emperor moth! My first in to the UK!
I’ve learnt something new about fungi - well, that this one isn’t one, but a lichen…
At first I thought waxcap, but I believe this is Lichenomphalia umbellifera, a species which associates with a green alga amongst moss and decaying conifer wood. Found in montane areas in N America and Europe.
At first I thought waxcap, but I believe this is Lichenomphalia umbellifera, a species which associates with a green alga amongst moss and decaying conifer wood. Found in montane areas in N America and Europe.
April 1, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I’ve learnt something new about fungi - well, that this one isn’t one, but a lichen…
At first I thought waxcap, but I believe this is Lichenomphalia umbellifera, a species which associates with a green alga amongst moss and decaying conifer wood. Found in montane areas in N America and Europe.
At first I thought waxcap, but I believe this is Lichenomphalia umbellifera, a species which associates with a green alga amongst moss and decaying conifer wood. Found in montane areas in N America and Europe.
A great day began with Rannoch Sprawler (a Red List species only found in a handful of sites including here near Glen Affric) followed by displaying Sparrowhawks, hundreds of migrating Pinkies, wonderful views of a hunting fox, and my first Swallows of 2025!!
April 1, 2025 at 6:22 PM
A great day began with Rannoch Sprawler (a Red List species only found in a handful of sites including here near Glen Affric) followed by displaying Sparrowhawks, hundreds of migrating Pinkies, wonderful views of a hunting fox, and my first Swallows of 2025!!
Loved watching these Purple Sandpjpers jostling on the rocks as the tide encroached (I got a soggy foot too); clearly their hierarchy forced one off their island to swim to shore!!
#birdingscotland
#birdingscotland
March 21, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Loved watching these Purple Sandpjpers jostling on the rocks as the tide encroached (I got a soggy foot too); clearly their hierarchy forced one off their island to swim to shore!!
#birdingscotland
#birdingscotland
They may be LBJs but I love this trio of Corn Buntings, a bird which has experienced huge declines over recent decades. Happily they are doing well in areas including Aberdeenshire.
#birdingscotland
#birdingscotland
February 24, 2025 at 8:05 AM
They may be LBJs but I love this trio of Corn Buntings, a bird which has experienced huge declines over recent decades. Happily they are doing well in areas including Aberdeenshire.
#birdingscotland
#birdingscotland
A fantastic view of my first Green-winged Teal after work today with @matt-eade24.bsky.social photographed just before it flew off with the Eurasian Teal (left). A lovely end to a day where I also had a fab Merlin sighting!
#birdingscotland
#birdingscotland
February 17, 2025 at 5:33 PM
A fantastic view of my first Green-winged Teal after work today with @matt-eade24.bsky.social photographed just before it flew off with the Eurasian Teal (left). A lovely end to a day where I also had a fab Merlin sighting!
#birdingscotland
#birdingscotland