Scottish Ecologist
@scottishecologist.bsky.social
Scotland 🏴 is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world.
My job & hobby - identifying weird cool things 🌿🍄🐦🦀🐝🐾
My job & hobby - identifying weird cool things 🌿🍄🐦🦀🐝🐾
Ground nesting european robins (found by my colleague Lewis, way back in May) ❤️
They grow their characteristic red feathers in late summer, around three months old.
The spring after their birth, they are considered mature, and will establish their own territories to begin breeding.
📍West Lothians
They grow their characteristic red feathers in late summer, around three months old.
The spring after their birth, they are considered mature, and will establish their own territories to begin breeding.
📍West Lothians
November 26, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Ground nesting european robins (found by my colleague Lewis, way back in May) ❤️
They grow their characteristic red feathers in late summer, around three months old.
The spring after their birth, they are considered mature, and will establish their own territories to begin breeding.
📍West Lothians
They grow their characteristic red feathers in late summer, around three months old.
The spring after their birth, they are considered mature, and will establish their own territories to begin breeding.
📍West Lothians
Sulphur tuft 💛🖤
Common, non-edible and can be used as a dye to provide a light lemon yellow shade.
They also glow when viewed under a UV light!
📍Fife, Scotland
Common, non-edible and can be used as a dye to provide a light lemon yellow shade.
They also glow when viewed under a UV light!
📍Fife, Scotland
November 25, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Sulphur tuft 💛🖤
Common, non-edible and can be used as a dye to provide a light lemon yellow shade.
They also glow when viewed under a UV light!
📍Fife, Scotland
Common, non-edible and can be used as a dye to provide a light lemon yellow shade.
They also glow when viewed under a UV light!
📍Fife, Scotland
Few people have enough land to restore natural processes without intervention. While rewilding is about stepping back and letting nature take over, renaturing acknowledges our role in assisting ecological processes along.
October 24, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Few people have enough land to restore natural processes without intervention. While rewilding is about stepping back and letting nature take over, renaturing acknowledges our role in assisting ecological processes along.
porcelain fungus 🤍
grows on beech deadwood
edible (once you wash off the slime that makes it so glossy and cute)
📍Ravelston woods, Edinburgh
grows on beech deadwood
edible (once you wash off the slime that makes it so glossy and cute)
📍Ravelston woods, Edinburgh
October 13, 2025 at 5:22 PM
porcelain fungus 🤍
grows on beech deadwood
edible (once you wash off the slime that makes it so glossy and cute)
📍Ravelston woods, Edinburgh
grows on beech deadwood
edible (once you wash off the slime that makes it so glossy and cute)
📍Ravelston woods, Edinburgh
good camera vs my phone (beaver)
good camera vs my phone (badger)
2025 been good so far seeing my first 🦫 and 🦡 in the flesh!!
However I do not possess the good camera😭 Credits go to Katie and Jackie ©️📸
📍Tayside and Scottish Borders, Scotland 🏴
good camera vs my phone (badger)
2025 been good so far seeing my first 🦫 and 🦡 in the flesh!!
However I do not possess the good camera😭 Credits go to Katie and Jackie ©️📸
📍Tayside and Scottish Borders, Scotland 🏴
October 5, 2025 at 5:04 PM
good camera vs my phone (beaver)
good camera vs my phone (badger)
2025 been good so far seeing my first 🦫 and 🦡 in the flesh!!
However I do not possess the good camera😭 Credits go to Katie and Jackie ©️📸
📍Tayside and Scottish Borders, Scotland 🏴
good camera vs my phone (badger)
2025 been good so far seeing my first 🦫 and 🦡 in the flesh!!
However I do not possess the good camera😭 Credits go to Katie and Jackie ©️📸
📍Tayside and Scottish Borders, Scotland 🏴
No idea what mushroom this is
But I love it ✨🌚
📍Stanley, Perthshire
But I love it ✨🌚
📍Stanley, Perthshire
September 28, 2025 at 6:23 PM
No idea what mushroom this is
But I love it ✨🌚
📍Stanley, Perthshire
But I love it ✨🌚
📍Stanley, Perthshire
Orange Bolete (Leccinum aurantiacum)
Often found under oaks but also under aspen, poplar, birch or beech trees.
EDIBLE
(but obvs don't eat if you haven't done all the checks)
Lots of other fun weird things in this park (a maze, trains, trolls etc)
📍Oakfield Park, Donegal (IRELAND🇮🇪!)
Often found under oaks but also under aspen, poplar, birch or beech trees.
EDIBLE
(but obvs don't eat if you haven't done all the checks)
Lots of other fun weird things in this park (a maze, trains, trolls etc)
📍Oakfield Park, Donegal (IRELAND🇮🇪!)
September 19, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Orange Bolete (Leccinum aurantiacum)
Often found under oaks but also under aspen, poplar, birch or beech trees.
EDIBLE
(but obvs don't eat if you haven't done all the checks)
Lots of other fun weird things in this park (a maze, trains, trolls etc)
📍Oakfield Park, Donegal (IRELAND🇮🇪!)
Often found under oaks but also under aspen, poplar, birch or beech trees.
EDIBLE
(but obvs don't eat if you haven't done all the checks)
Lots of other fun weird things in this park (a maze, trains, trolls etc)
📍Oakfield Park, Donegal (IRELAND🇮🇪!)
Bistort
Goat's beard / Yellow salsify
Broom (peapod)
Corn spurrey
📍Tain, Scotland
Goat's beard / Yellow salsify
Broom (peapod)
Corn spurrey
📍Tain, Scotland
August 25, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Bistort
Goat's beard / Yellow salsify
Broom (peapod)
Corn spurrey
📍Tain, Scotland
Goat's beard / Yellow salsify
Broom (peapod)
Corn spurrey
📍Tain, Scotland
Red admiral (open vs closed) ❤️🫐
Devil's-bit scabious (pink vs purple)🩷🍇
📍 Thurso, Scotland
Devil's-bit scabious (pink vs purple)🩷🍇
📍 Thurso, Scotland
August 8, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Red admiral (open vs closed) ❤️🫐
Devil's-bit scabious (pink vs purple)🩷🍇
📍 Thurso, Scotland
Devil's-bit scabious (pink vs purple)🩷🍇
📍 Thurso, Scotland
White melilot
Common toadflax
Ox-eye daisy
Mugwort
📍the canal that runs through Maryhill, Glasgow
Common toadflax
Ox-eye daisy
Mugwort
📍the canal that runs through Maryhill, Glasgow
July 29, 2025 at 5:26 PM
White melilot
Common toadflax
Ox-eye daisy
Mugwort
📍the canal that runs through Maryhill, Glasgow
Common toadflax
Ox-eye daisy
Mugwort
📍the canal that runs through Maryhill, Glasgow
Harebell
Quaking grass 🩷
Flowering sundew❗
Marsh lousewort 🌿
📍Ben Lawers, middle of Scotland
Quaking grass 🩷
Flowering sundew❗
Marsh lousewort 🌿
📍Ben Lawers, middle of Scotland
July 23, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Harebell
Quaking grass 🩷
Flowering sundew❗
Marsh lousewort 🌿
📍Ben Lawers, middle of Scotland
Quaking grass 🩷
Flowering sundew❗
Marsh lousewort 🌿
📍Ben Lawers, middle of Scotland
In Scotland you get three newt species:
smooth
palmate
and great crested
these here are likely palmate
smooth and palmate can be easily confused due to similar size and markings
but male palmates have blackened, webbed hind feet during breeding season!
📍Dingwall, Highlands
smooth
palmate
and great crested
these here are likely palmate
smooth and palmate can be easily confused due to similar size and markings
but male palmates have blackened, webbed hind feet during breeding season!
📍Dingwall, Highlands
June 24, 2025 at 7:25 PM
In Scotland you get three newt species:
smooth
palmate
and great crested
these here are likely palmate
smooth and palmate can be easily confused due to similar size and markings
but male palmates have blackened, webbed hind feet during breeding season!
📍Dingwall, Highlands
smooth
palmate
and great crested
these here are likely palmate
smooth and palmate can be easily confused due to similar size and markings
but male palmates have blackened, webbed hind feet during breeding season!
📍Dingwall, Highlands
v i s i t o r s 🌿
How many creatures can you name? 👀
📍Fife, Scotland
How many creatures can you name? 👀
📍Fife, Scotland
June 16, 2025 at 7:10 PM
v i s i t o r s 🌿
How many creatures can you name? 👀
📍Fife, Scotland
How many creatures can you name? 👀
📍Fife, Scotland
Machair (prt 2)
Was also dive-bombed by some aggy (but beautiful) lapwings (if you've not heard their calls before, give it a search)
Bird's-foot trefoil
Sea thrift
Scurvy grass
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
Was also dive-bombed by some aggy (but beautiful) lapwings (if you've not heard their calls before, give it a search)
Bird's-foot trefoil
Sea thrift
Scurvy grass
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
June 7, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Machair (prt 2)
Was also dive-bombed by some aggy (but beautiful) lapwings (if you've not heard their calls before, give it a search)
Bird's-foot trefoil
Sea thrift
Scurvy grass
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
Was also dive-bombed by some aggy (but beautiful) lapwings (if you've not heard their calls before, give it a search)
Bird's-foot trefoil
Sea thrift
Scurvy grass
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
Machair is a coastal habitat found on the Atlantic or west-facing shores of Scotland, like in the Outer Hebrides.
It is a type of grassland made up mostly of shell fragments, giving it an incredible beauty.
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
It is a type of grassland made up mostly of shell fragments, giving it an incredible beauty.
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
June 7, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Machair is a coastal habitat found on the Atlantic or west-facing shores of Scotland, like in the Outer Hebrides.
It is a type of grassland made up mostly of shell fragments, giving it an incredible beauty.
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
It is a type of grassland made up mostly of shell fragments, giving it an incredible beauty.
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
Nettle rust fungus 🟡 (𝘗𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢)
Thought this was a mad slug
but it's *just* a fungal disease which can severely distort stinging nettles
Apparently it doesn't harm the plant?!
📍Glasgow, Scotland
Thought this was a mad slug
but it's *just* a fungal disease which can severely distort stinging nettles
Apparently it doesn't harm the plant?!
📍Glasgow, Scotland
June 7, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Nettle rust fungus 🟡 (𝘗𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢)
Thought this was a mad slug
but it's *just* a fungal disease which can severely distort stinging nettles
Apparently it doesn't harm the plant?!
📍Glasgow, Scotland
Thought this was a mad slug
but it's *just* a fungal disease which can severely distort stinging nettles
Apparently it doesn't harm the plant?!
📍Glasgow, Scotland
Good day to be in the field! (prt.2)
Common starwort (lesser stitchwort)
Dame's rocket
Crosswort
Granny's bonnet
📍Lothians, Scotland
Common starwort (lesser stitchwort)
Dame's rocket
Crosswort
Granny's bonnet
📍Lothians, Scotland
June 6, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Good day to be in the field! (prt.2)
Common starwort (lesser stitchwort)
Dame's rocket
Crosswort
Granny's bonnet
📍Lothians, Scotland
Common starwort (lesser stitchwort)
Dame's rocket
Crosswort
Granny's bonnet
📍Lothians, Scotland
Good day to be in the field!
Common fumitory
Shining cranesbill
Ground ivy
📍Lothians, Scotland
Common fumitory
Shining cranesbill
Ground ivy
📍Lothians, Scotland
June 6, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Good day to be in the field!
Common fumitory
Shining cranesbill
Ground ivy
📍Lothians, Scotland
Common fumitory
Shining cranesbill
Ground ivy
📍Lothians, Scotland
BLUE-RAYED LIMPETS
taken with a micro lens on a smartphone 💙
At some cool rockpools in the clearest water I've ever seen in Scotland
the smaller they are the brighter the blue!
📍Berneray, Outer Hebrides
taken with a micro lens on a smartphone 💙
At some cool rockpools in the clearest water I've ever seen in Scotland
the smaller they are the brighter the blue!
📍Berneray, Outer Hebrides
June 5, 2025 at 9:34 PM
BLUE-RAYED LIMPETS
taken with a micro lens on a smartphone 💙
At some cool rockpools in the clearest water I've ever seen in Scotland
the smaller they are the brighter the blue!
📍Berneray, Outer Hebrides
taken with a micro lens on a smartphone 💙
At some cool rockpools in the clearest water I've ever seen in Scotland
the smaller they are the brighter the blue!
📍Berneray, Outer Hebrides
Early purple orchid
Alpine squill
Milkwort
Heath spotted orchid
📍Barra, Outer Hebrides
Early purple orchid
Alpine squill
Milkwort
Heath spotted orchid
📍Barra, Outer Hebrides
June 5, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Early purple orchid
Alpine squill
Milkwort
Heath spotted orchid
📍Barra, Outer Hebrides
Early purple orchid
Alpine squill
Milkwort
Heath spotted orchid
📍Barra, Outer Hebrides
𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘭𝘺𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘰𝘯 (False Puffball)
SLIME MOULD
📍Inverness, Scotland
SLIME MOULD
📍Inverness, Scotland
April 24, 2025 at 8:17 PM
𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘭𝘺𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘰𝘯 (False Puffball)
SLIME MOULD
📍Inverness, Scotland
SLIME MOULD
📍Inverness, Scotland
Red elderberry
Golden saxifrage
Wavy bittercress
Periwinkle
📍West Fife, Scotland
Golden saxifrage
Wavy bittercress
Periwinkle
📍West Fife, Scotland
April 19, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Red elderberry
Golden saxifrage
Wavy bittercress
Periwinkle
📍West Fife, Scotland
Golden saxifrage
Wavy bittercress
Periwinkle
📍West Fife, Scotland
Pyramidal bugle
Turkeytail
Cuckoo flower
𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘢 spp. (algae)
📍Valleyfield, West Fife
Turkeytail
Cuckoo flower
𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘢 spp. (algae)
📍Valleyfield, West Fife
April 19, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Pyramidal bugle
Turkeytail
Cuckoo flower
𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘢 spp. (algae)
📍Valleyfield, West Fife
Turkeytail
Cuckoo flower
𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘢 spp. (algae)
📍Valleyfield, West Fife
The great Scottish countryside ☀️
Did you know Dunnet Head is the most northerly point of the UK (not John o' Groats!) with cool birds and views of Orkney.
Did a bit of a road trip round Caithness / Sutherland before heading down.
Scotland on a sunny day is just 😘
📍Dunnet Head (and the journey)
Did you know Dunnet Head is the most northerly point of the UK (not John o' Groats!) with cool birds and views of Orkney.
Did a bit of a road trip round Caithness / Sutherland before heading down.
Scotland on a sunny day is just 😘
📍Dunnet Head (and the journey)
April 8, 2025 at 6:18 PM
The great Scottish countryside ☀️
Did you know Dunnet Head is the most northerly point of the UK (not John o' Groats!) with cool birds and views of Orkney.
Did a bit of a road trip round Caithness / Sutherland before heading down.
Scotland on a sunny day is just 😘
📍Dunnet Head (and the journey)
Did you know Dunnet Head is the most northerly point of the UK (not John o' Groats!) with cool birds and views of Orkney.
Did a bit of a road trip round Caithness / Sutherland before heading down.
Scotland on a sunny day is just 😘
📍Dunnet Head (and the journey)
Spiral tube worms - a marine polychaete worm (𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘴 spp.) found on seaweed! Teeny wee shells
And some bryozoans creeping in too
📍Golspie beach, Scotland
And some bryozoans creeping in too
📍Golspie beach, Scotland
April 5, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Spiral tube worms - a marine polychaete worm (𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘴 spp.) found on seaweed! Teeny wee shells
And some bryozoans creeping in too
📍Golspie beach, Scotland
And some bryozoans creeping in too
📍Golspie beach, Scotland