Red fox

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Lancashire

Red fox (Vulpes vulpes), National Trust Formby, Lancashire.
Red foxes live in a burrow system called an 'earth'. They scent-mark their territorial borders with urine, creating a very strong, recognisable odour. They also have scent glands on their feet to mark well-used trails so they can follow them easily at night.

18 October 2006

Red squirrel eating a nut

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Lancashire

Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) eating a nut, Formby, Lancashire. The National Trust site at Formby near Southport is a local hotspot for Red squirrels amongst a sea of Grey squirrels.
The Red squirrel is easily distinguished from the Grey squirrel by its smaller size, reddish-brown fur (although it can look darker and duller in the winter) and tufts of hair on the end of the ears.

18 October 2006

Red squirrel burying a nut

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Lancashire

Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) burying a nut in preparation for the winter, Formby, Lancashire

18 October 2006

Hare’s-tail Cottongrass, Ben Vrackie

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Pitlochry, Loch Faskally and Ben Vrackie

Flower heads of Hare’s-tail Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum) in bud, Ben Vrackie

30 April 2006

Twenty Acres, RSPB Loch Lomond

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215

Loch Lomond - RSPB Loch Lomond

Twenty Acres - compartment 10, RSPB Loch Lomond, looking towards the West Wards Farm and Duncryne, taken by David Palmar.

07 June 2023

Yellow Flag Iris and Duncryne, RSPB Loch Lomond

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215

Loch Lomond - RSPB Loch Lomond

Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus) in Twenty Acres - compartment 10, RSPB Loch Lomond, a habitat suitable for butterflies, taken by David Palmar.
In the background is Duncryne, a crag and tail landform. The crag is an old volcanic neck - probably Carboniferous - and the tail, being in the lee of the hard crag rock, has escaped as much glacial erosion by the last ice age in the region of 10,000 years ago.

07 June 2023

Hare’s-tail Cottongrass and Cross-leaved Heath, Leadburn Community Woodland

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Midlothian - Leadburn Community Woodland

Hare’s-tail Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum) and Cross-leaved Heath (Erica tetralix), taken by David Palmar on the raised bog at Leadburn Community Woodland, Penicuik. The former is the caterpillar food plant and the latter is a nectar source for the Large Heath butterfly, which can be seen here in June.

25 June 2022

Raised bog at Leadburn Community Woodland

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Midlothian - Leadburn Community Woodland

Part of the raised bog at Leadburn Community Woodland, Penicuik, taken by David Palmar. Here many trees have been removed and drainage ditches blocked with peat dams, to rewet the bog and restore it so that it can sequester carbon and provide good habitat for the Large Heath butterfly.

25 June 2022

Raised bog at Leadburn Community Woodland

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378

Midlothian - Leadburn Community Woodland

Part of the raised bog at Leadburn Community Woodland, Penicuik, taken by David Palmar

25 June 2022

Hare’s-tail Cottongrass on the raised bog at Leadburn Community Woodland

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Midlothian - Leadburn Community Woodland

Hare’s-tail Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum), taken by David Palmar on the raised bog at Leadburn Community Woodland, Penicuik.
This is the caterpillar food plant for the Large Heath butterfly, which can be seen here in June.

25 June 2022