I am not a particular fan of football but oh my goodness was I pleased when I woke to the 1 - 4 result this morning. Just retribution Mr T.

Alan H today picked #Cutie and Alt #TheWaitingGame for today's #BirdOfTheDay. For cutie - mum Eider Duck with her chicks and for the Alt - a Razorbill, just waiting. #IsleOfMay

Didn't think much of this Harvestman's camouflage, sitting bang slap in the middle of a large Nettle leaf! Rilaena triangularis (at least I think it's that!) at Bawsinch nature reserve last Friday @scotwildlife.bsky.social @vannabartlett.bsky.social can you confirm?

A fave wild flower, Wood Vetch (Ervilia sylvatica). Ancient woodland indicator. Better recording since 60s shows losses across much of its range & local declines. I've seen it in two @scotwildlife.bsky.social reserves. There are other locations in Lothians. @bsbiscotland.bsky.social

Alan's #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #TheArtOfSurvival Birds finding food, avoiding predators, enduring weather or raising young. Here Kestrel carrying prey, La Gomera, 10yrs ago. The Alt is #LivingLandscapes where the environment is as important as the bird. Same for both.

Spider in the bath in our hotel at the w/end, nr Peebles. IDed as Textrix denticulata, hope I'm right. Love its smiley face! I managed to trap it with a tumbler and bit of loo paper, despite it moving very quickly, released it from its bath prison! Will iRecord. @britishspiders.bsky.social

Long-eared Owl? Can anyone confirm? Last night just the one, tonight two answering each other, or young ones possibly? @btoscotland.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social

Short video of the storm last night. It stayed over #Edinburgh for half an hour. Blinding white sky. #Nature at its best. @metoffice.gov.uk

The storm last night. Never seen the like of it before, anywhere. Screenshots of videos. Started at 0245, by 0315 it was flash after flash after flash #edinburgh #nature @metoffice.gov.uk

Goodbye sun, hello #haar. Seen from Midmar allotments 1/2 an hour ago. #Edinburgh @metoffice.gov.uk

Another good year for the migrant Painted Lady. How they manage that journey across the Channel and up as far as the Outer Hebrides is anyone's guess. @savebutterflies.bsky.social

How many live mealworms can he get in his beak at once! Must be feeding a big family. Robin is usually there first and fights off Sparrows but clearly thought twice about the Blackbird and went for a drink instead. Mustn’t lose face! @bto-gbw.bsky.social #ukwildlife

#BirdOfTheDay theme today, set by Rob @robcrank68.bsky.social, is #OutForAWalk, any bird captured walking. A confiding Moorhen walking along the lochside at Linlithgow Loch. Also walking but appropriate for the Alt theme of #Gulls, a 1st winter Black-headed Gull. #BirdingScotland #nature

We now have a number of sightings of sick red squirrels in Dollar, which we suspect to be squirrelpox. We have not yet had this confirmed by post mortem, but a recent video captured shows a red with symptoms of squirrelpox and we have ruled out some other likely causes, including leprosy.

Dollar area. Please read full string

Apart from live mealworms, apples and fat balls/suet blocks, no other bird food being put out. At last some newly fledged - Great Tits. Had young Starlings earlier, no bandit Long-tailed Tits yet. @bto-gbw.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social #Edinburgh

Hermand Birchwood nature reserve, West Lothian on 13/06/2026 @scotwildlife.bsky.social with @edinburghnats.bsky.social. Lots to see, unseasonal cold wind 'feels like 9C' didn't put us off. At least it stayed dry. IDs in the Alt descriptions. @bsbiscotland.bsky.social

Has anyone ever heard of adult Robin feeding another adult, apart from part of mating ritual? This one’s been feeding (live mealworms) t’other one every day for 3 weeks. Also I think they are feeding chick/s in nest. @bto-gbw.bsky.social #VineHouseFarm @rspbscotland.bsky.social #BirdingLothian

Passed #PentlandPlants often, never went in. Until yesterday. Staff available if we had a question, friendly, helpful, masses of happy plants, bee friendly, trees, etc. Good shop, no tacky stuff & cafe with home made food, Cullen Skink smoked haddock direct from Musselburgh. No more Dobbies for us.

I just counted 0 bugs on my 34.88km journey using the #BugsMatter app! I'm helping scientists measure #insect declines! @twic.bsky.social #buglife

Hope they prosecute. A lesson for all dog owners who refuse to use a lead when in nature reserves and areas with breeding birds. @btobirds.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @scotwildlife.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social #BirdingScotland www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/e...

Adult Alpine Newt, Ichthyosaura (or Mesotriton?) alpestris, seen at Bawsinch NR, Edinburgh on 10/05/2026, under a log which I had turned over. @twic.bsky.social @scotwildlife.bsky.social @arc-trust.bsky.social

Hot off the BBC news this afternoon: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Flash-talk at Glasgow NHS 175yr celebration #GlasgowScienceFestival on Sat. Toby Miller 'Clyde in the Classroom and Beyond'. Local children get their hands muddy, feet wet, exploring & learning what lies in their local river, the Clyde. What a great way to educate our naturalists of the future.

This Sat, members of Edinburgh Natural History Society are attending Glasgow's Science Festival: Rediscovering Natural History - an event also in celebration of Glasgow Natural History Society’s 175th anniversary. Come and say hi, find us near our poster www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/glasgow-sc...)

Bugs Matter. Download the app to record the bugs splatted on your vehicle during a journey, long or short, over the summer. #buglife #ukwildlife #naturecommunity www.buglife.org.uk/get-involved...

I put a small handful of suet pellets and mealworms down for the Robins, feeding young in the nest. Sorry wee Speug, you’re not getting any. @btogbw.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social

2 juvenile and 2 adult Herons fishing at Duddingston Loch a week ago. Adult's bill just visible behind the juv in first pic. @birdinglothian.bsky.social @scotwildlife.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social

Update: The Robins are feeding young in nest. Watching them to-ing and fro-ing, I dug up another bit of ground. One of them brought out a faecal sac and deposited it on the washing line. @bto-gbw.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social

Not a fan of new garden bird feeding regime. Robin tried to get into squirrel-proof fat ball feeder cos no food on ground for it or its mate. Newly-fledged Robin 2 days ago but not since. Dug a patch of earth & they both got grubs. Best I can do. @bto-gbw.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social

A distinctive cranefly, Epiphragma ocellare, at Bawsinch NR @scotwildlife.bsky.social seen on 22 and 26 May this year, also 28 May last year (recorded). Cryptic circle pattern on its wings reminds me a bit of female Orange-tip's wing underside @dipterists.bsky.social

AlanH's #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #NegativeSpace, the subject occupies only a small portion of the frame, with empty or simple surroundings playing an important role in the composition. Alt is #Solitude, a single bird deep in thought. Both photos apt for both hashtags! Loch Teacuis, Morven

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme (set by Rob Crank) is #Podicipedidae, any of the species. The Alt Theme is #Paridae, any of the species. Three for Podicipedidae and one Paridae. Names in alt text.

14-spot Ladybird, Propylea quattuordecimpunctata, on Butterbur leaf, seen at Bawsinch NR yesterday. @scotwildlife.bsky.social @ukladybirds.bsky.social

Wood Vetch, Vicia sylvatica, at Woodhall Dean ten days ago not in flower but just beginning to flower at Bawsinch yesterday. Both @scotwildlife.bsky.social nature reserves. Delightful flower. @bsbiscotland.bsky.social

AlanH's (he has asked us not to tag him) #BirdOfTheDay theme is #SingForYourSupper any bird singing. The alt is #EFGH any bird name with any of these letters at the beginning of their names. Wren at Bawsinch NR, Edinburgh and Willow Warbler at Tullochgrue, Invernessshire #ECK

#Hedgehogs clearly doing well at Bawsinch NR @scotwildlife.bsky.social. This dropping is chocka full of beetle wing cases. Common Red Ant, Myrmica rubra getting in on the act (top right). @mammalsociety.bsky.social @hedgehogsociety.bsky.social

Following the massive wildfires last year across the Dava Moor area, there has been a huge bloom of Cottongrass, making for some very surreal black and white landscapes! #Cairngorms

#BirdOfTheDay theme today is #Grassland any bird pictured with grass. The alt is #red any bird with red in its plumage. Alan has asked us not to tag him into posts as he's inundated! Just use the birdoftheday and alt tags. He says thank you. I'm doing grass.

Other work by the Ladybird artists. ‘Wren’ Artist: CF Tunnicliffe

Just in time for today's pick by @robcrank68.bsky.social 's #BirdOfTheDay. Today's theme is #WingsWideOpen, any bird with it's wings open wide, Alt Theme is #Laridae, any of the species. I'm going with the Alt Theme but thrown in a WingsWideOpen for good measure (still Laridae)! #IsleOfMay

#Swifts this am 19/05/26 in south #Edinburgh. This date is about avge +/- a few of days. First Recorded arrival 2025 was 15 days earlier than prev year on 12/05/25. Pic last yr. #BirdingScotland @birdinglothian.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social

At last I'm at my computer for #wildflowerhour! Greater Stitchwort, Crosswort, Forget-me-not sp, native Bluebell. Woodhall Dean, @scotwildlife.bsky.social nature reserve. @bsbiscotland.bsky.social

Carrion beetle x3, Woodhall Dean @scotwildlife.bsky.social NR y'day with ENHS. 1.Caterpillar-hunter, Dendroxena quadrimaculata (told about it) exciting find. 2.Red-breasted Carrion Beetle, Oiceoptoma thoracicum. 3.Common Snail-hunter, Phosphuga atrata. @ashwhiffin.bsky.social @colsocbi.bsky.social

From my recent visit up north, Ant Beetle, Thanasimus formicarius. Seen on gravestone in Migvie Kirkyard, South Aberdeenshire, 03/05/2026. Recorded on #iRecord via #CemeteryWildlifeWatch activity.

Ruth Tingay's commentary at the end is a must read. raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/05/14/s...

Two Swifts at Skateraw y’day around 1pm, flying low, westwards. No photos, except pic in my head. Recorded by @battybirder.bsky.social. @birdinglothian.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social

Cannae whack a good Scots Pine wood for #WoodlandWednesday

Greater Celandine Chelidonium majus, I've only seen the one plant at Bawsinch NR, Edinburgh. It is well hidden, growing underneath a Juniper bush. Why is it called 'celandine' when it's not in the Ranunculaceae family? @scotwildlife.bsky.social @bsbiscotland.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social