April Ramble & Chat This month we'll Ramble & Chat through Almondell Country Park, searching for wild flowers and still on the lookout for Signs of Spring.

March Ramble & Chat Join us on Sunday 08 March for a nature walk with a focus on learning to identify trees. The event is suitable for beginners, and children are welcome when accompanied by a responsible adult. Meeting point: We will meet at the path next to Howden House Google Maps:…

Please sign the petition to end the Guga hunt: protectthewild.org.uk/gannet-petit...

Pics from yesterdays walk to see Rob Roy's putting stone. I didnt notice the face on the stone until later! The stone is massive (house sized) which unfortunately is hard to tell without any people beside it for scale! #scotland #trossachs #RobRoy

#FridayBee a fluffy bumblebee foraging on a purple flower #BeeFriday #pollinators 🐝🌺

#thicktrunktuesday #calderwood #westlothian #ancientwoodland 🌳

February Ramble & Chat We’re back in Almond Park, Craigshill for our walk this month. We’ll be on the lookout for signs of spring - like snowdrop flowers and tiny hazel catkins - and hoping for a good blether as well. When: Sunday 8th February, 2-3.30pm Where:  Almond Park in Craigshill. We’ll…

#insectthursday a small copper butterfly seen last September in Edinburgh - only 5 months ago but feels like a year! #citynature #cemetery

#thicktrunktuesday in the Meadows 🌳

#BeeFriday a white-tailed bumblebee from August last year - feeding on something that I don't know the name of but bees seem to like! 🐝💮🌺🌸 #FridayBee #summertime #nature

#insectthursday a red admiral butterfly feeding in late summer last year 🦋🔆🪷

As we’re deep in the Januaryuaryuary slump, let’s pool our local knowledge. What are your best tips for getting through the month in Edinburgh on a budget? Looking for: 🍟 Cheap eats & hidden gems 🖼️ Free days out/frugal fun 🤝 Shared resources & community advice Drop your suggestions below! 👇

Here’s a delightful duo from Portugal 🇵🇹 🐛 & 🦋 of the Spanish Festoon #NatureWithin

#insectthursday where we flip back through our photos to summer sunny days 🌞😀🦋🏵🌸🌼

Seven Seven-spot Ladybirds pretending to be Holly berries on a wet day. #WildWebsWednesday

Our Ramble&Chat event this month spent an hour birdwatching at the Almond Pools in Livingston. We recorded: tufted ducks, goldeneye, teal, little grebes, coots, moorhens, mallards, a heron and a buzzard! We counted the totals and uploaded the records using BirdTrack app! @btoscotland.bsky.social

AVNA monthly Ramble & Chat. 2nd Sunday of each month, 2pm 🌼 January - birding at Almond pools 🌼 February - signs of spring, Craigshill 🌼 March - Howden Park 🌼 April - bat walk (tbc) 🌼 May - butterflies at Woodmuir (tbc) 🌼 June - pond dipping in Murieston

A big city garden beech tree for #thicktrunktuesday 🌳

A year in the life of a distinctive little oak tree that I regularly pass. #4seasons

Good morning from Edinburgh today where there was a shepherd's warning about something! #StGilesCathedral #Scotland

#insectthursday a very small solitary bee on a daisy 🐝

#thicktrunktuesday I was impressed by this big tree 🌳 sitting beside Loch Katrine in the Trossachs.

Some calm winter days make for perfect walks. One of my favourite woodlands #easterbreichwood #midwinter #westlothian

When in doubt, Add more tulips 🤍🌿🌷🌿🤍 #TulipTuesday 🌷💫🌷

Without winter we would not be so appreciative of the summer! #woodsinwinter #Calderwood #ancientbirch

Once upon a time it was summer!🐝#BeeFriday a red-tailed male bumblebee from July which seems so long ago!🐝Happy Friday! #moustache #Fridaybee #bumblebees #summertime

POSTPONED until next weekend - Sunday 18th January 🦢🦉🦆

January 2026 Ramble&Chat Come birding with us! We're visiting the River Almond pools for our January outing. Bring along your bird ID books and binoculars (your bins in birding talk!) and we'll try to identify the different species and contribute some biological records while we're there. We'll…

Posting a pic of c.4000 yrs old Clava cairns for midwinter solstice today. The sunrise would be aligned to the opening of the cairns today #bronzeage #cairn #history #Scotland

A bit late but I've had a hell of a day, so here's my offerings for #SquirrelSaturday with a set of Red Squirrels from near Penrith. #mammals #photography #EastCoastKin #naturephotography #ukwildlife #wildlifephotography

The little wonders of nature 🌱 Green is the color of hope; let's hope we never lose it 💚 #nature #photography #forestfriday #thelittlethings #EastCoastKin

#beeFriday It's not often I feel like offering advice to a bumblebee but it did look like it was time to return to the nest 😄 #Fridaybee

My first needle-felted Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, made in 2017. I'll attach a few close-up photos in the comments. #birds #bird #cockatoo #needlefelt #felting #art #sculpture #wool #parrot #handicraft #craft

#insectthursday three species sharing the last of the flowers in the kirkyard in September 🦋🐝🦟

Ah Edinburgh! How I adore thee and your beautiful trees 😊... but it is still November! This 2 months long Christmas thing is simply too much 😟

An ichneumonini, parasitic wasp. Just 👀 at his antennae! I had to flick back to September for the photo. #insectthursday #thestrangeworldofinsects

When I absolutely should be doing something else and get drawn back in to Bluesky again 😄 Here is a photo from beautiful Morar in Scotland from last week.

#thicktrunkTuesday a big old sycamore tree standing alone amongst the pines. Its ready for winter!

A ray of sunshine for An Sgurr on Eigg this afternoon. #Scotland

Halloween🕷🎃

To me, this almost seems like the floral equivalent of an ice cream sundae. But maybe that's just me. #photography #flowers #bloomscrolling #flowersarenoticecream

Nog eentje uit de vlindertuin in Grevenmacher😍 🦋 #butterfly #natuur

#ForestFriday #Autumn #Herbst im #Wald

#BeeFriday Would you like to see an Icelandic bumblebee? Sure you do! Here's a pic of the only one I saw in September last year. I was beginning to question what was doing the pollinating until I saw it! What tough little creatures they are 😊🐝 #Fridaybee #invertebrate

This Sunday at 2pm 👇😀 #westlothian #SSSI #Calderwood #naturewalk #Ramble&Chat #autumn

#thicktrunktuesday this tree guards the entrance to a bridge over the railway at Culloden Wood.

I'd love to know what's going on here! What's making these patterns? Anyone know? #bugsky #wychelm #invertebrate

My sunflower finally got there! It was the only one to have grown from the several that I planted. The photo on the left is from Wednesday, and on the right photo taken on Friday. #SundayYellow #sunflower

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) mushroom in Stockhill Wood near Priddy, a short drive from #Bath #Somerset #UK #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #ukwildlife #bathnature #fungi #mushroom #flyagaric

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light." -Helen Keller