BREAKING NEWS! The Scottish Wildlife Trust has acquired a 7,618ha estate in the Highlands. Read the full story: buff.ly/3QD6hBu #WorldWildlifeDay

I am looking forward to the #hoverfly season starting again - in NE Scotland, that is. Like other #invertebrates, many species only have a limited flight period and following species coming and going from spring to autumn can be a great joy. #biodiversity

Nice t have a good news story from Mar Lodge Estate! #biodiversity #noticing

I've been following #CemeteryWildlifeWatch for years and even though I have been recording lichens and mosses in churchyards I would never find any ladybirds. @persmiseth.bsky.social suggested to look under under overhangs and I found these two in my local graveyard. #scottishlichens #biodiversity

Metzgeria fruticulosa on a beech nearby. Note the gemmae at the leaf tips. This #liverwort seems to spread into NE Scotland as I am finding it more and more. #scottishlichens #scottishbryophytes #biodiversity #epiphytes #noticing

The #liverwort Metzgeria furcata on a tree near Banchory. Abundant male reproductive feature (the globose features on the lobes) that I never noticed before. Have the environmental conditions changed and are new genetic makeups required? #scottishlichens #scottishbryophytes #biodiversity #epiphytes

Did you know that #ScotlandsRainforest is particularly important for bryophytes? This is an umbrella term for mosses, liverworts and hornworts, simple plants that are studied together because they have a lot in common. 📖 more ➡️ savingscotlandsrainforest.org.uk/wildlife/bry...

Today I'm showcasing the beauty of Moths for #MacroMonday with this gorgeous Buff Ermine; Butterflies don't tend to be furry, but some moths are, just look at its fluffy cape!🤍 Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful new week🕊️ 📷 🌿 #Photography #Inverts #MothMonday #MothsMatter #UKWildlife #wildlife

There's always a wow moment when arriving on the west coast of Scotland as there's usually lots of Lobaria pulmonaria and Ricasolia virens to be found on trees, rocks and walls. #LichenGBI

Lochside trees at Loch Insh NNR. Intrigued by hawthorn scrub in which the branches are a cloud of #lichens, while the trunks have a thick cover of #bryophytes. The loch provides humidity, with the trunks being most humid and the domain of mosses. #scottishlichens #riverwoods #lichenGBI #biodiversity

Creag Meagaidh NNR, Scottish Highlands. Alnus glutinosa - Fraxinus excelsior - Lysimachia nemorum alderwood. Both the burn and the root nodules of #alder generate a degree of natural eutrophication that is reflected in the #bryophyte flora. #scottishlichens #riverwoods #biodiversity #bryophytes

It is nice to look back sometimes. This quartet of images come from 2014 & the launch year of our exclusive butterfly tour of the Eastern French Pyrenees. We can't wait to get back there with our guests again! 🦋 Names on photos, other than the first, which is the unmistakable Violet Copper.

Baeomyces rufus is common beside our moorland streams here in VC62.

An interesting online talk by Becky Yahr, former president of the British Lichen Society and research scientist at the RBGE. #scottishlichens #lichenGBI #lichen #fungi #biodiversity

Within birch and pine woodland, aspen provides welcome #lichen diversity as its bark is basic rather than acidic. Ramalina species are common, but there was also some nice Physconia and a crustose Lecanora species covered in the black dots of a lichenicolous lichen. #scottishlichens #lichenGBI

This group in Cumbria is among the most active lichen and bryophyte groups in Britain. I am deeply impressed by the amount of species they're recording and the number of less common species they find. #lichenGBI #scottishlichens #biodiversity

This is the recording of the talk on the importance of archaeological and historical monuments for #lichens and #bryophytes I did for the #ScottishWildlifeTrust. Always happy to collaborate on this theme. #scottishlichens #lichenGBI #archaeology #geology #scottishbryophytes #historicscotland

This is inspiring work by Craig and the BLS Strathclyde Lichen Group. Depending on the habitat 30 lichen species for a monad can be quite a challenge. Reedbeds and grassland are usually not where one would look for lichens first.

Pinhead #lichens on a conifer snag in Maryculter Woods - most likely Chaenotheca brunneola (pale) and Calicium viride (greenish). These tend to be dead wood specialists that are more commonly found in central and eastern Scotland. #scottishlichens #lichenGBI #deadwood #biodiversity

Over the last five years the team at WildLand Cairngorms has tracked the movements of raptors in this landscape. They can see that these birds have travelled extensively – with some Golden Eagles being tracked as far as the Inner Hebrides! bit.ly/TreasureAndC... @cairngormsnews.bsky.social

The Cetraria sepincola in Maryculter Woods is still hanging on. Quite literally, as this #lichen species prefers to grow on the most brittle of birch twigs that often snap when you try to have a look at it. Not finding the species that often. #scottishlichens #lichenGBI #biodiversity

The rock marking the boundary of the #Cairngorms close to Dinnet sums up the geological and lichen story of upper Deeside pretty well as it contain indicators of upland conditions, acidic and metal-rich rock, and nutrient-rich conditions. #scottishlichens #lichensGBI #lichens #biodiversity #geology

Finding Water Rails anywhere in Aberdeenshire 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿can be quite challenging. However, out with the RSPB Aberdeen & District Local Group today at Girdleness, we popped over to St. Fittick’s Park where two birds put on a real show for the group #UKBirding #RSPB #BirdingScotland

In several parts of Muir of Dinnet NNR there are areas with aspen and each of these has less common lichen and bryophyte species on them. Last year Oliver Moore found the very rare Nyholmiella gymnostoma on one of these aspen. #scottishlichens #scottishbryophytes #mosses #lichens #biodiversity

The slightly overhanging rock faces along the Vat Burn at Muir of Dinnet NNR are host to some characteristic lichen and moss species that I have not (or hardly ever) found further down Deeside. #scottishlichens #lichens #biodiveristy #scottishbryophytes #nature #geology

🦋 A new study by JNCC & @ukceh.bsky.social reveals how atmospheric #NitrogenPollution is affecting butterfly & moth populations across the UK 🔗 bit.ly/JNCCreport775 The data underpinning the study was taken from long-term monitoring schemes such as @ukbms.bsky.social, highlighting their importance.

A stocky brown bird rockets up from just in front of your feet, but is it a Common Snipe, or its rarer relative Jack Snipe? Let us help you tell the two apart with our ID video ➡️ https://bit.ly/Snipe_ID #Winterwatch #UKBirding #Birds

Look, I'm not the only one caught out by frosty conditions!

I really love listening to the hooting of tawny owls at night. They were quiet most of January, but started again two nights ago. #birds #biodiversity

Due to weather, this moss walk at Muir of Dinnet NNR has been postponed until Saturday 1 February, 11 am to 1 pm. A few places have become available. Please contact the reserve manager directly (see email below) if you fancy coming. #scottishlichens #scottishbryophytes #biodiversity #mosses

When you visit Muir of Dinnet NNR to prepare a guided walk and the mosses you're meant to talk about look like this ... An absolutely stunning landscape, bitterly cold, but the weather may need to change before that guided walk. #scottishlichens #scottishbryophytes #biodiversity #bryophytes #mosses

Epiphytic lichens play an important role in stemming the flow of water and nutrients from riparian ecosystems. They capture stemflow before it can be absorbed by tree roots . Water absorption by lichens is immediate, but release is much slower (hours or days). #scottishlichens #riverwoods #lichens

Thinking about riparian habitat today, and how lucky I am to be surrounded by upland rivers, smaller streams, wet woodland and fen. Realizing how little I actually know about the ecological dynamics of riparian habitat and how these affect lichens and bryophytes. #scottishlichens #riverwoods

What intrigues me is that lichens and mosses are not just tiny (composite) organisms, but they are their own ecosystem with tiny fungi living on them, often parasitically.

We are thrilled to share with you our new videos, which highlight the work of the National Biodiversity Network Trust (NBN Trust) and also the National Biodiversity Network. Please watch and share! www.youtube.com/watch?v=KynJ... #MakingDataWorkForNature #EnterpriseDevelopmentProgramme

I was watching birds on the rocky shore at Stonehaven yesterday. The tide was out and the birds were too far away to get a good view, but I'm sure they were present.

Follow up on last night's talk 3/3. A blog post reflecting on the role lichens play in the rock cycle by way of physical and chemical weathering. #scottishlichens #lichens #nature #scottishwildlifetrust #geology #shiehallion

Follow up on last night's talk 2/3. The blog post reflecting on some of the lichens I found on hillfort at the Barmekin of Echt. Upland species in a lowland setting and the exchange of species between similar hilltops nearby. #scottishlichens #lichens #nature #archaeology #scottishwildlifetrust

Follow up on last night's talk 1/3. Forestry and Land Scotland published a blog on the lichen and bryophyte survey I did for them of Caisteal Grugaig, discussing the various niches inherent in the structure of a broch and how lichens and bryophytes respond to them. #scottishlichens #lichens #nature

Temperate rainforests are treasure troves of wildlife ✨🌳 They are magical all year round, but there’s something special about visiting this globally important habitat on a bright winters day 🔅 👉 bit.ly/3qWxdT2 📷Temperate rainforest at @nationaltrust.bsky.social Shaugh Bridge

A quick visit to Garlogie Stonecircle yesterday to get ready for tonight's talk for the Scottish Wildlife Trust. The ringcairns in the centre are an introcate interplay between low boulders, gravel and soil and attract a wide range of mosses and liverworts. #scottishlichens #scottishbryophytes

On Saturday 25 January NatureScot has invited me to do a bryophyte walk along the Burn o' Vat Trail at Muir of Dinnet NNR. There may only be a few spaces left, so please book soon by emailing NatureScot at [email protected].

The Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire group of the Scottish Wildlife Trust invited me to do a webinar on archaeological and historical monuments as habitat for lichens and bryophytes this Thursday - 16 January - at 7.30 pm. You can sign up via the weblink below.

A transect through Aberdeen in December, mainly to look at epiphytic mosses. Syntrichia papillosa was the big surprise. I had hardly any records for the species for Aberdeenshire, but it is abundant in Aberdeen, the more so in the least green neighbourhoods. Does it like dusty environments?