"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

Each week the Rampant Scotland Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather, flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. There are so many such graphics worth including that a separate "colour supplement" is created so as not to totally overload the Newsletter. Here is this week's crop!

Great Crested Grebe

This male Great Crested Grebe is now coming out of its winter colours and developing its courtship plumage. Soon, the head plumes will look more like Mickey Mouse ears - all the better to impress his mate. Their courtship dance is quite complex and involves presenting water weed to one another and rising out of the water. Last year, the Grebes at Drumpellier Country Park failed to raise a family as the water levels rose at the wrong time and flooded the nest. Here's hoping they will be more successful this year - the young regularly hitch a ride on the backs of their parents. The Great Crested Grebe in this picture had been diving to catch some fish - hence the water droplets on his back.

Daffodils and Rhododendron

The Firth of Clyde and the hills of Argyllshire can be seen in the distance in this shot of the daffodils and rhododendrons in Finlaystone Country Estate in Inverclyde.

Pansy and Lesser Celandine

Here, the bright sunshine is casting a shadow of a Lesser Celandine into the petals of the Pansies.

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Some of last year's Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies have hibernated over the winter and have been emerging over the last month, usually on the (few) warm days. They tend to look a bit bedraggled and have bits missing from their wings. This butterfly, and a number of its companions, seen this week in a field below Stirling Castle, is in perfect condition, and is probably one of the new breed to hatch out in the spring.

Magnollia Stellata

Perhaps not as showy as the larger, pink varieties, Magnolia Stellata nevertheless manages to produce an impressive number of flowers.

Parrot Tulip

The wide variety of tulips available nowadays is staggering. This is a so-called Parrot Tulip, growing in the walled garden in Finlaystone Country Estate.

Ranunculus

Clearly related to the Buttercup, these Ranunculus flowers have almost a metallic sheen to their petals.

If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page



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