"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

16 June 2007

Each week the Rampant Scotland Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather and the seasons, plus the flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. This separate "colour supplement" displays some more pictures, in a larger format. Here is this week's crop of Scottish views!


Regular readers of this Colour Supplement will know that I have paid a number of visits to Culzean Castle and its Country Park - seven times in the last ten weeks! But every visit has offered something new to see - like these stunning white paeonia (peony) in the walled garden. There is a border with a large collection of these - there's another paeonia at the end of this page, but I could have filled it with these great blooms!


Since early May when the Orange Tip butterflies were still dancing around, these insects have been conspicuous by their absence, with only a few faded and tattered Peacock butterflies surviving after their winter hibernation. So it was with some delight that this Painted Lady was spotted at the nature reserve at Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire. They don't overwinter in Scotland and migrate here from the Mediterranean.


Pyrrhosma Nymphula is better known by its common name of "Large Red". It is one of only two red damselflies in Britain (the other one is the Red-eyed Damselfly). Damselflies are usually smaller than dragonflies and the Large Red grows to just 3.6 centimetres (just under 1½ inches) long. Yes, the camera got quite close!


This young robin looks most incongruous, with its fluffy feathers and round body. It was hopping on the ground at the Royal Society for the protection of Birds reserve at Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire. It seemed to be totally unafraid of us humans and came right over beside us, before eventually flying off. It is a mystery how those short stubby wings could support that rotund body!





Most of the clover we see growing in the fields and by the side of roads is white with a pink or dark brown at the foot of the petals. The attractive red variety is not seen so often.


There are usually plenty of Greylag geese landing at lochs and on fields in central Scotland. Some take up residence but we don't often see Canada geese like these ones here at Drumpellier Country Park. There was a large flock of them, but they didn't stay long.


Here's another white Paeonia - but quite different from the one at the top of the page. No space for the pink ones this week!

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





Where else would you like to go in Scotland?








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