"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

8 September 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!


Spotted Flycatchers can be found in most parts of Britain but their numbers declined by 78% between 1970 and 1998, so they are not often seen. Distinguishing it from other birds of a similar size and colouring can sometimes be difficult, but their habit of sitting on a favourite fence, flying off when they spot an insect to catch and returning to the same perch is often a give-away.


The harbour at Anstruther in the East Neuk of Fife is still a base for a few commercial fishing boats, but most of the craft moored here these days are leisure craft owned by weekend and casual sailors.


This has been a bad year for butterflies, so it was a pleasure to find this Small Copper in good condition. After a while, many butterflies lose bits of their wings (either to birds or crashing off branches) and colours can fade.




This fishing vessel "Britannia" was built at Buckie in Moray, north-east Scotland, in 1952. She worked around the coast of Scotland and is now recorded in the National Register of Historic Vessels database which contains information about all surviving historic vessels in the United Kingdom.


When they are darting around gardens and the countryside, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the various varieties of white butterflies. But when at rest (on the seeds of thistles, as in this photograph) the black markings on the wings confirm that this is a "Large White" rather than the more numerous "Small White" variety. There is also a "Green Veined White" which has these distinguishing markings on the underside of its wings.


Shining out like a beacon, this Rudbeckia in the walled garden at Cambo Estate responded to the warmer weather and greater amount of sunshine this week.

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





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