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!
Whooper Swan families are now arriving from their summer breeding grounds in Iceland in some numbers. The young cygnets born earlier this year are recognisable by their lack of the distinctive yellow bills of their parents.
Having flown over 700 miles across the sea from Iceland, the Whooper Swans were very hungry when they arrived and pushed their way to the front whenever anyone appeared with any food. Even the resident Mute Swans at Hogganfield Loch in Glasgow were no match for the newcomers.
That sleek, streamlined body make Goosanders fast swimmers, allowing them to catch fish underwater with ease.
The small Black-headed Gull looks graceful and attractive sitting here in the water. But like all gulls, it is noisy and aggressive and, given the chance, will grab food from the mouths of any other birds not quick enough to get away.
If the Goldeneye manages to grab any bread thrown into the water, its technique to avoid the diving seagulls is simply to dive under the water where it is perfectly adapted to swallowing there!
Perhaps it's just that we tend to see more sunsets at this time of year (sunset is around 4.30 pm in central Scotland at the moment), but there do seem to be more opportunities in November for some impressive photographs of the sun dipping towards the horizon and lighting up the clouds.If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page
