Scottish Ecologist
@scottishecologist.bsky.social
Scotland 🏴 is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world.
My job & hobby - identifying weird cool things 🌿🍄🐦🦀🐝🐾
My job & hobby - identifying weird cool things 🌿🍄🐦🦀🐝🐾
Turkey tail 💙
Salmon egg slime mould 🧡
Velvet shank 🤎
Porcelain 🤍
📍Roslin Glen, Midlothian
Salmon egg slime mould 🧡
Velvet shank 🤎
Porcelain 🤍
📍Roslin Glen, Midlothian
December 27, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Turkey tail 💙
Salmon egg slime mould 🧡
Velvet shank 🤎
Porcelain 🤍
📍Roslin Glen, Midlothian
Salmon egg slime mould 🧡
Velvet shank 🤎
Porcelain 🤍
📍Roslin Glen, Midlothian
Did not know pine marten could climb trees 😵
📍 a forest in Fife
📍 a forest in Fife
December 23, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Did not know pine marten could climb trees 😵
📍 a forest in Fife
📍 a forest in Fife
Reposted by Scottish Ecologist
✨MEMBER & VOLUNTEER CALL✨
Did you know... for just £15 per year you could join SWBG!
🦫
We are also looking for ✨VOLUNTEERS✨ to help with small tasks - join our network today!
Did you know... for just £15 per year you could join SWBG!
🦫
We are also looking for ✨VOLUNTEERS✨ to help with small tasks - join our network today!
December 23, 2025 at 4:59 PM
✨MEMBER & VOLUNTEER CALL✨
Did you know... for just £15 per year you could join SWBG!
🦫
We are also looking for ✨VOLUNTEERS✨ to help with small tasks - join our network today!
Did you know... for just £15 per year you could join SWBG!
🦫
We are also looking for ✨VOLUNTEERS✨ to help with small tasks - join our network today!
A sea potato!!🥔
(aka heart urchins)🩷
When alive, it's covered in spiny bristles, making it look 'furry'
(this is it's empty shell)
They are echinoderms (same group as starfish, urchins & sea cucumbers)
Found around UK & Irish coasts
📍County Donegal, Ireland
(aka heart urchins)🩷
When alive, it's covered in spiny bristles, making it look 'furry'
(this is it's empty shell)
They are echinoderms (same group as starfish, urchins & sea cucumbers)
Found around UK & Irish coasts
📍County Donegal, Ireland
December 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM
A sea potato!!🥔
(aka heart urchins)🩷
When alive, it's covered in spiny bristles, making it look 'furry'
(this is it's empty shell)
They are echinoderms (same group as starfish, urchins & sea cucumbers)
Found around UK & Irish coasts
📍County Donegal, Ireland
(aka heart urchins)🩷
When alive, it's covered in spiny bristles, making it look 'furry'
(this is it's empty shell)
They are echinoderms (same group as starfish, urchins & sea cucumbers)
Found around UK & Irish coasts
📍County Donegal, Ireland
A series of scallops
📍all over
📍all over
December 12, 2025 at 6:24 PM
A series of scallops
📍all over
📍all over
sleepy vole
a field vole (greyer, smaller ears and shorter tails than the chestnut-brown bank vole) but hard to tell from a quick photo
but the vole seemed very lethargic and still...
I hope it managed to hide again
📍can't remember tbh
a field vole (greyer, smaller ears and shorter tails than the chestnut-brown bank vole) but hard to tell from a quick photo
but the vole seemed very lethargic and still...
I hope it managed to hide again
📍can't remember tbh
December 4, 2025 at 5:24 PM
sleepy vole
a field vole (greyer, smaller ears and shorter tails than the chestnut-brown bank vole) but hard to tell from a quick photo
but the vole seemed very lethargic and still...
I hope it managed to hide again
📍can't remember tbh
a field vole (greyer, smaller ears and shorter tails than the chestnut-brown bank vole) but hard to tell from a quick photo
but the vole seemed very lethargic and still...
I hope it managed to hide again
📍can't remember tbh
Reposted by Scottish Ecologist
I wish more people were aware of this. Considering the scale of the threat, the media's near-silence is both remarkable and culpable.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Hello, foreign oligarchs and corporations! Please come and sue the UK for billions | George Monbiot
The case of a planned Cumbrian coalmine shows how governments around the world are being threatened by litigation in shadowy offshore courts, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:53 AM
I wish more people were aware of this. Considering the scale of the threat, the media's near-silence is both remarkable and culpable.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Ground nesting european robins (found by my colleague Lewis, way back in May) ❤️
They grow their characteristic red feathers in late summer, around three months old.
The spring after their birth, they are considered mature, and will establish their own territories to begin breeding.
📍West Lothians
They grow their characteristic red feathers in late summer, around three months old.
The spring after their birth, they are considered mature, and will establish their own territories to begin breeding.
📍West Lothians
November 26, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Ground nesting european robins (found by my colleague Lewis, way back in May) ❤️
They grow their characteristic red feathers in late summer, around three months old.
The spring after their birth, they are considered mature, and will establish their own territories to begin breeding.
📍West Lothians
They grow their characteristic red feathers in late summer, around three months old.
The spring after their birth, they are considered mature, and will establish their own territories to begin breeding.
📍West Lothians
Sulphur tuft 💛🖤
Common, non-edible and can be used as a dye to provide a light lemon yellow shade.
They also glow when viewed under a UV light!
📍Fife, Scotland
Common, non-edible and can be used as a dye to provide a light lemon yellow shade.
They also glow when viewed under a UV light!
📍Fife, Scotland
November 25, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Sulphur tuft 💛🖤
Common, non-edible and can be used as a dye to provide a light lemon yellow shade.
They also glow when viewed under a UV light!
📍Fife, Scotland
Common, non-edible and can be used as a dye to provide a light lemon yellow shade.
They also glow when viewed under a UV light!
📍Fife, Scotland
Few people have enough land to restore natural processes without intervention. While rewilding is about stepping back and letting nature take over, renaturing acknowledges our role in assisting ecological processes along.
October 24, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Few people have enough land to restore natural processes without intervention. While rewilding is about stepping back and letting nature take over, renaturing acknowledges our role in assisting ecological processes along.
porcelain fungus 🤍
grows on beech deadwood
edible (once you wash off the slime that makes it so glossy and cute)
📍Ravelston woods, Edinburgh
grows on beech deadwood
edible (once you wash off the slime that makes it so glossy and cute)
📍Ravelston woods, Edinburgh
October 13, 2025 at 5:22 PM
porcelain fungus 🤍
grows on beech deadwood
edible (once you wash off the slime that makes it so glossy and cute)
📍Ravelston woods, Edinburgh
grows on beech deadwood
edible (once you wash off the slime that makes it so glossy and cute)
📍Ravelston woods, Edinburgh
good camera vs my phone (beaver)
good camera vs my phone (badger)
2025 been good so far seeing my first 🦫 and 🦡 in the flesh!!
However I do not possess the good camera😭 Credits go to Katie and Jackie ©️📸
📍Tayside and Scottish Borders, Scotland 🏴
good camera vs my phone (badger)
2025 been good so far seeing my first 🦫 and 🦡 in the flesh!!
However I do not possess the good camera😭 Credits go to Katie and Jackie ©️📸
📍Tayside and Scottish Borders, Scotland 🏴
October 5, 2025 at 5:04 PM
good camera vs my phone (beaver)
good camera vs my phone (badger)
2025 been good so far seeing my first 🦫 and 🦡 in the flesh!!
However I do not possess the good camera😭 Credits go to Katie and Jackie ©️📸
📍Tayside and Scottish Borders, Scotland 🏴
good camera vs my phone (badger)
2025 been good so far seeing my first 🦫 and 🦡 in the flesh!!
However I do not possess the good camera😭 Credits go to Katie and Jackie ©️📸
📍Tayside and Scottish Borders, Scotland 🏴
No idea what mushroom this is
But I love it ✨🌚
📍Stanley, Perthshire
But I love it ✨🌚
📍Stanley, Perthshire
September 28, 2025 at 6:23 PM
No idea what mushroom this is
But I love it ✨🌚
📍Stanley, Perthshire
But I love it ✨🌚
📍Stanley, Perthshire
Orange Bolete (Leccinum aurantiacum)
Often found under oaks but also under aspen, poplar, birch or beech trees.
EDIBLE
(but obvs don't eat if you haven't done all the checks)
Lots of other fun weird things in this park (a maze, trains, trolls etc)
📍Oakfield Park, Donegal (IRELAND🇮🇪!)
Often found under oaks but also under aspen, poplar, birch or beech trees.
EDIBLE
(but obvs don't eat if you haven't done all the checks)
Lots of other fun weird things in this park (a maze, trains, trolls etc)
📍Oakfield Park, Donegal (IRELAND🇮🇪!)
September 19, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Orange Bolete (Leccinum aurantiacum)
Often found under oaks but also under aspen, poplar, birch or beech trees.
EDIBLE
(but obvs don't eat if you haven't done all the checks)
Lots of other fun weird things in this park (a maze, trains, trolls etc)
📍Oakfield Park, Donegal (IRELAND🇮🇪!)
Often found under oaks but also under aspen, poplar, birch or beech trees.
EDIBLE
(but obvs don't eat if you haven't done all the checks)
Lots of other fun weird things in this park (a maze, trains, trolls etc)
📍Oakfield Park, Donegal (IRELAND🇮🇪!)
Bistort
Goat's beard / Yellow salsify
Broom (peapod)
Corn spurrey
📍Tain, Scotland
Goat's beard / Yellow salsify
Broom (peapod)
Corn spurrey
📍Tain, Scotland
August 25, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Bistort
Goat's beard / Yellow salsify
Broom (peapod)
Corn spurrey
📍Tain, Scotland
Goat's beard / Yellow salsify
Broom (peapod)
Corn spurrey
📍Tain, Scotland
Red admiral (open vs closed) ❤️🫐
Devil's-bit scabious (pink vs purple)🩷🍇
📍 Thurso, Scotland
Devil's-bit scabious (pink vs purple)🩷🍇
📍 Thurso, Scotland
August 8, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Red admiral (open vs closed) ❤️🫐
Devil's-bit scabious (pink vs purple)🩷🍇
📍 Thurso, Scotland
Devil's-bit scabious (pink vs purple)🩷🍇
📍 Thurso, Scotland
White melilot
Common toadflax
Ox-eye daisy
Mugwort
📍the canal that runs through Maryhill, Glasgow
Common toadflax
Ox-eye daisy
Mugwort
📍the canal that runs through Maryhill, Glasgow
July 29, 2025 at 5:26 PM
White melilot
Common toadflax
Ox-eye daisy
Mugwort
📍the canal that runs through Maryhill, Glasgow
Common toadflax
Ox-eye daisy
Mugwort
📍the canal that runs through Maryhill, Glasgow
Harebell
Quaking grass 🩷
Flowering sundew❗
Marsh lousewort 🌿
📍Ben Lawers, middle of Scotland
Quaking grass 🩷
Flowering sundew❗
Marsh lousewort 🌿
📍Ben Lawers, middle of Scotland
July 23, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Harebell
Quaking grass 🩷
Flowering sundew❗
Marsh lousewort 🌿
📍Ben Lawers, middle of Scotland
Quaking grass 🩷
Flowering sundew❗
Marsh lousewort 🌿
📍Ben Lawers, middle of Scotland
Reposted by Scottish Ecologist
✨Last chance to book tickets!✨
🦫Beaver Trust production "Balancing the Scales"
📽️ THIS FRIDAY 25 July, 7.00 pm (start 7.30pm)
📍Soutar Theatre, York Place, Perth
STAY after for a discussion panel of experts Q&A.
Admission is FREE
(donations welcome)
BOOK HERE: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-scree...
🦫Beaver Trust production "Balancing the Scales"
📽️ THIS FRIDAY 25 July, 7.00 pm (start 7.30pm)
📍Soutar Theatre, York Place, Perth
STAY after for a discussion panel of experts Q&A.
Admission is FREE
(donations welcome)
BOOK HERE: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-scree...
July 23, 2025 at 4:52 PM
✨Last chance to book tickets!✨
🦫Beaver Trust production "Balancing the Scales"
📽️ THIS FRIDAY 25 July, 7.00 pm (start 7.30pm)
📍Soutar Theatre, York Place, Perth
STAY after for a discussion panel of experts Q&A.
Admission is FREE
(donations welcome)
BOOK HERE: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-scree...
🦫Beaver Trust production "Balancing the Scales"
📽️ THIS FRIDAY 25 July, 7.00 pm (start 7.30pm)
📍Soutar Theatre, York Place, Perth
STAY after for a discussion panel of experts Q&A.
Admission is FREE
(donations welcome)
BOOK HERE: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-scree...
In Scotland you get three newt species:
smooth
palmate
and great crested
these here are likely palmate
smooth and palmate can be easily confused due to similar size and markings
but male palmates have blackened, webbed hind feet during breeding season!
📍Dingwall, Highlands
smooth
palmate
and great crested
these here are likely palmate
smooth and palmate can be easily confused due to similar size and markings
but male palmates have blackened, webbed hind feet during breeding season!
📍Dingwall, Highlands
June 24, 2025 at 7:25 PM
In Scotland you get three newt species:
smooth
palmate
and great crested
these here are likely palmate
smooth and palmate can be easily confused due to similar size and markings
but male palmates have blackened, webbed hind feet during breeding season!
📍Dingwall, Highlands
smooth
palmate
and great crested
these here are likely palmate
smooth and palmate can be easily confused due to similar size and markings
but male palmates have blackened, webbed hind feet during breeding season!
📍Dingwall, Highlands
v i s i t o r s 🌿
How many creatures can you name? 👀
📍Fife, Scotland
How many creatures can you name? 👀
📍Fife, Scotland
June 16, 2025 at 7:10 PM
v i s i t o r s 🌿
How many creatures can you name? 👀
📍Fife, Scotland
How many creatures can you name? 👀
📍Fife, Scotland
Reposted by Scottish Ecologist
EXCITING NEWS! 🦫
WHERE:
The Soutar Theatre (AK Bell Library), York Place, Perth ✨
WHEN:
Friday 25 July, 7.00 pm✨
WHAT:
A screening of Beaver Trust's film production "Balancing the Scales" will be shown! 🦫✨
Admission is FREE:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-scree...
Doors open 7.00 pm
WHERE:
The Soutar Theatre (AK Bell Library), York Place, Perth ✨
WHEN:
Friday 25 July, 7.00 pm✨
WHAT:
A screening of Beaver Trust's film production "Balancing the Scales" will be shown! 🦫✨
Admission is FREE:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-scree...
Doors open 7.00 pm
June 9, 2025 at 4:09 PM
EXCITING NEWS! 🦫
WHERE:
The Soutar Theatre (AK Bell Library), York Place, Perth ✨
WHEN:
Friday 25 July, 7.00 pm✨
WHAT:
A screening of Beaver Trust's film production "Balancing the Scales" will be shown! 🦫✨
Admission is FREE:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-scree...
Doors open 7.00 pm
WHERE:
The Soutar Theatre (AK Bell Library), York Place, Perth ✨
WHEN:
Friday 25 July, 7.00 pm✨
WHAT:
A screening of Beaver Trust's film production "Balancing the Scales" will be shown! 🦫✨
Admission is FREE:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-scree...
Doors open 7.00 pm
Machair (prt 2)
Was also dive-bombed by some aggy (but beautiful) lapwings (if you've not heard their calls before, give it a search)
Bird's-foot trefoil
Sea thrift
Scurvy grass
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
Was also dive-bombed by some aggy (but beautiful) lapwings (if you've not heard their calls before, give it a search)
Bird's-foot trefoil
Sea thrift
Scurvy grass
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
June 7, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Machair (prt 2)
Was also dive-bombed by some aggy (but beautiful) lapwings (if you've not heard their calls before, give it a search)
Bird's-foot trefoil
Sea thrift
Scurvy grass
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
Was also dive-bombed by some aggy (but beautiful) lapwings (if you've not heard their calls before, give it a search)
Bird's-foot trefoil
Sea thrift
Scurvy grass
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
Machair is a coastal habitat found on the Atlantic or west-facing shores of Scotland, like in the Outer Hebrides.
It is a type of grassland made up mostly of shell fragments, giving it an incredible beauty.
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
It is a type of grassland made up mostly of shell fragments, giving it an incredible beauty.
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
June 7, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Machair is a coastal habitat found on the Atlantic or west-facing shores of Scotland, like in the Outer Hebrides.
It is a type of grassland made up mostly of shell fragments, giving it an incredible beauty.
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
It is a type of grassland made up mostly of shell fragments, giving it an incredible beauty.
📍Vatersay, Outer Hebrides
Nettle rust fungus 🟡 (𝘗𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢)
Thought this was a mad slug
but it's *just* a fungal disease which can severely distort stinging nettles
Apparently it doesn't harm the plant?!
📍Glasgow, Scotland
Thought this was a mad slug
but it's *just* a fungal disease which can severely distort stinging nettles
Apparently it doesn't harm the plant?!
📍Glasgow, Scotland
June 7, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Nettle rust fungus 🟡 (𝘗𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢)
Thought this was a mad slug
but it's *just* a fungal disease which can severely distort stinging nettles
Apparently it doesn't harm the plant?!
📍Glasgow, Scotland
Thought this was a mad slug
but it's *just* a fungal disease which can severely distort stinging nettles
Apparently it doesn't harm the plant?!
📍Glasgow, Scotland