Pentland Hills

Yesterday, the weather was wonderful and we had a lovely walk in the Pentland Hills. We started just outside Bonaly, where the house sparrows were busily collecting nesting materials and shouting at each other. We walked up a vertiginous woodland path along the Bonaly Burn.

There was wood sorrel everywhere (see below) and the trees were full of chaffinches singing.

Then we came onto the open moorland where the sky was full of singing skylarks, meadow pipits were fluttering round in the scrub and the heather was full of insects and spiders.

There were spider webs everywhere and lots of ladybirds and a huge number of small shiny green beetles. We also saw a number of different species of rove beetles and some ground beetles of different types. Plus a good number of bumble bees. Two buzzards were soaring on the thermals, a pair of peregrines chased each other above our heads and a kestrel hovered over the heathland on the other side of the burn.

For Nature Notes

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