Author: Robert MillPage 2 of 7

August 2018 Garden Wildlife Report

August 2018 was cooler and wetter than July, much more like an average August. The mean maximum temperature was 18.7°C and the month’s highest temperature was 24.6°C on…

July 2018 Garden Wildlife Report

July 2018 was yet another very sunny and warm month at RBGE. The mean maximum temperature was 21.7°C – 2.6°C above the long term average – and the…

June 2018 Garden Wildlife Report

May’s good weather continued throughout June, which was sunny, warm (hot in the second half) and quite dry. 51 mm of rain fell, only 86% of the long-term…

May 2018 Garden Wildlife Report

In contrast to April, May 2018 was warm, dry and sunny. Less than 17 mm of rain fell, only 34% of the long-term average, while there were 213…

April 2018 Garden Wildlife Report

April 2018 began as March had ended – snow, rain and cold. Flooding throughout the Garden on 4th meant that it had to be closed as none of…

An 1850s major visitor attraction and other historical Garden wildlife records

Recently I was fortunate to be given a folder of clippings and photocopies from various sources, ranging from two 1935 faunas of Midlothian to extracts from the Garden’s…

A tale of two Toothworts

Toothworts (Lathraea: family Orobanchaceae) are a small genus of parasitic plant. Two species – one native, the other introduced – occur in Britain and both are currently (April…

March 2018 Garden Wildlife Report

In many ways the weather of March 2018 was the reverse of February. A common factor was that both months were colder than average. However, in contrast to…

February 2018 Garden Wildlife Report

February 2018 was a very sunny and dry month but slightly colder than average. Rainfall was only 34.8 mm (74% of the long-term average), and most of it…

January 2018 Garden Wildlife Report

January 2018 was, like December 2017, a mixture of cold snaps and slightly milder spells. Snow fell and lay on several days but amounts in the Garden were…

December 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

December 2017 was a mixture in terms of weather, with several cold snaps and frosty mornings, as well as some milder spells. Total rainfall was just over 49…

November 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

                      November 2017 was a real ‘autumn’ month, with lovely golden colours and plenty of frosty mornings as…

October 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

October 2017 was another mild month with some stormy weather that closed the Garden on a couple of occasions.  It was warmer than average, with below-average rainfall (53.2…

September 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

September 2017 continued this summer’s patchy weather, with an unsettled first half. The third week was much calmer and warmer, almost a mini Indian summer, with the temperature…

August 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

August 2017 was another mixed month in Edinburgh weather-wise, with plenty of rain but also some warm sun. Daytime temperatures were mostly slightly warmer than average, but night-time…

July 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

July 2017 was another wet month, with >74 mm of rain, more than half of which fell in the final week. However, it was also a sunny month,…

June 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

In contrast to the very dry spring (March to May), June 2017 was officially the wettest-ever June recorded at the Botanics, with over 180 mm (7.11 inches) of…

May 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

May 2017 continued the dry theme of Spring 2017 at Edinburgh. There were a few wetter days, but the ground remains very dry unless watered artificially. The last…

April 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

April 2017 started as March had ended: warm and sunny. However, this only lasted a few days and the rest of the month was much cooler and often…

Spring Bird and Garden Walk, 11 April 2017

The following report on this year’s Bird Walk has been supplied by Tamar Duncan. It was a windy day on Tuesday 11th April here at the Royal Botanic…