Category: Garden WildlifePage 3 of 9

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…

March 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

March 2017 was mostly cool, sometimes distinctly chilly, and some light snow fell in the third week. Towards the end of the month, however, there was an abrupt…

February 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

February 2017 swung between chilly spells and periods of much milder weather, although stormy periods were few, except at the month’s end when Storms Doris and Ewan crossed…

January 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

The first month of 2017 was mainly rather chilly with plenty of frosts though none terribly severe. Very little rain fell during the month and there was plenty…

Idiocerus herrichi, another new leafhopper record for Scotland (as well as the Garden)

Yesterday (18 January 2017), just at the end of my daily lunchtime wildlife recording walk round the Garden, I checked the bark of a particular birch tree (Betula…

December 2016 Garden Wildlife Report

December 2016 swung between cold and mild, with some hard frosts near the beginning and an exceptionally mild Christmas Day. It was again fairly dry for the most…

Barkflies – beautiful but very under recorded

Last month I was out on my usual lunchtime wildlife recording walk around RBGE and noticed some small insects on the bark of various species of birch. They…

Peplomyza litura, an uncommon Scottish fly, found in Rock Garden

One day in August this year I took several photographs of a rather striking fly that was resting on one of the leaves of the dwarf elm (Ulmus…

November 2016 Garden Wildlife Report

November 2016 started very mild, as October had ended, but by the 10th it had turned much colder. The second part of the month was cold and there…

October 2016 Garden Wildlife Report

October 2016 continued being mild and quiet with mostly easterlies for the first three weeks. The last week saw a change to westerly winds and the arrival of…

September 2016 Garden Wildlife Report

September 2016 was mostly a rather balmy, warm dry month with very unseasonably high temperatures (up to 25°C) being recorded on some days. Four species were added to…

August 2016 Garden Wildlife Report

August 2016 was fairly dry, sunny and reasonably warm. The Garden’s wildlife list increased by no fewer than 21 species, from 826 to 847. Birds Like July, bird…

Garden’s first Caddisfly record

During a moth trapping session on the night of 29/30 August, various other creatures were found in the trap besides moths. They included a Common Earwig, two different…

Moth records from the Garden

Moth trapping in the Garden is now happening on a regular basis with the input of Edinburgh Natural History Society and MSc student Tom Dawes. Records from 29th/30th…