Life at the Edge

Masses of tadpoles at the edge of the lake at Strathairly. The gardens were open on Sunday.

Buttercups flowering at the edge of the lake.

Swans at Strathairly

The gardens at Strathairly House in Upper Largo were open today under Scotland's Garden Scheme. There was a pair of mute swans and seven cygnets on the lake.

As more people arrived the swans retreated with their cygnets to the far side of the lake.

Grey Seals at Low Tide

At low tide in Lundin Links rocks become exposed and can often see seals quite close to the beach. Today there were seven altogether, each on a separate rock.

Standing Like a Statue.

Walking along the beach today there was a heron standing on a rock, just a little way off shore.

Wild flowers in Keil's Den

Bluebells carpetting Keil's Den

A bright patch of pink purslane. This is not a native plant but has naturalised well in parts of Scotland and makes a bright splash of colour in the woodland. It was introduced into Britain from North america in 1838.

Wild garlic
Masses of wild flowers in Keil's Den at present. As well as the three pictured above, there were also primroses, celendines and violets to name but a few.

Shags and Kittiwakes - Inner Farne

Shags nesting on Inner Farne. Kittiwakes on the Opposite Ledge.

Shags nesting all round the cliffs and Kittiwakes on the lower ledges.

A shag showing the crest of feathers on the top of the head. The crest differentiates the shag from the cormorant.

Ladybird amongst the Blossom

A ladybird (7-spot) on one of the flowering trees (wild apple or cherry blossom) in the Serpentine Walk.

Guillemots and Razorbills - Farne Islands

Guillemots on Inner Farne

One of the vast colonies of guillemots on the Farne Islands

Guillemot colonies on the stacks of Staple Island

Razorbill on Inner Farne

Primroses et al

A lovely bank of primroses on the disused railway track in Largo.

A patch of cowslips on the bank.

A red cowslip - a garden flower.

A patch of ox-lips on the bank. They are most likely to be hybrids between primroses and cowslips since all three were growing in the same area.

Trees Come into Flower

The first Hawthorn or May flowers that I have seen this year. Unlike the Blackthorn the flowers appear after the leaves.

The purple flowers of the Ash emerge from the sooty black buds.

The seeds or 'keys' of the ash are still on the tree at the same time that the flowers emerge.

Tulip Festival at Cambo

Cambo Estate (between St Andrews and Crail) was running a Tulip Festival at the weekend. The potager in the walled garden had been planted exclusively with tulips of differing varieties. There was also a display of cut tulips in the cafe.

No tulips here but I thought the intense blue of the grape hyacinths was stunning.

One of my favourite views along the burn in the walled garden. Lovely willow tree and trees in blossom.

Dipper in Keil's Den

Spotted this dipper flitting about the rocks in the burn in Keil's Den. The white thoat and bobbing motion make it instantly recognisable.

Blackthorn

The Flowers of Blackthorn which come out before the leaves.

A lovely avenue of Blackthorn trees in Keil's Den.