Scotland's Flora and Fauna

Think Scotland and wildlife and you immediately conjure up images of majestic stags, soaring Golden Eagles and that king of fish, the salmon.

That’s just the tip of the antler though as Scotland’s biodiversity goes. For, in fact, the country is home to no less than 90,000 species, 30 of which you won't find anywhere else,

So what have wildlife enthusiasts got to look forward to, apart from the stunning setting? Well, you might be surprised to discover what’s on your doorstep – literally.

It’s not uncommon to see badgers ambling along at dusk in Edinburgh’s suburbs, fox cubs playing in Stirling’s parks and roe deer darting around Glasgow’s Maryhill.

Otters have been known to cross the High Street in Inverness and the Highland capital’s Kessock Bridge is a well-known vantage point for dolphin spotting.

If you are prepared to venture a little further, then there are hundreds of reserves to choose from, four of the largest belonging to the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Their Visitor Centres at Falls of Clyde (near New Lanark), Jupiter at Grangemouth, Loch of the Lowes (near Dunkeld) and Montrose Basin come complete with all the mod cons, including disabled access, and attract over 50,000 visitors a year. The Falls of Clyde, in particular, is one of the best places in Britain to view the aerial antics of the peregrine falcon.

Or if you’ve got your sea legs, why not try a wildlife cruise? The waters around the Hebrides are teeming with Minke Whale, Bottled Nosed Dolphins and the incredible Basking Shark. As big as a bus and heavy as an elephant, these huge, completely harmless fish, swim around sieving plankton from their marine bouillabaisse. Cast an eye landwards and you’ll see common and grey seals bobbing in the bays, the comical, rainbow-beaked puffin and ledge upon ledge of gannet-encrusted sea cliffs.

If you want to spy some of rarest specimens, then you’ll have to confine your search: to
the wet lochside woods around Fort William for the brightly coloured chequered skipper butterfly; or the north coast of Caithness and Sutherland and Orkney for the Scottish Primrose endemic to our shores. For the biggest and most elusive of them all, of course, there’s only one destination – Loch Ness. Don’t forget your camera!

Photograph: Copyright VisitScotland/Scottish Viewpoint