Stan da Prato

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Enjoyable visit to RBGE cacti /succulent collection ably shown round by Marc. More pics on Lothian BCSS forum site. @TheBotanics @TheCaley @DKnott8 @BSBIScotland

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

11 chiffchaffs singing this weekend along the Pencaitland railway walk. Didn't do full census but robins in good voice and counted 49. @birdinglothian, @EdinburghNats, @ELCrangers

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Narcissus ‘Snow Baby ‘ which it seems is a synonym for ‘Ice Baby’. All white 1W-W raised in the USA and first registered in 2014. @TheCaley

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Narcissus ’Elka’ an Alec Gray introduction also bicolour so classified as 1 W-Y .Thought to a wild hybrid. Flowering early this year.@TheCaley

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Narcissus ‘Topolino’ rather similar to the wild N. pseudonarcissus that Wordsworth wrote his famous poem about. 1W-Y in daff parlance as it has white and pale yellow flowers. According to Daffseek it was raised in Holland and registered in 1965. @TheCaley

[Ian Andrews @ijandrews1]

12 Mar. Musselburgh. Male Surf Scoter (limited white of forehead), 1750 Common Scoter, 69+ Velvet Scoter, adult male King Eider, 1880 Eider, male Scaup, s/p Black Guillemot, 24 Great Crested Grebes, 96 Lesser B-b Gull, 50 Stock Dove @birdinglothian

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Rhododendron dauricum ‘Hokkaido’ . (Rhodorastra section ). The species which ranges across NE Russia, China Korea and N Japan was introduced as early as the late 18th century. This white form is said to have been named by Peter Cox in 1981. #rhododendron

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Rhododendron x ‘Cilpinense’ in flower despite the cold east wind. This one will get a bit bigger if I either plant it out or give it a bigger pot. Raised in the 1920s in the well-known garden Bodnant, in North Wales by crossing the species R. ciliatum with R. moupinense.

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

The displays of crocus in Macmerry are very effective as unlike many council plantings these are in single or at most two colours.@TheCaley @DKnott8 @BSBIScotland @EduLothian

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ which, despite its name, is just opening now. It used to be forced in greenhouses as a Christmas decoration thus the name. Said to be a hybrid between R. caucasicum and an unknown species, bred in Edinburgh by T. Methven & Son around 1895.

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Iris 'Katharine Hodgkin' and I. ‘Sheila Ann Germaney’ Both hybrids of the yellow I. winogradowii and the blue I. histrioides. Katharine has more yellow. Very weather resistant and reliably perennial unlike some dwarf Iris.

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

The show of grass of Parassus on the East Lothian coast is exceptional this year.@ELCrangers @BSBIScotland @EdinburghNats @TheBotanics @TheCaley

[Ian Andrews @ijandrews1]

14 Aug. Musselburgh. Stejneger's Scoter joined by an imm male Surf Scoter (both in photo below), 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Little Egrets, 8 Whimbrel west, 13 Ruff, 3 Greenshank, only 6 Little Gulls @birdinglothian

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Tranent Civic Square again full of colour thanks to loal post office working wth East Lothian Council's nursery. @EastLothianAP @TheCaley @TranentRegen @TranentBelters

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Unfortunately there is evidence of avian flu at Dunbar. This unusually tame immature cormorant is probably infected. A guillemot in the harbour is unusual suggesting it is not entirely well. @ELCrangers @EdinburghNats @SteelySeabirder @ScottishBirding @SeabirdCentre

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Despite avian flu good number of young kittiwakes starting to fledge at Dunbar harbour. Productivity over 0.8/nest; still to finalise figures. Some shags and herring gulls also successful. @EdinburghNats @SteelySeabirder @SeabirdCentre @ScottishBirding

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Summer colour from a neighbour's pots. Cosmos, nemesia, bedding dahlias, African marigolds, busy lizzies and a white-tailed bumble bee . @TheCaley

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Some wildlife snaps from the East lothian coast the other day. Confiding roe deer, Skylark atypically on a hawthorn, Sanderling just back from Greenland, Lapwing @ELCrangers @EdinburghNats

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Common on local coasts woody nightshade is one of the less poisonous members of the Solanaceae. Poisoning in humans is rare probably due to the berries' bitter taste. Note the resemblance to its edible relations potatoes and tomatoes. @ELCrangers @TheCaley @BSBIbotany

[Stan da Prato @PratoStan]

Another coastal delight Campanula rotundifolia is known as the bluebell in Scotland but the harebell futher south. @ELCrangers @TheCaley @EdinburghNats