Seasonal wildlife spots

Spring

In spring, flowers like bluebells and wild garlic carpet the woodland floor, taking advantage of the light before the trees grow all of their leaves. Be careful not to trample bluebells if you’re out for a walk, as it can cause them permanent damage. You may also spot the small, delicate dog violet. If you give it a sniff, it doesn’t have any smell.

Birds will be singing to proclaim a territory, listen and see what you can hear. Migrant birds like wood warblers will be starting to arrive back from Africa. They’re often easier to see at this time of the year before the leaves grow.

You’ll see lichens in the rainforest all year, though they’re often more visible when its damp. Some have fruiting bodies that can look like berries. These can be around for a few weeks, but some species can have them for long periods.

Keep a look out for butterflies as the weather gets warmer. Chequered skippers and pearl-bordered fritillaries are rare butterflies that can sometimes be seen around specific rainforest sites, but you’re more likely to see common species like speckled woods, and small pearl-bordered fritillaries.

Summer

Birds will still be singing, but they’ll also be busy raising their young. Look out for pied flycatchers jumping up into the air from branches to catch passing insects. Ospreys, another visitor from Africa, can be spotted catching fish in lochs and rivers to take back to the nest.

The long days of summer make this a great time of the year to spot elusive mammals. Pine martens emerge in the evenings, and you may spot one running around in the trees or on a path.

Different flowers bloom throughout the summer, including Devil’s-bit scabious, which likes more open areas of woodland and is a favourite food plant of butterflies and bees. Another plant to look out for is purple moor grass, where you might spot a Scotch argus butterfly.

In late summer, you’ll start to see berries ripening on rowan trees, and fly agaric toadstools appearing in birch woodlands. These fungi have a symbiotic relationship with the trees they grow near. Hazelnuts may be visible forming on some hazel trees, but mostly around the edge of woodlands in the sun.

Late summer is also a good time to look out for dragonflies near pools or resting on trees near open glades. You may see purple hairstreak butterflies in oak woodlands, but they’re hard to spot as they tend to stay in the canopy.

And after dark, listen out for tawny owls calling, as young birds try to find new territories (and are vigorously repelled!) You may also hear roe deer barking, as late summer is their rut.

Autumn

Autumn is a magical time in the rainforest, as it turns on a dazzling display of orange and gold before the leaves fall. Every year is different: sometimes the leaves fall gradually, and sometimes wild storms strip the trees bare all at once.

Rowan, holly and other berries will now be ripe, and although our summer migrants will be departing, new birds will start to arrive from Scandinavia, including redwings and fieldfares. They’ll join the blackbirds, woodpigeons and other species that take advantage of the seasonal glut.

Jays only have eyes for acorns, and help oaks to spread by burying the acorns as a stash of food. Large flocks of siskins can sometimes be seen flitting around in birch trees, hanging upside down like blue tits to feed on the seeds held in catkins.

Mammals join in the feast, with red squirrels and mice hunting for nuts and seeds in the trees and in the undergrowth. Red squirrels will also be extremely busy burying a stash of food for the colder months ahead.

Some fungi are visible all year, like the hazel gloves fungus, but many species only appear in the autumn. Look on the forest floor and on trees for species like the honey fungus, angel’s wings, stinkhorns and brown birch boletes.

Winter

The mountains above Arkaig with a dusting of snow. Pic - Richard Thompson

Even when the leaves are gone, many rainforest woodlands will remain green all year round because of the sheer number of mosses and liverworts that carpet every surface. This is a great time of the year to spot them, as ferns and grasses often die back in the colder weather, allowing the bryophytes to shine through!

Although it might feel cold, the climate in Scotland’s rainforest is actually relatively mild at this time of the year, compared to other parts of the country. That’s important for many of the species that live here, as they would struggle to cope with prolonged frosts and heavy snow.

As well as mosses and liverworts, it’s also a good time of the year to spot lichens, many of which actually look at their best in the wet. Many rare lichens are found in these woods because of the ecological continuity of the habitat, like the white script lichen, octopus suckers, tailed-loop lichen and golden specklebelly.

You’ll still see and hear birds at this time of the year, and you might spot them turning over leaves and plants on the forest floor as they search for food. Listen out for tawny owls at night.

Red squirrels don’t hibernate, but they will become more sleepy, and will stay our of sight if the weather is particularly cold. Otherwise, they’re easy to spot in the leafless trees, so keep an eye out for them running along branches. You can sometimes hear their claws on the bark.

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

Trees