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Wildlife Around and About East Lothian

The Scottish countryside is home to many species of conifer. Norway spruce, Sitka spruce, grand fir, noble fir, Douglas fir, European and Japanese larch, cedars, hemlocks, you name it – the list is not exactly endless, but it is quite long. However, we only have three native conifers – the Scot’s pine, the juniper and the yew.

Yews are very long-lived trees, indeed they are thought to be the longest-living plants in Europe. One of the county’s finest yews, near Ormiston, may be eight hundred years old, although some think it may be several centuries older than this.

At this time of year yews (female ones at least) appear to be covered in bright red berries. These are not actually berries, but are seeds surrounded by a gelatinous layer known as an aril. The aril itself is edible and sweet-tasting, but it’s probably not a good idea to eat it, as the seed inside is highly toxic, as is pretty much every other part of the tree. Several species of bird eat the arils, the seeds passing through undigested. This process helps to disperse the yew seeds throughout the countryside.Yews are often found planted in graveyards and several reasons have

been put forward for this. It may be related to the longevity of the tree, which could be seen to represent immortality, or perhaps it’s toxic nature led to it being associated with death. A more prosaic, but practical, reason could be that its toxicity was used to discourage farmers from allowing their livestock to graze in burial grounds.

Finches are a common sight in our fields and gardens. They are very social birds and, over the winter months, can often be seen in large mixed flocks containing several different species. This flocking instinct may help the birds to keep warm, but it is mainly for protection against predators, there being safety in numbers and all that. These mixed flocks will often consist of familiar garden birds such as greenfinches and chaffinches, but it’s always worth having a good look through the flock to see if there is anything a bit more unusual. For example, the brambling is a species which breeds in northern Europe, but often winters in the UK, and readily mixes with other finches. Male birds bear a superficial resemblance to the chaffinch and can be difficult to spot at first. However, the brambling has an orange breast and white belly, rather than the all-over pinkish red of the chaffinch, and lacks the chaffinch’s facial colour. The brambling also has a very obvious white rump, although unless the bird is in flight this isn’t always easy to spot.

COUNTRYSIDE NEWS December 2013

Forthcoming Ranger Service Events:There’s no hike in December, what with Christmas getting in the way, however……..Sunday 26th January: John Muir Country Park Trail: A 13km (8 mile) walk following a figure of eight route. Likely to be muddy in places, but there is a coffee shop stop en route. Nice.

Hikes are charged at £4 per person. Details provided when booking. To book a place phone 01620 827421.

Yew aril and leaves

Male brambling.(Courtesy of Abbie Marland).