Congratulations! The odd one out is the red deer, which as its name suggests has a redder coat than the roe. Red deer stags also have much larger and more branched antlers than roe bucks. Roe deer, which have a distinctive white rear, are the most common deer found in the Scottish Borders.
Bad luck! The odd one out is the red deer, which as its name suggests has a redder coat than the roe. Red deer stags also have much larger and more branched antlers than roe bucks. Roe deer, which have a distinctive white rear, are the most common deer found in the Scottish Borders.
Buzzards are the most common bird of prey in Scotland. They can be seen soaring above the wood on thermals – rising currents of warm air – holding their wings in a shallow upward V-shape, with their tails fanned out.
Their diet is quite varied, including carrion – dead animals – and small live prey such as squirrels, frogs and worms.
They range widely in colour from dark brown to nearly white.
Buzzards usually nest in tall trees and usually pair off for life. They can live for up to 12 years.
They have a wingspan of around 1.2 metres but despite their size they only weigh about 1kg.
Bigger than buzzards, with a wingspan of up to 1.7 metres, red kites have a distinctive forked tail and arched wings that angle forwards and then back.
The reddish brown body is offset by white patches under the wings.
Red kites were once common across the UK but were driven almost to extinction before a reintroduction programme saw numbers begin to rise again. Today UK-wide numbers are heading towards 5,000 and they are spreading east across the Scottish Borders and have been spotted in the Ettrick Valley.
Goshawks are superficially similar in appearance to sparrowhawks, with bright orange eyes and a striped breast and leg feathers above yellow feet, but are much larger – around the same size as buzzards, for which they are sometimes mistaken.
These striking birds remain quite rare but the Scottish Borders is home to one of the larger populations in Scotland.
They are at home in commercial forestry plantations, where they swoop among the trees in pursuit of crows and pigeons.
Like most birds of prey, the female goshawk is larger than the male. Pairs can be seen swooping and flapping in early spring in a display known as sky-dancing.
The rowan tree, also known as mountain ash, is a small deciduous tree native to Scotland which grows to between 30ft and 50ft tall. Rowans can live for up to 200 years.
Rowans are an important source of food for wildlife and can support up to 50 types of insect. Their berries are popular with birds, including song thrush, blackbird and waxwing.
Berries of native rowan species are usually red or orange, but some varieties have white, pink or yellow berries.
The rowan has long been associated with warding off evil and in the past rowans were often planted to keep witches at bay. In Scottish folklore Brownies were said to live among the roots, which was why the trees should never be chopped down, and people sometimes left saucers of milk for them as a reward for protecting their homes.
They have a smooth grey bark and leaf buds are purple and hairy, but the easiest way to distinguish rowans is by the distinctive serrated leaflets.