Biodiversity recordings in Pettinain Community
Biodiversity, also known as ‘biological diversity’, is the variety of life found on Earth. It includes all living things, like bacteria, plants, fungi, insects, animals, and humans.
A biodiverse environment has many benefits e.g., we need pollinators for crop production, we need invertebrates to maintain soil health.
So we need landscapes with mixed habitats to support maximum biodiversity. And around Pettinain we have woodland, farmland, scrubland, gardens, pastures and cropland, the River Clyde and rivers banks and floodplains. This is a good start.
How biodiverse is our community? We don't yet know, but a first step is to record the species we observe, from bugs to butterflies to birds to bushes, and beyond. Please help us record what you see and not just charismatic megafauna!
Email contact@sustainablepettinain.org with your updates please, and photos if you want to share. Thanks!
A biodiverse environment has many benefits e.g., we need pollinators for crop production, we need invertebrates to maintain soil health.
So we need landscapes with mixed habitats to support maximum biodiversity. And around Pettinain we have woodland, farmland, scrubland, gardens, pastures and cropland, the River Clyde and rivers banks and floodplains. This is a good start.
How biodiverse is our community? We don't yet know, but a first step is to record the species we observe, from bugs to butterflies to birds to bushes, and beyond. Please help us record what you see and not just charismatic megafauna!
Email contact@sustainablepettinain.org with your updates please, and photos if you want to share. Thanks!
Birds
Here we log observations, not abundance, and add a timeframe if an unusual occurence or migratory species
- Blackbird (Female & Male)
- Blue Tit
- Brambling
- Chaffinch
- Coal Tit
- Collared Dove
- Crow
- Dunnock
- Geese
- Goldfinch
- Great Spotted Woodpecker (Female & Male)
- Great Tit
- House Sparrow
- Lesser Redpoll
- Long-tailed tits
- Magpie
- Pheasant
- Red Cardinal
- Robin
- Siskin
- Sparrow
- Starling
- Sunoco
- Tree Sparrow
- Wood Pigeon
- Wren
- Yellowhammer
Plants
Please tell use about the plants and trees you observe outwith the domestic garden please
- Beech
Lines of mature beech trees can be commonly seen marking boundaries within Pettinain community.
Peacock butterflies feasting on a garden buddleia. The butterflies were late to arrive in 2025.The stinging nettle is nearly always used for the female butterfly to lay her eggs, so if you want to encourage these beautiful butterflies don't be so quick to pull out the nettles!
Invertebrates & Bats
Please tell us about the moths, butterflies, midgies, gnats, slow worms, spiders and fireflies you see.
Butterflies:
- painted lady
- peacock
- cabbage white
- red admiral
- swallowtail (rare)
Bees
- honey bee (apis mellifera)
Apis mellifera (honey bee) flying over a water lily. Did you know bees need a source of water too?
If you are interested in identifying which bats you can find around Pettinain, this episode of Landward, visting a farm near Ratho, is worth a watch (~ 6 minutes in).
Mammals
'Pet'tinain has many pets, but who have you seen in your garden, woodland, field or crossing the road that is not domesticated?
Badger
Deer
Hare
Hedgehog
Fox
Mice
Rats
Rabbit
Stoat
Deer
Hare
Hedgehog
Fox
Mice
Rats
Rabbit
Stoat