Wildlife at Hopetoun

The Grounds of Hopetoun House are home to a variety of mammals, birdlife, amphibians and insect life and we have listed some of them here for those who are interested.

Mammals

A Red Deer park with 2 herds and 2 stags.
Wild populations of Roe Deer.
Badger populations.
Pipestrelle, Daubenton and Brown long eared bats.
Grey squirrels
Rabbits
Foxes
Stoats.

Birds

Buzzard pairs which are easy to spot and hear their calls
The locally rare nuthatches.
Stunning summer displays of swallows and house martins.
A pair of nesting sparrowhawks.
Greater spotted woodpeckers.
Resident tawny owls.
Pheasants.
Swans.
Great, blue and long tailed tits.
Robins, blackbirds, thrushes, wrens.

Amphibians

Common frogs and toads lay their spawn in the Round Pond. All stages of frog life cycle, from tadpole to froglet can be seen throughout the season.

Insects

There is a large variety of butterflies and moths including peacock, red admiral, large white and painted lady. Several species of dragonfly and damselfly can be seen in the Round Pond including blue tailed damselfly and red darter.

Fungi

From late summer to early winter the plains and woodlands of Hopetoun are abound with many different species of fungi.  This includes the:
Crimson Wax Cap, Pink Ballerina Wax Cap, Parrot Wax Cap, Meadow Wax Cap, Coral Fungus, Moss Bell, Amethyst Deceiver, Shaggy Ink Cap, Fragrant Funnel Fungus, Birch Bracket, Artists Fungus, Sulphur Tuft, Dead Man's Fingers, Candle Snuff Fungus, Chicken of the Wood any many more.  

Hopetoun has proven to be a very important refuge for Fungi.  Wide ranging groups of grassland fungi, especially wax caps and pink gills have been found on the lawns and that is not just this year but for several years in succession.  The long list of species of waxcaps includes the Ballerina Hygrocyubbe calyptriformis, Red Data list species.  The appearance of the last two groups of fungi are used to measure the importance of a site on a European scale and Hopetoun comes out on top.  Also the woodlands surrounding the House have their gems one being the bolete Boletus legaliae, a orangy yellow-pored, blue staining species only known from Hopetoun in Scotland. 

Prof. Roy Watling, Former Head of Mycology & Plant Pathology, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh

Waxcaps are described by some as the orchids of the fungi world and at Hopetoun House lawns you can find them in huge diversity and numbers.  The lawns are internationally important for a range of grassland fungi including waxcaps, coral fungi and the pink gilled Entolomas.

Ali Murfitt, BTCV Apprentice Fungi & Wildflowers