Wim 🅾 @wim_v12e@octodon.social

There are not all that many varieties of butterflies in the Scottish Highlands. I think this one is called "pearl-bordered fritillary".

You can see that the left one has some damage on its wings. Life as a butterfly has its dangers.
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OK, time for something a bit more obvious: Scottish heather.

I love the Wikipedia quote:

"Heather is seen as iconic of Scotland, where the plant grows widely. When poems like Bonnie Auld Scotland speak of "fragrant hills of purple heather', when the hero of Kidnapped flees through the heather, when heather and Scotland are linked in the same sentence, the heather talked about is Calluna vulgaris."

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The Scots pine is definitely one of my favourite trees. Rothiemurchus forest is one of the few sites where they still grow as a forest. What is really cool is that these trees here are directly descended from the first pines to arrive in Scotland following the ice age, 9,000 years ago.
I think they're magnificent trees.
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Wild thyme and Alpine lady's-mantle.
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Even unripe cherries can make a nice subject for a picture. You can imagine the blossoms from a few months ago.
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This is sundew (drosera), a little carnivorous plant. In this time of the year it was quite abundant in Glen Einich, although I had not noticed it before.
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This is a wild rose, and because it 's summer in Scotland there are raindrops on it.
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This is the time of the year that orchids are in bloom in the Scottish glens.
I'm not an expert at all, but I found a guide that says the left is a heath spotted orchid and the right is a hybrid of that and the northern marsh orchid.
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A walk in the beautiful Cairngorm valley called Glen Einich. For a long time Loch Einich at the end of this glen provided the drinking water for the Aviemore area. The pictures are not very vibrant because it was raining :)
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And finally for today, making the most of the afternoon light, here's some gorgeous gorse :) #photography

From up there you can see both the sea and Loch Lomond. #photography #mastoart

So when you finally get to the top of Beinn Narnain, even on a super-busy day like today there are only a handful of people there. Whereas on the other side of the pass, on the top of Ben Arthur, it's standing room only.
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And this is part of the actual climb up Beinn Narnain. #photography #mastoart

These are some of the views from the bealach (pass). #photography #mastoart

Interesting cloud #photography #mastoart

I guess I forgot to mention objective 2 which was to climb Beinn Narnain. This is the path leading up to the actual climb, it also leads to Ben Arthur; the picture with the rock shows Ben Lomond in the distance. #photography #mastoart

These pictures show the wee village or Arrochar at the head of Loch Long, from my picnic spot.
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More scenery, this is Loch Long, it's a sea loch, essentially a fjord.
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Walking from Arrochar & Tarbet station towards Loch Long there are some good views #photography #mastoart

Final bluebell pic, in evening light. #photography #mastoart