A new species of springtail seen for the first time, magnificent and unique fungi, plus a lesson in camouflage from a wolf spider – these are some of the finds in the lens of Alan Watson Featherstone.
By Alan Watson Featherstone
Although we’re moving into the more dormant time of year in terms of the biodiversity out on the Hinterland, there’s actually still quite a lot to be seen there. As I write this, we’re in the middle of the fungi season just now, and it appears to be a particularly abundant year for them. They’re also a little later than usual in showing themselves this year, and perhaps both those phenomena are a result of the warmer than usual summer that we had, with relatively high temperatures continuing into early November – it was only in the second half of the month that we had the first frost of the season.
Many of the fungi visible just now are common species we’ve recorded before, such as the yellow stagshorn fungus (Calocera viscosa), but a couple of days ago I found this particularly beautiful specimen.
Yellow stagshorn fungus (Calocera viscosa) amongst pine needles on the forest floor.
As a result of surveys in previous years we have a total of 233 species of fungi recorded on the Hinterland so far, but there are undoubtedly many more still to be found. I added one to the list a couple of weeks ago when I found some orange cup-like fungi in the dune heath area of our site. They turned out to be (Neottiella rutilans), a species that hadn’t been seen here before. The fungi were quite small, but very beautiful and rich in their colour – the species has no common name.
The fungi were quite small, but very beautiful and rich in their colour – the species has no common name.
Orange cup-like fungi (Neottiella rutilans) amongst moss in the dune heath area on 8th November 2025.
Three days later I made quite a significant discovery when I was looking at a fallen piece of old bark from a pine tree. My eye was drawn to it because there was a white fungus on the bark, but unfortunately it had no fruiting bodies visible on it, so it was not possible to make an identification of it. However, as I looked at it I noticed a tiny springtail crawling across the fungus so I photographed that. I was later able to identify it as a species called Willowsia nigromaculata (there’s no common name for it either), for which we have no previous records on the Hinterland. Significantly, this appears to be the first record for the species north of Perth in Scotland.
Springtails are tiny, wingless invertebrates that have an organ called a furcula on the underside of their bodies that acts like a spring – when it is triggered it enables the springtail to leap away from any danger.
Springtail (Willowsia nigromaculata) on a white fungus on a fallen piece of old bark from a pine tree.
One of our special ‘Star Species’ on the site is the sandy earthtongue fungus (Sabuloglossum arenarium), which is known from only two sites in Scotland – Findhorn and one other – and from a small group of records on the south coast of England. It appears to be a very good year for the species here, as there are more examples fruiting at the moment than I’ve seen in previous years.
This photograph shows a particularly good and healthy-looking specimen.
Sandy earthtongue fungus (Sabuloglossum arenarium) fruiting on sand on 8 November 2025.
On that same day in early November I made another interesting observation while I was in the area where a lot of the sandy earthtongue fungi occur. A slight movement caught my eye, and when I looked closely I realised there was a spider there, perfectly camouflaged on the sand.
I took a photograph of it, and then it moved a little and became more visible as it was then beside a small pebble.
Sand bear spider (Arctosa perita) camouflaged on sand.
It was one of the wolf spiders, called the sand bear spider (Arctosa perita), and its camouflage on the sand was near perfect. It made me wonder how many times I’ve overlooked that, and similar species that blend in so well with the background of their habitat…
Colin Shreenan will be taking over as Chair of the Findhorn Hinterland Trust when Jonathan Caddy steps down in September. Although he’s new to the team, he’s very closely connected to it! We’ll get to know him more fully in time, but for now, meet Colin Shreenan…
As I step down there are two significant events that are part of my legacy to the land and charity: the 
The last three months have been exceptional in terms of the many things that have happened on the land and also in terms of the weather. It has been so warm and dry most of the time, which is unlike how Scotland usually is. We have had to be so careful because of the wild fire potential. Then, I have not known a summer storm of such intensity as storm Floris that swept through on the 4th of August and blew down a number of trees in the Wilkies Wood, Woodland Garden and also in the Park Ecovillage Findhorn settlement. Luckily it came just after the Woodland Shelter was the venue for night time fun during the Ecovillage Findhorn CBS Lunasa festival.
The warm weather has meant that some of our bee hives have been very busy and we are expecting a bumper honey harvest this year. We presented three one-day bee workshops – one in June and another two in August – which introduced 18 new potential beekeepers to the fascinating world of bees.
Raising awareness of bees and beekeeping was also one of four activities we focussed on when over 100 pupils from Forres Academy visited in June as part of their transition from S2 to S3 days to the Hinterland. They learnt a little more about bees and beekeeping as well as learning the practical task of how to construct bee frames from our now four-strong bee team, Martin Harker, John Willoner, Mathijs Mulder-Barge and I.
This was part of our partnership work with Forres Academy funded by the Newbold Legacy Trust, which – for the fourth year running – also included about 40 Biology pupils coming out for their field study day to learn about sampling vegetation, investigating minibeasts on the land using pitfall traps, and the world of lichens from Heather Paul, our local expert. Amongst other things!
There were more events worth mentioning back in June. For the second year in a row 13 pupils and two staff from an innovative school just outside New York visited to explore our land and Ecovillage for the day, followed on the 15th June by a special birthday party for Ariane Burgess’ mum, held in the Outdoor Learning Space in the Woodland Garden Ariane helped create. On the 17th June I led our first tour of the land as part of the Moray Walking Festival with a small and very interested group of local people. We will be looking to get more involved with the latter next year.
From bare dunes and a caravan park to a rich natural treasure – the stories of nature, ecology and biodiversity at Ecovillage Findhorn have now been compiled into one comprehensive feature. 
It is one of a series of topics relating to environmental and sustainability themes at Ecovillage Findhorn. 
The purchase of the adjoining Wilkie Estate in 1997 led to the beginning of a new phase of working with nature at the Ecovillage, focused more on land management and biodiversity. The Findhorn Hinterland Trust was established and became a charity in 2015, with one of its main aims being to promote environmental protection and improvement. 
The Findhorn Dunes are a moving miracle, showcasing nature’s awe-inspiring cycles and telling an epic historical story – from neolithic artefacts, natural disasters in 1694 and 1703, to a 1930s golf course now hidden by time. 
Our Land Manager, Kajedo Wanderer, shares news of a Vision Quest held recently in the Hinterland, and the importance of being still and listening to the land.
Later ‘Permaculture’ affirmed the guidance to be still and listen, through its governing principle of (before you change anything in the natural world) ‘observe, observe, observe’.
The result was an award ceremony that took place at our Conservation Hub and on the new dune created as part of the Dune Restoration Project. It involved a visit from the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Energy, Gillian Martin, and Nick Halfhide, CEO of Nature Scot, the Scottish government nature conservation organisation, along with their 30 by 30 team based in Inverness that had been developing the project.
Additional information followed saying the Nature30 recognition is designed to help Scotland achieve the 30 by 30 target by celebrating and supporting land management that does and will continue to deliver great long-term outcomes for nature and people. It will be achieved through a combination of new and existing Protected Areas as well as this new Nature30 recognition.
Jonathan Caddy
In May the the Hinterland saw the Ecovillage Findhorn community celebrating the Celtic festival of Beltane with a traditional weaving of the Maypole, led by Scottish Greens councillor and FHT member, Draeyk van der Horn.
Biodiversity – what’s new on the land now