Strange though it may seem at first glance, the city harbours a multitude of flora and fauna, with some locations home to wildlife rarely found elsewhere.
This includes the sticky catchfly – the favourite flower of King James VI of Scotland and the official floral emblem of the Scottish capital. Otters, owls, deer, bats, jays, kingfishers, falcons, sparrowhawks and seabirds are just some of the animals and birds that can be found in the city.
For those who want to seek out Edinburgh’s wildlife, the results can be rewarding as creatures that can be elusive in the countryside are more used to people in urban areas and less likely to flee at first sight of a human, according to wildlife expert Keith Broomfield.
His lifelong interest in nature was sparked as a young boy growing up in the city, and he has now produced a handy guide to Edinburgh’s wildlife and where it can be found.
“Edinburgh is as rich and a productive place to seek out wildlife as the countryside – indeed, I would contend even more so,” he said.
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As a boy, he glimpsed his first wild foxes sunning themselves one spring morning on one of the city’s railway embankments, which he said was “the lure” that sealed his growing fascination with wildlife.
“How could an animal the size of a small dog thrive in Scotland’s capital city?” he wondered. “This little corner of Edinburgh was as rich as any part of the countryside and my enthusiasm for all things wild had become completely ingrained.”
There are in fact six sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) in the city, 90 local biodiversity sites and several fragments of ancient woodland.
Brromfield points out that there are numerous green spaces, open hills, ponds, lochs, rivers and the coast as well as gardens and large graveyards where wildlife thrives.
The book is both a personal insight into the nature of Edinburgh and a guidebook split into sections comprising the principal habitats found in the city and what can be found there.
At the end of each chapter, there is information on how to find the locations, including an Ordnance Survey Grid reference. Bus services and cycle paths to, or near, each location are also listed.
One of the rare plants mentioned is the sticky catchfly, which can be found on the crags and steep slopes of Holyrood Park. In recent times, it almost disappeared from Arthur’s Seat, where the Scots king once admired its beauty, due to a variety of reasons, including encroaching gorse.
However, a conservation action programme in the late 1990s and early 2000s involving the translocation of seeds as well as nurturing nursery plants and then replanting them, has ensured its survival.
“Their wonderful pinkish-red flowers like nothing better than to cling to narrow ledges and crevices on exposed cliff faces, making them a bit of a challenge to find,” said Broomfield.
Another rarity found in the park that has been aided by translocations is the nationally scarce maiden pink, which had dwindled to only a handful of plants.
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In 2013, maiden pink, sourced from seeds collected at Holyrood, were planted at five different sites. Annual monitoring has revealed that numbers are increasing at a healthy rate.
Altogether, more than 350 species of plant have been recorded in the park, including the moss Grimmia anodon, classed as a critically endangered member of British bryoflora. Arthur’s Seat is the only site in the UK where it is known to exist.
The wealth of wildflowers means the park is unusually prolific in butterflies, according to Broomfield.
“Twenty-six species have been recorded, which is an impressive figure, given there are around 35 species in total found in Scotland,” he said.
Among them are northern brown argus, wall and grayling – all of which are classed as nationally rare. The northern brown argus became extinct in Holyrood Park in 1869, but reappeared in 2005 and the population has continued to increase due to the presence of rock-rose, which is the food plant for its larvae.
Other “fantastic” wildlife areas recorded in the new book are the Water of Leith and Figgate Park, which lies between Duddingston and Portobello.
“There are brilliant views of kingfishers in the park, and they’re used to people because they are passing all the time,” said Broomfield.
“Where I stay now in Clackmannanshire, the River Devon is my local river, and the kingfishers are very shy. You might just see a blue streak down by the river, but because a lot of wildlife in the city are used to people, they’re more approachable and confident, so you can get much better views than you possibly get in the countryside.
“The folk of Edinburgh are very lucky, I think, to have all this on their doorstep.”
Wild Edinburgh: An Illustrated Guide To The Wildlife Of Scotland’s Capital by Keith Broomfield is published by Tippermuir Books and is available in bookshops and from online sellers
