EVERY day in The National we publish one of the best photographs our readers have sent in to pictures@thenational.scot from across Scotland. Here are last week's:

The National:

Photographer Daniel Long waited for hours to get this wonderful shot of pine marten kits playing at a hide on the Black Isle. The elusive animals are largely nocturnal hunters, and took a while to relax after hearing the snapping of his camera.

The National:

Artist Charlie Poulsen poses with his new "growing sculpture" Skyboat, which has been unveiled at Marchmont House in the Borders. The work incorporates an old wooden fishing boat that will be "cradled" by living oak trees as they grow underneath it.

The National:

Reader Catriona Kellock took this great shot on a very windy day at the Kitchener Memorial in Orkney, which was erected in 1926 in memory of Lord Kitchener and 736 other men who were killed when their ship struck a German mine in June 1916.

READ MORE: Photos of the week: Hedgehogs, the Outer Hebrides, and Oldshoremore Beach

The National:

Tor Södergren snapped this exotic bloom - a passion flower with South American origins - in the unlikely location of a hedge in Edinburgh’s Craighall Road.

The National:

Reader John McLennan took this shot of North Loch Ness looking south. He said the water was like mercury when he was observing it.

The National:

Lorna Senior snapped this picture during an afternoon of autumn sunshine in Dornoch. She said: “Lots of rowan berries this year – a bumper harvest!”

To contribute your own photographs, which may be published in our newspaper and featured online, email pictures@thenational.scot along with your name and a short caption explaining where it was taken