My fleece trousers and woolly hat insulated me from the first icy breath of winter but it was still cold at the loch’s edge. I’d been sitting there for an hour, having deliberately got up before sunrise to see some geese. That probably sounds underwhelming but these were pink-footed geese. I’ve written about them before so won’t go into the ecology, but suffice to say they spend winter here in enormous numbers and their daily morning exodus is worth setting the alarm for. While listening to the geese waking up and readying themselves for departure, the first rays of sunshine…

Although I’m someone who enjoys photographing wildlife, I tend not to head out on walks actively looking for specific creatures in the kinds of places they’re likely to be found. I much prefer the spontaneity, surprise and randomness that any walk can provide, which means that when I do encounter something interesting I’m often caught off guard. I therefore have a growing list of elusive wildlife subjects I’d like to write about in this column, but haven’t felt able to because I wasn’t quick enough or fortunate enough to snap a photo to illustrate them with. Lizards have long been…

I always enjoyed messing about in water when I was younger but I’m not sure I ever truly enjoyed swimming in it. I certainly wasn’t a bad swimmer, in fact I took part in inter-school competitions, but I think it was more something that I HAD to do because it might save my life one day. And as I got older and completed the various levels of swimming proficiency awards, culminating in swimming up and down a large pool fully clothed and then treading water for what seemed like hours whilst simultaneously self-inflating my pyjamas (seriously!)… the interest waned. I…

A wasp found its way into my flat and settled on my windowsill recently. Being the snap-happy nature nut that I am, I don’t discriminate with my lens and therefore seized the opportunity to get a close-up photo of this much-maligned interloper, and then posted it on my blog with the accompanying blurb: “They’re really rather beautiful, if you can just see past that sting” The sentiment was genuine. That stark contrast of colour, with intricate black markings set against the bright yellow of its back, legs and head, and not to mention those cute wee club-like antennae. Yep, wasps…

Mid May would normally seem a late time of year to reminisce about the winter we’ve just enjoyed/endured (delete as appropriate), but it was only a few weeks ago that my road was blocked by 3ft snowdrifts. That’s lovely for someone like me, who feels most alive in the coldest months of the year, but I realise not everybody shares my affliction. I therefore thought I’d best play it safe and wait till the public mood had been mellowed by the first narcotic aromas of grass cuttings and charred burgers before unleashing nostalgic photos of ice and blizzards onto an…

The first frogspawn of the year usually takes me by surprise. It shouldn’t of course, because it’s an annual event as reliable as the first green shoots of grass rising from the barren, brown hillsides. But when I see those first clumps of jelly I am usually on a cold and windswept hillside, bent double into a raging gale, perhaps trying not to slip on week-old ice, or more likely eyeing-up the sky for the first tell-tale snowflakes of an incoming cold spell. Spring therefore feels like it is still months away……but then there it is, crammed into a puddle…