And they’re back! The first Corncrake of the year has been heard on #isleofcoll. There are still places available for our Coll in Summer tour with @naturetrek.bsky.social in May - a great chance to see these delightful birds at close quarters - and much else besides on this exquisite Hebridean gem.

Oban - Coll ferry today:

3 storm petrels
2 white tailed eagles
3 Manx shearwaters
1 great northern diver
12 barnacle geese
4 eiders
Plenty of auks, gannets and kittiwakes as well

#BirdingScotland

Precious moment in the fleeting Wivenhoe sun this morning of a pair of German Wasps snatching an intimate moment... Really brought home the size difference. This is peak wasp mating time, with the male destined to die soon; the newly mated queens being the only ones to overwinter #criticalmoment

A tired looking Pale-bellied Brent goose on Torastan, #isleofcoll this evening. Lots of turnstones and ringed plovers and one curlew also.

#BirdingScotland

After a fortnight on the wonderful and wild #isleofmull for @naturetrek.bsky.social what should I find in urban Glasgow but two fine Broad-leaved Helleborines on a patch of roadside wasteland - not such a waste after all!

A fabulous day for orchids with @naturetrek.bsky.social on the #isleofmull. Seven species at one sight including these gorgeous Northern Marshes and Greater Butterflies. Even an Orchid Beetle came to join the fun. Can you guess what’s going on in the last photo?

Sarah persuaded me not to bring this. Could have been a different week for our @naturetrek.bsky.social clients! Forget the eagles everyone, let’s go and identify some brambles!!

Heading up to Glasgow for the start of a fortnight guiding for @naturetrek.bsky.social on the lovely #IsleofMull. A recent recce revealed lots of cracking locations and great wildlife: Sword-leaved Helleborine and Marsh Fragrant Orchid anyone? A few snaps to follow over the next two weeks…

I’m a bit late to the party but here’s a complete one - washed up on an Isle of Coll beach in the Hebrides. I understand that it is a shrimping bait pot. This one is dated 2005… #isleofcoll

A plump, blue-black oil beetle on sand and dry grasses stems.

A fat, black and orange caterpillar is curled into a ring on dead grass stems

Green, heart-shaped burdock leaves are poking through bare sand

Fabulous walk today with a lovely family on #isleofcoll. Delights at every turn: dandelion and burdock provided a pleasing juxtaposition; clambering Mossy Saxifrage played host to a fat Drinker moth caterpillar; and the local celebrity/rarity the Short-necked Oil Beetle even put in a turn.