A handsome roebuck early this morning in a rough pasture by the edge of the Ochil Hills. He has just rubbed his antlers free from its ‘velvet’ covering which aids growth, leaving his crown with strange, burnished appearance
A cracking wee sandpiper on the River Devon in #Clackmannanshire today
A stunning display of blackthorn flowers in Menstrie Glen in the Ochils, backdropped by Dumyat. The 19th century poet Christina Rossetti wrote: ‘A cold wind stirs the blackthorn/To burgeon and to blow/Besprinkling half-green hedges/With flakes and sprays of snow”
From puffins to rare bats, and from the favourite flower of King James VI to newts from the Alps, join me on Thursday 23 April at the Wee Bookshop in Dollar to hear about some of the incredible wildlife found in Scotland's capital
The subtle beauty of Norway maple flowers down by the river
Nice to see my first sandpiper of the year on the River Devon this evening. Their return date is very reliable, usually first appearing on the river on the 12 or 13 April
A sparkling drift of scurvy-grass at Fifeness yesterday. The leaves are high in Vitamin C and were widely used by sailors to prevent scurvy in the days before citrus fruit was widely available #wildflowerhour
The sea was getting itself into a bit of a lather at Fifeness this afternoon
Wonderful to see an influx of sand martins safely arrive on the River Devon this afternoon, after a perilous migration from their wintering grounds in the Sahel region of Africa
Sea of gold – a fabulous sweep of lesser celandines in one of my local woods today. One of the first flowers of spring and a herald to the season of new life and vitality – or as the poet William Wordsworth noted: ‘Thou art my flower of hope’.
I encountered plenty of these wee guys on a recent #snorkelling trip to Gran Canaria – sharp-nose pufferfish. Not a fish you want to eat with your chips because they contain a neurotoxin that is potentially lethal to humans if digested
Wood anemones in my local wood. Often known as the windflower, the plant is named after the Greek word for wind, anemos. Some legends suggest that anemone flowers sprung up where Aphrodite’s tears fell as she wept over the death of her lover, Adonis.
Ready to pounce - a heron spots the merest flicker of movement from a small fish at Monikie reservoir in #Angus yesterday, and like a coiled spring, prepares to strike
I was blown away by the beauty of this elegant and scarce little gull at Monikie in Angus this morning, passing through on migration to its breeding grounds in Scandinavia, the Baltic States and Russia. The little gull is the world’s smallest gull and has eye-catching, dark underwings
Always worth taking an underwater camera when on a hike in the Trossachs - just in case you come across characters like this toad I found today in the shallow margin of a lochan in the Menteith Hills
Delighted to participate in the launch last night of the second in the series of the Hillfoots Walking & Cycling Route Maps, launched in Dollar, Clackmannanshire, for which I provided the nature section. Enjoying the outdoors is so beneficial to our physical and mental health
The frog and toad mating season is amphibian debauchery and anything goes. Here, in a pond in the Ochils, an overly enthusiastic male toad makes an amorous lunge for a frog!
Wonderful to see the sand martins back on the River Devon in #Clackmannanshire this morning
Nice review of my book, Wild Edinburgh, in the latest issue of the Scottish Wildlife Trust magazine, describing it as a “delightful book” that highlights the “connectivity between wildlife, people and place, reinforced through fascinating snippets exploring Edinburgh’s cultural and social history"
A stunning lapwing early this morning by the edge of Lochindorb on a snowy Dava Moor
Many thanks to the fab team at the Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown-on-Spey – the UK’s leading wildlife destination hotel - for inviting me to give a talk last night to guests, and local folk, on the amazing nature found in the north of Scotland
Like a wee scuttling mouse, this treecreeper was busy probing for invertebrates hidden in the bark of a Scots pine in Abernethy Forest in Strathspey this afternoon
Happiness is spending the afternoon watching spawning frogs in a hill pond in the Ochils
A curious otter peers out at me from the bankside of the River Devon in #Clackmannanshire
An enjoyable time yesterday evening at a full-house event at #Edinburgh Central Library, giving a talk on my book Wild Edinburgh, followed by a lively question-and-answer session
Aw, many thanks and glad you enjoyed it
What I really like about @keithbroomfield.bsky.social ‘s book is that every chapter ends with useful information on how to get there by bus or car. A must read book.
It's been a cracking season for scarlet elf cups - these wee beauties on a tumbled branch this afternoon
A pair of stunning otters on the bankside of the River Devon in Clackmannanshire last week
