April 2024

The first half of April was spent down on the Isle Of Mull running workshops, which were great as I love working there.

But when I returned home to the Highlands, I was keen to see if one of the most dazzling birds that breed here, had returned to a loch I have frequented in the past. On arrival, I parked up and strolled to the shore and was greeted with the sight of two Slavonian grebes, pretty close in.

When I had the site to myself, I chose to lie down right on the shore, which was rather damp and very muddy, but that gave me a low angle to see the birds at eye-level, and when the sun popped through the clouds, the colours of the plumage on the birds, and their ruby-coloured eyes lit up beautifully.

I took many images, unsurprisingly, but this one is my favourite. As they're Schedule One, I really only have a window of two or three weeks after they return to the site, before they begin nesting, at which point I leave them to it.