I once watched a group of hikers sit shivering in a damp valley for three hours, clutching expensive binoculars and staring at a patch of …
Why Almost Everything Happens in the First Hour
Wildlife
The Signs Animals Leave Besides Footprints
I remember standing on a ridge in the Cairngorms back in 2012, teeth chattering and visibility dropping to about ten meters, watching a group of …
Reading Tracks in Mud, Snow and Sand
I spent three years as a ranger watching people stare at a patch of disturbed mud, clutching expensive field guides like they were holy relics, …
Finding Deer at Dawn Instead of Hoping
I was standing on a sodden ridge in the Cairngorms last November, the kind of damp cold that settles into your marrow and stays there, …
Ground-nesting Birds and Why Paths Close
I remember standing on a ridge in the Cairngorms three years ago, wind coming in sideways and my boots feeling like lead, only to find …
Disturbance: the Line You Cannot See but Animals Can
I remember standing on a scree slope in the Cairngorms back in 2012, watching a group of hikers freeze in excitement because they’d spotted a …
Field Notes That Are Worth Reading in Ten Years
I spent three years in my twenties watching people buy $40 leather-bound journals and expensive fountain pens, only to leave them sitting on a coffee …
Finding a Bird in Binoculars Before It Leaves
I spent three years in the Cairngorms before I realized that most people treat optics like they’re buying a luxury watch rather than a tool …
Learning Birdsong Five Species at a Time
I was standing on a granite ridge in the Cairngorms three years ago, soaked through to my base layers and waiting for a mist to …
Identifying Raptors by Shape and Flight, Not Colour
I spent three hours last Tuesday huddled behind a gritstone outcrop in a driving sleet, my fingers numb and my binoculars fogging every time I …