Spring-ish

White Bay, Ardentinny. Early March.

The sense of joy and relief as Spring finally approaches our soggy corner of Scotland is palpable. Moods lift a little. Busy-ness and enthusiasm begin to feature amongst the locals for the first time in months. Projects begin again - tidying the damage from winter storms. The birds chatter, sing, and absolutely tear through the feeders we “only filled this morning”.

I love this time of year. It heralds that things are about to get better. Scotland being Scotland, however, shan’t have any of that getting ahead of ourselves shall we? Stings in the Spring-ish tail will continue for some time yet me laddie. The occasional snow flurries. Energetic Atlantic lows. Days where the lights seem to have been turned off.

But it’s coming. When I can shoot hand-held because there’s finally enough sun for a faster shutter, or I can turn down the ISO for some clean, noiseless shots. When I’m not swathed in fleecy layers, hats, and waterproofs. All the way through to late May / early June, Scotland puts on her best frock and becomes the talk of the town. This season, I will be mostly taking some of my better images.

Spring Salmon return to our rivers after a year or several fattening themselves in cold, North Atlantic waters. Giant bars of silver that occasionally, fleetingly, grace the nets of joyous anglers, before continuing their epic journeys to spawning grounds. Red Squirrels begin to dart around the trees, hiding around the other side because there’s no way we’d know they’re there, surely? Greater Spotted Woodpeckers revisit their nesting holes, or begin their noisy excavations elsewhere. It’s hard to describe the absolute privilege of not having to rush around, exhausted for work, of not having to seal myself away in an office and away from all this.

I won’t spoil the surprises that await us from June onwards, it’s early days yet, but I hope you like the scent of insect repellent…

Fujifilm X-T5, XF 16-55 at 16mm, f/5, 1/100s, ISO 125