Absolute magic.

Bliadhna Mhath Ùr! Nature’s fireworks heralding in a new year.

With the first big frosts each year comes the display of one of my favourite fungi, exidiopsis effusa. The fungus itself lives inside dead wood and, when conditions are just right, causes moisture to expand out through thousands of pores and create this exquisite and delicate ice structure.

Amazed by such good snow conditions so early in the season, unfortunately I had to head home last night but those with a couple of days off are very lucky with this weather.

Some very sobering statistics from an environmental conference yesterday. This ‘coupe’ is the shape of the global environmental crises. Placing the onus for change on those at the bottom will accomplish nothing.

The last of the autumn horde.

The wonderful thing about foggy days is they allow you to indulge in a bit of good-natured primal sneaking.

Just beautiful scenes up in Lochaber yesterday. Times like these make one so grateful for being able to call this country home.

Last year's honey vs this year's, night and day. The prolonged drought last summer followed by flooding was hugely detrimental to many of our July/August-flowering species, so the bees were pushed up into the hills to forage the heather.

Home.

One of the big giveaways of a temperate rainforest is damp enough conditions that things like bryophytes and polypodies can thrive far above the forest floor. Here I counted at least six distinct species living in complete symbiosis.