Spring days lengthen toward summer and the golden hours of quiet in the early morning and dusk stretch out. In the stillness of dawn on the west coast, the first calls of the dawn chorus ring out through the woods and two otters quietly slip by, tumbling and rolling around each other. A low mist over the hills clears slightly as the breeze begins to stir and a few ripples appear on the mirror calm loch.
Meanwhile on a seabird island on the other side of the country the cliffs are a raucous cacophony as nest sites are claimed or disputed. the surrounding waters are a riot of activity and each day brings newly arrived summer migrant birds on passage.
Kittiwake chaos and flight along the cliffs of the Isle of May
Since the end of April I’ve been very fortunate to spend almost all of my time out drawing, much of it on some beautiful nature reserves. First the Isle of May National Nature Reserve on the east coast, where puffins, guillemots and razorbills were returning to the cliffs. Then on the Morvern peninsula at the Rahoy Hills Scottish Wildlife Trust Reserve, where I’m artist in residence for 2023-24 and the woods and hills are alive with birdsong and wild flowers. It is always a privilege to spend time in such places, surrounded by the spectacle of nature, which on these spring and early summer days is often at its most vibrant and active.
And it isn’t just the places but also the people that this brings me into contact with who are so important; researchers, reserve staff and volunteers. Many of them have spent several years, maybe even a lifetime, getting to intimately know a reserve. They know what to look for and where, have witnessed the good years and the bad and have such a deeply held passion for the place and wildlife that makes its home there. Without them and the knowledge they are kind enough to share, my experience would be a very different one.
Sketches of a mother otter and her well-grown youngster as they work their way past me, slipping in and out of the water and playfully tumbling around each other
I’m currently at the Rahoy Hills Reserve and my days here have been filled with so many wonderful experiences; watching fledgling ravens preparing to leave the nest for the first time and curiously exploring their surroundings, roaming the upland and basalt topped peaks where common lizards scuttle and cuckoos call out, or bathed in many shades of green among the ancient Atlantic temperate rainforest. A particular highlight must be a mother and juvenile otter working their way along the shore of a loch, dipping in and out of the water and tumbling playfully around one another. Absolute joy.
Spending a couple of weeks immersed in the landscape and wildlife of the reserve allows me to relax into the space, to settle for long periods of time in one spot or to spend a day roaming among woods and over hills exploring hidden folds in the landscape. Sometimes slowly, sometimes suddenly and surprisingly the reserve reveals its magic. It might be the papery flickering sound of a dragonfly’s wings as it flits low over water on a sultry midsummer day, the tiny alpine plants to be searched for on hilltops or the flight patterns of many different birds as they dart, flit, swoop or soar.
All these places ask is that we take a moment to pause and become lost in the moment, to be still and absorb life unfolding all around.
Hill lochan tucked among crags and glittering jewel-like in the sun