When the sun shone last week - a goldfinch on its song perch by the haugh of the River Devon in #Clackmannanshire

Harbour seals and their pups taking things easy on a rocky islet off West Wemyss in #Fife today

A ptarmigan on a mountain top above Glenshee earlier this month

BHG doing very well at #EastKilbride loch. In #winter they are top parasites of #cormorants, & ambush them when they come up for air, hoping to steal fish they catch for dinner. #birds

Keith Broomfield@keithbroomfield.bsky.social · last wk.

This recently fledged black-headed gull on the Ythan estuary north of #Aberdeen last week was elegance personified. The Forvie reserve holds a significant proportion of the Scottish breeding population of these declining gulls and they have had a successful year with over 1,500 young fledged!

This masked crab was a good find when snorkelling in Loch Broom recently. It an animal not often seen because they spend most of their time hiding in burrows in the seabed sand. The crab uses its two long antennae to form a breathing tube to deliver oxygenated water to its lair under the sand

This recently fledged black-headed gull on the Ythan estuary north of #Aberdeen last week was elegance personified. The Forvie reserve holds a significant proportion of the Scottish breeding population of these declining gulls and they have had a successful year with over 1,500 young fledged!

A drift of meadowsweet on the sea cliffs at the Bullers of Buchan near Peterhead in #Aberdeenshire #wildflowerhour

A young grey seal taking things easy on the Isle of May a couple of days ago

Great to see the kittiwakes appearing to have a good year on the Isle of May with plenty of rapidly growing young huddled in their cliff ledge nests yesterday

This wee fella brought a splash of colour to the cliffs at the Bullers of Buchan near #Peterhead yesterday

A fabulous sea eagle with its 'barn door' wingspan soars above Loch Broom last week

I adore finding burrowing anemones - you don't often see them when snorkelling as they generally prefer deeper water, but when you do discover one, it is like a flickering flame that brightens the seabed. This wee beauty last week in Loch Broom

This slow worm was a good find on a track near Mellon Udrigle in Wester Ross last week. Not often seen as they lead secretive lives, these fascinating creatures resemble a snake but in fact are legless lizards, and can blink their eyes and have external ear openings, which snakes don't.

Keep away, she’s mine! Velvet swimming crabs have fascinating breeding behaviour where the male guards a female (below him) for several days until she moults and sheds her shell, when mating can then take place. This amorous pair in Ardmair Bay near Ullapool yesterday

Some dolphin aerobatics in Loch Broom by #Ullapool in #Wester Ross this morning

Like an underwater leopard - a close-up of the intricate patterning on the head of a small-spotted catshark I encountered when #snorkelling a few days ago in Loch Broom near #Ullapool

The evening sun slips below Isle Martin in Loch Broom #Ullapool

Thrilled to spot this John Dory in Loch Broom in the NW Highlands during a #snorkel, It is uncommon in Scottish waters and is more typically found in warmers waters around southern Britain, and further south into the Mediterranean #Ullapool

The far north-west coast of this beautiful country called #Scotland just keeps on giving - a stunning sea eagle on its look-out perch yesterday at Ardmair Bay near #Ullapool

Every time I go snorkelling in Scotland I dream of seeing a small-spotted catshark, and today it finally happened, and I am so happy. Here, in Loch Broom near Ullapool.

Great to be back in one of my favourite snorkelling spots, Ardmair Bay in Wester Ross, where marine life abounds at every turn, including this stunning barrel jellyfish

A four-spotted chaser dragonfly on its hunting perch at Bordie Loch in Devilla Forest in west Fife. It is a voracious predator, eating midges, mosquitoes, mayflies, small moths and other insects

It might still be deepest summer but the sulphur tufts are back, bringing colour to the dark woodland floor

An emerald damselfly approaches its perch today at Bordie Loch in Devilla Forest, west #Fife. This loch is one of the best places in Scotland to spot #dragonflies and #damselflies, with 12 different species recorded

Delighted to spot this shy juvenile grey partridge this morning in a sweep of mayweed in #Clackmannanshire . It is one of our most threatened farmland birds and is on the Red List of Birds of Conservation concern, the UK population having fallen by around 90% since the late 1960s

A lobster eyes me up from its lair at Elie in the East Neuk of Fife

Plenty of butterflies on a hike up Ben Buck, followed by Ben Ever in the Ochils yesterday, including this stunning dark green fritillary feeding on wild thyme

This lesser weever was a good find when snorkelling at Elie earlier this week. It is venomous with a very painful sting should an unwary bather step upon one. They spend most of their time buried in the sand with only the eyes and tip of the dorsal fin exposed, and as such, are seldom seen

The sea conditions were so benign when snorkelling at Elie yesterday that I managed to snap this rather unusual shot of a shoal of sandeels which were reflected in the top half of the photo by the mirror-calm water surface

Snorkelling through an underwater garden - a wonderful mirror-calm sea at Elie in #Fife this morning, with a vast array of seaweeds including sea lettuce and mermaid's tresses, along with sparkling shoals of young saithe