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

An afternoon spent playing hide-and-seek with elusive and flighty small pearl-bordered fritillaries in the #Ochils eventually brought the reward of this wee stunner

Ptarmigan are the masters of concealment and just by chance I spotted this one hunkered down on a high plateau above Glen Ey in the #Cairngorms a couple of days ago. I wonder how many others I passed-by without realising they were there!

It was wonderful to hear the evocative, flute-like calls of golden plovers in the Cairngorms yesterday that drifted across the air like a haunting lament

Cracking weather for a hike in the southern Cairngorms today, taking in three summits as I sought out ptarmigan and golden plover, which will feature shortly in my nature column in the Press & Journal and Courier. Temperature was 21 degrees C at 3,000ft!

Thrilled to glimpse this spotted flycatcher on an early morning walk in woodland by the edge of the Ochils. Sadly, this beautiful summer visitor has declined by up to 90% since the late 1960s and is on the UK Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern

A wee stunner of a red-backed shrike looking out for beetles and crickets to swoop down upon from its hunting perch on the island of Korcula

Oooh, I do like a nice cuttlefish - and it was great to find this charismatic fella in a seagrass meadow in Croatia last week. Related to the octopus and squid, they are one of our most intelligent invertebrates

When snorkelling, it's often worth diving under and taking a peek under rock cavities on the seabed to see what might be lurking - such as this fabulous octopus peering out from its lair by the island of Korcula

A swallow takes a well-earned rest on the roof of a local barn from the chores of feeding its chicks

A fabulous drift of mountain pansies in the #Ochils

A brown hare relaxing in a field near my home. The pioneering 18th century naturalist, Thomas Pennant, noted that 'the hare is endued, in a very distinguished degree, with that preserving passion, fear: this makes it perpetually attentive to every alarm, and keeps it always lean'

The jay is one of our most colourful, yet secretive, birds. This wee beauty in my local wood.