Water of Leith.


March 2023 - Flowers and fairs


February is the shortest month of the year and I find it always rattles by. The month was also busy with a variety of commitments which somewhat stalled photographic opportunities. However, my diary is now much emptier and photography-time beckons!

I was surprised to see the daffodils in our garden flowering in mid-February; I have never seen them this early and I guess is a consequence of climate change. Crocuses are well on their way and I even saw primroses out while walking in a wood near North Berwick. There’ll be no flowers left to bloom in spring at this rate!

I am always heartened by the site of snowdrops and was glad to be back photographing among them. One of the first flowers to appear on the coattails of winter, a spread of them across the woodland floor is a joy to behold and a promise of things to come. When the flower heads close up at the end of the day, there is a certain solemnity about them and remind me of the bowed heads of the guards who kept vigil around the late Queen Elizabeth’s coffin as she lay in state. Snowdrops are so photogenic and offer limitless ways to capture their beauty and emotion. I never tire of them and they remain one of my most photographed wild flowers.

I enjoyed a spare hour or so down on the Water of Leith and resorted to taking photographs for my on-going ‘Leaf, stone and water’ project. These three elements combine beautifully to produce peaceful, evocative images that is characteristic of the river. A grey wagtail bobbed about while I played with the camera settings and the roar of flowing water was the perfect sensory accompaniment to the experience.

At the backend of February I took a stall at a fair in Fife to celebrate the wildlife on the Firth of Forth. It was organised by a colleague who is involved in the seabird and seal counts in the estuary that I also assist with. It was good to see some familiar faces attend the event and cards of the Firth of Forth which I had produced all sold well. There was a display of wildlife photographs by my seal and bird-count colleagues which displayed the wildlife of the estuary and showed off the talent within the group. Footfall throughout the day was high which made for a successful day out all round.

With spring flowers and the wildlife breeding season now on their way, the next few months promise to be busy. It now just needs the weather to be kind and my diary to remain commitment-free.