As we got to the top of the hill a golden eagle came from behind it at about our height. It soared, folded its wings and dived. Another appeared and they crossed the glen soaring and diving all the way. To entranced to lift my camera.

A name for something I knew about, canopy shyness, but didn’t know.

“When the leaves are almost gone, the branches show their ‘canopy shyness’ – a phenomenon observed in many species of trees in which the crowns of mature trees do not touch each other,” says Niven.

wildlife photo award

I love trees from below. The photographs on the British Wildlife Photography Awards are amazing.

Illustration of Atlantic salmon

Despite mealy-mouthed words about sustainability and transparency the salmon industry is Scotland’s disgrace. The gap between the iconic identity of salmon as a wild symbol of natural Scotland, and the reality is massive. The potential to completely replace this industry with regenerative genuinely sustainable jobs is huge, but the Scottish Government seems to be missing a massive open goal here, instead propping up (and covering up) for short-term lucrative gain. A mass boycott of salmon should be the goal to exert pressure on government and industry.

Scotland’s Salmon Crisis

Also: island split over plans for salmon farm

I remember, as a wee boy, seeing the netting station at the mouth of the Spey, piles of fresh run wild salmon. I now avoid eating salmon.