Everyone at the Forth Rivers Trust would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year when it comes! 🎄🎅 Huge thank you to everyone who has supported us in and around the Forth catchment this year. We couldn't achieve what we do without your support!

Skydancers - I just love watching rooks and jackdaws heading to their traditional winter roost

A #curlew at Torry Bay in west #Fife last week. Curlew numbers have declined significantly in recent decades, making them one of Britain’s most worryingly declining native birds

This wee fella is costing me a fortune in peanuts

'The weak, winter rays of the low morning sun bathed the drake gadwall in a comforting glow, illuminating his chain-mail patterned grey breast and chestnut wing flashes'. My 'Outdoors' column in this weekend's Press & Journal and Courier

Lovely review by Maggie Carson in the latest issue of ‘Leaves' on my book, Wild Edinburgh. She says: ‘An eminently readable foray into the flourishing wild spaces found in our capital city'.. and.. ‘Keith’s prose gives a real sense of connection that speaks from the soul’.

I just love the dinky yellow feet of this stunning little egret this morning on the tidal mudflats of Torry Bay in west Fife

I visited Abernethy Forest in Strathspey this morning in hope of spotting scarce crested tits - for the first hour or so there was no sign of any, then this handsome wee fella turned up

A woodland pond by Dundee awash with brooklime, water starwort and water plantain #wildflowerhour

One of my favourite winter sights - rooks and jackdaws at dusk on a staging post in Dollar this evening before departing to their roost in Sheardale where they fall rapidly into the forest canopy, twisting and turning.

There are loads of Roman forts in my books 'Walking the Antonine Wall' and 'The Road to Mons Graupius' - from Trimontium near Melrose in the south to Stracathro, the most northerly Roman fort in the world, and lots more in between! #RomanFortThursday

This wee fella was eyeing me up in the winter wood

A dabchick last week snaffles a fish on Forfar Loch

Like a nugget of gold, this striking yellow stagshorn fungus brought vibrant colour to the floor of a birch wood by Maryculter in Aberdeenshire

Thrilled to have just learnt that at the recent two-day Publishing Scotland #Christmas Book Fair in the centre of #Edinburgh, my new book Wild Edinburgh published by @tippermuirbooks.bsky.social was the third best seller! Book is available in bookshops and from online sellers

Gadwalls are relatively scarce ducks in Scotland, so it was great to see several on Forfar Loch yesterday. They prefer shallow, nutrient rich bodies of water and Forfar Loch suits their needs perfectly

An enjoyable time yesterday evening giving a talk at the Carnbo Community Hall on my new book Wild #Edinburgh – and some great questions from the audience afterwards @tippermuirbooks.bsky.social

A cracking sunset this evening looking out towards the Wallace Monument

We’re hiring a Head of Consultancy! 💼 Full-time | £42k | Hybrid, 12-month FTC 📅 Apply by 31 Dec 📍 Flexible working | 32 days leave | 9% pension Lead impactful work directly supporting river restoration across the Forth. Details & apply👉 forthriverstrust.org/hiring-heado... #GreenJobs

This velvet bolete in woodland in southern Perthshire was a real eye-catcher

Every morning, regular as clockwork and just after the sun has risen, this wee fella pops into the garden for breakfast on the bird feeder

My article in today’s Scotsman on the amazing #wildlife found along the shoreline of #Edinburgh – as featured in my new book Wild Edinburgh @tippermuirbooks.bsky.social

Yellow fairy cups in Dollar Glen

I will be doing a book signing session for my new book – Wild Edinburgh - at the Scottish Christmas Book Fair from 3pm to 3.30pm at The New Town Church in George Street, Edinburgh, on Friday 21 Nov @tippermuirbooks.bsky.social

This otter brought a bit of sparkle to the River Devon this morning

It is a real privilege to be editor of the prestigious Forth Naturalist & Historian journal – and I was delighted to launch Volume 48 today at the well-attended 50th annual conference of FNH at Stirling University – here with board members Geoff Baily, Dan Jackman and David Bryant

A glistening, mini-forest of juniper haircap moss on a drystane dyke by Dollar Glen

Today's star garden visitor

Nice to see the redwings back in the garden feasting upon the haws

Cracking wee rosy bonnets by the edge of a rough pasture in the Ochils

The rough pasture and adjacent shelterbelt behind my house are forever giving in their abundance of fungi - here, a stunning cluster of common stump brittlestems

Nae weel so catching up on some reading. I just love Keith’s writing style, beautifully describing his love of nature and its importance in our mental wellbeing. Based on #Edinburgh’s wild nature places (clue’s in the title!). @keithbroomfield.bsky.social

Giving some puffballs a helping hand in releasing their dust-like spores

A great spotted woodpecker watches the sun dip below the horizon this evening from its lookout post by the edge of the Ochils

One from last week when the sun briefly shone – a family group of whooper swans on a lochan at the head of Glen Turret, newly arrived from their breeding grounds in Iceland

A goldfinch this afternoon down by the river

'Thick mist and the merest whisper of wind caressed my face as I walked along the broad grassy ridge, the air wrapped in an all-encompassing silence that was completely addictive'. My 'Outdoors' column in this weekend's Courier and P&J

An enjoyable time today at the Auchterarder Book Festival giving a talk titled 'Nature Journeys' on the places that have inspired my books, followed by some great questions from the audience

I will be doing a book signing session for my new book – Wild Edinburgh - at the Scottish Christmas Book Fair from 3pm to 3.30pm at The New Town Church in George Street, Edinburgh, from 3pm to 3.30pm on Friday 21 Nov. Free mulled wine and mince pies!

A wee wood mouse checks out the garden plant pots

The hills were alive to the sound of roaring stags in Glen Turret a couple of days ago as the autumn red deer rut neared its conclusion. Here, a group of hinds on a distant ridge, with a stag on the far right

A wee bit of autumn magic in Glen Turret yesterday

Some whooper magic on a small lochan at the head of Glen Turret today

A stunning ballerina waxcap in a rough pasture by the edge of the Ochils #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social

I was gonna go cold turkey on taking any more fungi photos – but then I found this stunning pink waxcap (aka ballerina waxcap) in the rough pasture behind my house

'A blustery afternoon on the Montrose Basin and the vast estuarine enclosure had been completely in-filled by the tide, the water ruffled and white-topped by a strengthening wind'. My nature column in today's Press & Journal and Courier on a magical encounter with pink-footed geese

A drift of sulphur tufts in one of my local woodlands

This striking amethyst deceiver by the edge of a rough pasture in the Ochils was a bit of an eye-catcher

Join me at the Auchterarder Book Festival on Saturday 1 November to hear about the nature journeys that inspired my books. Free tickets on Eventbrite

Even in gardens, rare species can occur, such as this pink waxcap growing on our lawn. This stunning fungus is assessed as ‘vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species