"This month I was kindly asked to contribute a short piece on a recent uplands excursion for the regular newsletter from Hen Harrier Day UK, managed by the charity Hen Harrier Action."

“A truly wonderful bird to watch, the Dipper gets its name due to the little ‘dipping’ dance that it will regularly display. This is a bird that can literally walk underwater, and this is just one of the many reasons why they are my favourite.”

“As I looked up from the field tracks of the Woodcock, I was instantly captivated by the entrancing effervescence of a wall of suspended icicles, frozen in time. The rock face had been encased by mosses, ferns and the gigantic teeth of winter’s farewell.”

“I am yet to meet anyone who doesn’t find them endearing. Perhaps it is because they are renowned for their laziness? Or maybe it’s because they turn increasingly ginger with age? A contributing factor is surely that their young are known simply, as hoglets.”