ORCHIDS are one of my favourite groups of wild flowers and they always remind me of the late Bill Henderson who used to be warden of what were then the Inverpolly and the Inchnadamph National Nature Reserves.

FOR those naturalists who are interested in butterflies in the Highlands, the last two or three years have been exciting to say the least.

IT is surprising how a small incident can prompt the subject matter for these Country Diaries, but such was the case last week.

BY coincidence, a magazine and a newsletter all about wildlife landed on my desk last week and it was interesting to see how much of the contents related to the Highlands, either directly or indirectly.

PROVIDING nestboxes for birds has developed into an important aspect in the conservation of many bird species in the Highlands and elsewhere.

THIS is the time of the year when many young birds and mammals are vulnerable to predators.

IN many gardens in the Highlands at this time of the year the birds' nesting activities are well under way.

IT could have been almost any garden in the Highlands where birds are being fed on a regular basis.

ONE of the benefits of surveys of birds, and other wildlife for that matter, is that you can often relate the findings to what you have seen from your own experiences.

THE amount of information about wildlife that passes over my desk these days is a positive reflection of just how much interest there is in this subject.

THERE is an often quoted statistic that there are more people who fish on a weekend in Britain than go to football matches.

IN the latest Scenes newsletter which is the Scottish Environment News for March 2010, there is a short but alarming note on Leach's petrels and great skuas on the archipelago of St Kilda.

WILDLIFE in its various forms can be very secretive and just occasionally a little detective work is needed to find various species.

THE recent Scottish Birdwatchers' Conference at Culloden Academy, Inverness, was hosted by the Scottish Ornithologists Club, Highland Branch, and the British Trust for Ornithology, Scotland.

THE first time I ever used a personal hide was many years ago near the village of Achiltibuie on the coast west of Ullapool.

WADERS mean different things to different people but they are some of the most fascinating birds that occur in the Highlands.

IF I remember correctly, the first I heard of sika deer in the Highlands was way back in 1970.

WITH weeks of severe weather, birds in the garden were, until the last week or so, comparatively few in numbers and species.

FOLLOWING my comments in a recent Country Diary about the ways in which wildlife has coped with the weather, a reader has commented about exactly what small mammals do.

THE last time I wrote about wild goats in the Highlands in this Country Diary was around five years ago, so it is interesting to see what has happened since then.

WRITING on Candlemas Day, February 2, I tried to ignore the sayings about the weather.

AS regular readers of the Country Diary will recall, I have a number of favourite birds in the Highlands with some of them rare and others rather common in comparison.

THE last four weeks have been almost unreal in terms of the weather and the affect it has had on wildlife.

DOGS mean different things to different people and just as diverse are the numbers of reasons for the various breeds.

LOOKING back to 2009, as far as wildlife is concerned there have been some highs and lows and with the depressing severe weather around at the moment perhaps readers will allow me to start with the high side.

IN the last few years, there have been several serious causes for concern as far as wildlife conservations is concerned and perhaps none more so than with seabirds.

ONE of the many aspects that readers contact me about regarding this Country Diary is the photographs, sometimes with a query and sometimes because they show species similar to ones they have seen.

IT seems strange to mention a plant, namely mistletoe, that does not occur in the Highlands but it is such a topical subject at this time of the year it is worth looking at more closely.

THIS is the time of the year when people's minds turn to presents for others for the festive season, but for a change why not give wild birds a present?

WITH the current interest in the red squirrel which could well mean that it has now become a wildlife icon of the Highlands, it is sobering to think of it in historical terms.

WILDLIFE manifests itself in many varied ways and over many years I have succumbed to them.

THE procession of events all started with a case of mistaken identity on my part... Tell me something new.

SOMETIMES an incident happens that changes one's thoughts on a range of issues and such was the case when I recently reviewed the book The Poetry Of Birds by Simon Armitage and Tim Dee.

LAST week I attended the AGM of the Highland Branch of Butterfly Conservation held in Inverness at Charleston Academy Community Complex.

FRESHWATER lochs have been very much in the wildlife news of late with a number of interesting records, some of which have been mentioned in this column.

OF all the organisations, magazines, newspapers and books that influenced my interest in wildlife and conservation, none has been as vital as the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

WHATEVER aspects of Highland wildlife you are interested in, from wild flowers to birds and mammals to amphibians, there is one event that you must have noticed this year.

DEER, red deer in particular, have been the cause of much debate, discussion and controversy in the last few months over a range of issues.

A FEW weeks ago in this column I promised readers I would take a photograph of the new four feet by two feet bird table I had built in the garden with a suitable bird or birds on it.

THIS column regularly results in queries from readers and they vary both in the subject matter and how they reach me.

I HAVE never been, or wanted to be, a bird "twitcher" and in any case I have always found the word rather confusing.

WELL, I suppose I had better own up, as they say, as the new feeder in the garden, mentioned in this column recently, came about as a mistake that only I could possibly make.

ONLY people who know my shortcomings in working with wood will realise how momentous the decision was to replace the bird table in the garden.

REPORTS coming in from various readers gives a very varied picture of wildlife in the Highlands this year, with some good news and some bad news.

TWO weeks ago on this page I mentioned St Kilda and the recent book written about this archipelago by John A Love and it reminded me of one of my first visits there.

FORAGING in the countryside seems to be the in thing in the Highlands at the moment, although to put it into context it is not news to us older generations.

THERE are many large birds in the Highlands such as golden eagles, herons, the various species of geese and now the white-tailed eagles.

THE ringing of birds has been very much in the news this year what with the oldest bird known in Britain being a Manx shearwater at nearly 51 years.

IT seemed like pure magic or was it simply a sign of the times? I had pressed a few keys on the computer and there on the screen were live photographs of three osprey chicks being filmed at a nest 30 miles away.

GARDENING for wildlife is now a huge undertaking by many people, from putting out a small table with seed to a series of nest boxes and plants for insects.

THE record of the week was on the last day of June, with the sighting of a great spotted woodpecker – but perhaps I should qualify that, as it was the first juvenile of the year.

TWO newsletters landed on my desk this week with one from the Scottish Badgers group with eight pages. The other was the Summer Newsletter 2009 from Butterfly Conservation Scotland, with 15 pages.

WE were at around 1500 feet above sea level in the Cairngorms on the funicular railway when something jogged my mind.

ONE of the pleasures of writing this column is the feedback from readers and this last week has been no exception.

IT was with some trepidation that I have contemplated what sort of summer we would have for butterflies.

THIS is the time of the year when I await the young birds with some anticipation.

LAST week I mentioned I found a patch of flowering cuckooflower and it reminded me of orange tip butterflies as it is the food plants of the caterpillars of this attractive butterfly.

THE recent articles in local newspapers as memorials for the Inverness-born artist and sculptor Charles McKenzie brought back many memories.

I ALWAYS have difficulty in taking the current problem over the conservation of eels seriously, despite the alarm bells ringing for some time.

READERS of this column will know that I always like a mystery and the latest one is over the three pairs of starlings that are nesting in the small, free-standing doocot in the garden.

THE behaviour of the two species of duck, namely wild mallard and wild mandarin, coming into the garden has been interesting in the last few weeks and the different behaviour is quite marked.

ONE of my favourite Highland birds is the oystercatcher, especially at this time of the year as they are calling in their territory and that includes during the hours of darkness.

READERS often ask about my photographs – what equipment I use and how I use it to get the photographs to illustrate this column.

LAST week the Spring Newsletter from Butterfly Conservation Scotland landed on my desk and there were a number of interesting items.

IN this column last week I reviewed a booklet on ponds published by the charity Froglife aimed at encouraging people to create a pond in their garden.

IN Country Diary in January, I mentioned the UK Wildlife charity called Froglife.

FOR a number of reasons, one of my favourite birds is the eider – perhaps because it occurs in one of my favourite types of countryside, the coast.

IN one of the recent wildlife magazines there was a "flier", a leaflet about Plantlife, which is a wild plant conservation organisation.

MY wildlife diary for February this year makes interesting reading as far as the weather was concerned.

THE recent cold spell with its deep snow seemed to have a strange affect on birds in the garden and at the various feeders.

ST Kilda has been very much in the news recently and it has reminded me of the days when I used to go there three times a year for a number of years.

INTRODUCTIONS, reintroductions or translocations – call them what you may – in the last few decades we seem to have been besotted with moving mammals and birds around.

WHEN people ask if I collect anything my first thoughts are books and then, possibly, postage stamps from the Summer Isles.

IN April 2001, the Mammals Trust UK published a far-reaching report entitled Britain's Mammals: The Challenge for Conservation.

KNOWING of my passion for books, readers often ask me which is my favourite. It is always difficult to answer as, to a certain extent, it depends on whether I think of mammals, birds, plants or butterflies.

IT has been a week of e-mails with three of them being the most interesting. In recent years, we have become used to a wide variety of birds coming into gardens.

TOADS have been very much on my mind recently, for two reasons which are entirely unconnected.

AT the end of the old year and early into the new one we reflect on what has happened in the past 12 months – and for me it means wildlife.

WITH all the publicity about Rum in the media these days, and the time of year, my thoughts have gone out to the island.

READERS often give me verbal or written descriptions of birds, and occasionally mammals, to identify and this is always fraught with difficulty.

THE latest guide from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is about ringing birds and one of the photographs was particularly significant as far as I am concerned.

THIS is the time of the year when people ask me what wildlife books they should buy as Christmas presents for other people or themselves.

LAST week this column raised a number of adverse issues affecting wildlife conservation in the Highlands.

A GROUP of us older naturalists recently discussed the pros and cons of wildlife conservation in the Highlands.

THERE is always something new to learn about wildlife and such was the case when I switched on to the BBC's Autumnwatch series recently on the television.

THE long-awaited Highland Bird Report 2006 came in the post this week and I opened the pages with some anticipation.

THE long-awaited Atlas of Butterflies in Highland and Moray that I mentioned in this column last week has finally landed on my desk.

THERE was certainly a feeling of a pot-pourri about wildlife last week, from the new Butterfly Atlas to more records of crested tits.

WE have a glut of apples on our two trees this year and at the moment the last of the crop are ripening.

SOME of the oldest buildings in the Highlands are the numerous doocots scattered in various parts of the countryside and there is a mystery about one of the features of their design.

READERS of this column will know that I always tell of mistakes I have made as far as wildlife is concerned, for example, how could I have possibly identified five teal as being mandarin ducks?

REGULAR readers of this Country Diary will know about the free standing doocot that is situated in the garden only four yards from the lounge window.

THE long awaited Handbook of Garden Wildlife – Autumn/Winter 2008-2009 from CJ Wildlife landed on my desk yesterday and it is up to its usual high standard, if not better.

LAST week in this column I mentioned my daily wildlife diary that I keep and it has prompted queries from readers as to what exactly I mean by such a diary and why do it in the first place.

IT seems to have been a disastrous breeding season this year as far as water birds are concerned, with very few young fledging.

SOME plants and trees have appeared very forward this year as far as producing berries is concerned and I was reminded of this last week when the first clumps of rowan berries appeared on the road.

THE latest "Bird Table" magazine from the British Trust for Ornithology was, as usual, packed with information and interesting articles.

THIS is a good time of the year to look at swallows.

IN February 2006 in this column, I wrote about "toads on the move" which is nothing surprising as that year the early spring temperatures had been high enough to get them going to their breeding sites.

ALTHOUGH Loch Ruthven is renowned for its breeding Slavonian grebes there is much more to this loch that is worth looking for.

THE latest press release from Butterfly Conservation outlines some encouraging news in what they are calling "Scotland's Top 10 Butterfly Survival Zones".

THE latest Scottish Birds, which is the journal of the Scottish Ornithologists Club for June 2008, makes interesting reading.

THERE are not many plants in the Highlands that are more evocative than ragwort and the love/hate relationship that people have with it is well known.

THE first memory I have of doocots, sometimes called dovecotes, was many years ago when I visited the National Nature Reserve of Blar nam Faoileag in a remote part of Caithness.

THE latest newsletter concerning the re-introduction of the sea eagles was timely as it coincided with the news that the second batch of young sea eagles were being brought in last week.

THERE are very few wildlife programmes I watch on the television, partly because of lack of time and partly because I tend to get too involved.

MY track record for supplying artificial nest boxes for birds leaves a lot to be desired – whether they be large or small and for a range of species.

OUT of control fires whether in woodland or open moorland can be frightening, awesome and dangerous and the fire last week on the Drumossie Moor, south of Inverness, was an example of this.

I WILL make no excuses for featuring garden birds for the second week in a row as there is so much happening, with young birds fledging and new birds arriving.

THE house martins are back! That may not seem a momentous event, but for me they are one of the best signs of spring.

SOONER or later, depending on the size of your garden, thoughts can go to improving the wildlife attraction by building a pond.

ONE of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation regarding wildlife has been the so-called "General Licence" controlled by the Scottish Government.

THE recent Spring Meeting of the Highland Biological Recording Group in Strathpeffer was, as usual, a success partly because of the enthusiasm of the 45 or so people who attended.

OVER the last few years there have been considerable changes in legislation regarding freshwater fish in Scotland and that includes the Highlands.

DESPITE the unseasonable weather, dragonflies have been very much in the news recently for two connected reasons.

THE results of the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch came last week and it makes interesting reading, particularly as far as the Highlands are analysed.

IN Scotland, the act of 1457 directed that: "Crows should be destroyed and prevented from building in orchards and kirkyards."

EARLIER this year I bought two artificial nests designed for swallows and they are what are called open top nest boxes.

AS reported last week, the garden doocot went, in a somewhat sorry state, to be refurbished. Around five o'clock the starlings that normally roost in the doocot came in and circled for a while and then flew off.

I'M not really sure why doocots have always fascinated, but it may be the fact that they are a remnant of the past, like ice houses.

WITH the combination of warm and cold weather in the latter half of February, it did not come as a surprise that the amphibians were on the move.

WILDCATS have been on my mind recently for a number of reasons and as I write one is gazing down at me.

IT was a telephone call last week from a reader at Bunchrew a few miles to the west of Inverness that made me think of butterflies.

THE Country Diary this week is devoted to garden birds mainly because they have been so much in the news lately. Feeding birds and other wildlife in the garden has now become a national pastime and its importance to our knowledge of birds is often overlooked.

I TRY not to think about the number of societies I belong to or the number of magazines that come through the post each month.

AFTER gales, I make the inspection of the large trees, check the doocot is still standing and that fences have not fallen.

AT last there seems to be some moves on the wildlife legislation front in Scotland, and possible changes that will affect many people in the Highlands.

IT is very unusual to review a book in this Country Diary but in this case it is a very exceptional one. It is Scotland's Freshwater Fish – Ecology, Conservation and Folklore.

THINKING of updates on some items that have appeared in recent Country Diaries reminded me of the invaluable contribution readers make to this column.

THE Highland Bird Report for 2005 has now been published and, as usual, it is not only quite fascinating but it is also a very important archive for what is happening in the bird world in the North.

THE question of shooting certain birds such as cormorants has come up again, partly because of an article about them in a magazine.

OF the islands around the coast of Scotland I have been to – such as St Kilda, Rum, the Monach Isles, Shiants and Sula Sgeir – my favourite is North Rona.

THIS last week has seen a potpourri of events and records throughout the Highlands, and one of the records is particularly intriguing and may be full of potential.

SEALS, either common or grey, do not often make the news these days, although many people have strong views about them.

RECENTLY I visited the Dingwall and Highlands Marts to see what progress was being made with the "Highland Drover Project" by the Highland Livestock Heritage Society.

I AM not sure why I was reading an article in a national magazine about the control of grey squirrels and rabbits, but it certainly altered my point of view over one issue. In one section it was talking about using a .22 rifle to control rabbits on Scottish farms.

THESE days if you talk to anyone interested in birds the subject inevitably turns to the current bird atlas which started last week and will go on for four years, with the end product a winter atlas and a breeding bird atlas.

THE event of the last few weeks has been a sad one that started with the finding of a dead badger on a half mile stretch of road the dachshunds are taken almost daily.

REGULAR readers of this Country Diary will be aware that for the last few years I have been championing any organisation, scheme or system that will encourage youngsters to take an interest in wildlife.

READERS across the Highlands have been in touch about the lack of birds, and for that matter the number of species, in their gardens in the first half of this month.

THIS is the time of the year when the trees appear to take over the landscape as the autumn colours seem to change almost day by day.

IT IS interesting to reflect on what has happened in the world of wildlife in the Highlands in the last few decades.

IT is strange how a minor observation about wildlife can make a difference to ones ideas but such was the case a couple of weeks ago.

A 136-MILE round trip seemed a long way to go to see a single tree but it was also the chance of a trip down "memory lane" with so much to see on the way.

THE latest catalogue from CJ Wildlife is much more than a sales brochure, because the front cover states it is "The Handbook of Garden Wildlife 2007-2008".

WITH age, my sense of smell has been affected but when I answered the door bell last week I knew straight away even from several yards that a neighbour had brought us some fresh mackerel.

THERE seems to be an increasing amount of nonsense being talked about in the wildlife world these days and sometimes from the most unexpected quarters.

THIS week has been dominated by an intriguing, but frightening, story very close to home.

TWO recent events started me off thinking about nest boxes for birds and other wildlife as well as feeders for the garden and plans for next year.

IT COULD have been a story from Wind in the Willows or Alice Through the Looking Glass and yet it all started with a brief telephone call to me from a reader.

THE recent news that a ringed puffin that was at least 34 years old had been re-caught reminded me of my magical days being involved with these attractive, dumpy seabirds.

SOME readers have asked me what happened to the swifts that I mentioned in this Country Diary a few weeks ago.

ONE of the problems with finding out what is happening in the bird world in the Highlands is that many surveys are on a national basis and it is hard to see or analyse references to the north.

THE latest Scottish Bird News, which is the quarterly magazine of the Scottish Ornithologists Club, has a very interesting three-page article by Adam Watson on global warming which everyone should read.

THERE was an interesting programme on BBC’s Landward programme recently as at least three of the subjects were applicable to the Highlands.

WE tend to just accept moths, those insects that fly around the outside light at night and will get into the kitchen if given half a chance.

WHENEVER the subject of eels crops up I cannot help to be amused on two accounts and the first one was very much a joke on me.

A QUESTION I often ask myself these days is whether we are hiding behind the facts about wildlife or even burying our head in the proverbial sand?

IT is just as well that I recently changed my mind about watching wildlife programmes on television and watched Springwatch, as so many people seem to have had the same idea and want to talk to me about the series.

ONE of the success stories of the increase in the amount and type of food put out in gardens for birds is that it has reversed the downward trend throughout Britain, including the Highlands, of the colourful goldfinches.

THE wildlife programme Springwatch started earlier this week and I have resolved to watch as many programmes as I can.

THERE have been reports from readers in many parts of the Highlands of unprecedented numbers of siskins coming into gardens.

SO many magazines have come through the post it has been difficult to know which one to look at first.

THERE have been so many introductions and re-introductions in Britain, including the Highlands, it is now difficult to keep track of them all.

SOME time ago I wrote about the value to wildlife of the sycamore tree and I ended with the statement: “Time for a drastic re-think about the much-maligned sycamore”.

LAST week I had the chance to catch up on the progress of the Highland Livestock Heritage Society as I visited the mart in Dingwall.

BIRD tables have been very much in the news in the past fortnight, particularly as many people have been talking of a shortage of birds at feeding stations in gardens.

AT various times of the year, trees give themselves away in the Highlands by their colour.

WHENEVER I see mute swans in the Highlands it reminds me of two things - the days when I used to ring them and seeing them in the Uists in the Western Isles.

AS regular readers of this column will know, for the last two years or so I have been particularly interested in the ways that youngsters are encouraged to take an interest in wildlife and countryside.

I WAS pleased to see some young faces at the recent meeting of the Highland Biological Recording Group in Strathpeffer.

GARDENING for wildlife is increasingly being covered by the media and fortunately these days this includes the Highlands.

I RECENTLY mentioned the Scottish Wildlife Trust in connection with posters they assisted with in a national newspaper.

THE latest magazine from Butterfly Conservation has an interesting flyer inside entitled The Magnificent Seven.

IN a recent Country Diary, we looked at the five-year species action report from Scottish Natural Heritage.

THERE has been a great deal of hype in the media during the last week about nest boxes as St Valentines day is the date when birds are said to pair up so the nest box week is from February 14-21.

IN wildlife terms one of the most important documents to be published this year is already available as Scottish Natural Heritage has just published their “Five Year Species Action Framework” subtitled “Making a difference for Scotland’s Species”.

IT is always intriguing and somewhat amusing the way that ideas about wildlife and conservation come full circle and such was the case last week.

IT would be interesting to know what wildlife legislation has been passed through the Scottish Parliament since it came in, as I suspect there has been more than for some considerable number of years.

AS I mentioned birds of 2006 in last week’s Country Diary, I thought it might be appropriate to cover mammals for the year, particularly as there were some important milestones that took place.

PEOPLE keep wildlife records in a variety of ways and there are now even computer programmes you can use designed for all manner of groups from birds to butterflies.

THE recent death of a sperm whale on the Moray Firth made me think about the strange attitude we have to these outstanding creatures.

AT one time a Christmas tree meant a Norway spruce plus, if you had the money, some coloured fairy lights.

THERE is something magical about whooper swans calling in flight, perhaps because it is such a haunting call and it carries a long way.

THERE was the usual buzz of enthusiasm at the recent AGM of the Highland Biological Recording Group held in Strathpeffer and there were over 40 people in the room.

THERE are various types of buildings scattered throughout the Highlands that remind us of practices long gone and some out of living memory.

THE recent surveys of Arctic charr in Wester Ross has highlighted this glacial survivor believed to be the first fish to colonise Scottish lochs at the end of the last ice age some 8,000 years ago.

WHEN I attended the AGM of the Highland branch of Butterfly Conservation last week it brought back many memories of the inaugural meeting several years ago at the regional council buildings.

WHEREVER you live in the Highlands, in the last few weeks you are likely to have seen visible migration in the form of geese and swans moving down from the north.

MAMMALS seem to be very much in the news these days whether it is the overpopulation of deer, the spread of the pine marten or the continuing threat of mink.

CALENDAR publishers seem to be increasingly aware of the countryside and its wildlife and there are so many on the market these days it is difficult to choose.

FOR a variety of reasons this year must surely go down, as far as the Highlands is concerned, as the year of moths and butterflies, both in terms of records and publications.

I RARELY watch wildlife programmes on the TV but, last week, I could not help myself as they were showing the red deer rut on the Isle of Rum.

LIVING in the Highlands, there are always icons of the wildlife world to see such as golden eagle displaying, ospreys fishing, salmon leaping, red grouse calling and this month the red deer stags showing off to the hinds.

THE number 100 has been prominent in September for two reasons, both associated with books.

IT'S been very much a mixed bag this week with some encouraging news and some quite alarming.

SOME of us, a decreasing number as years go by, can remember when the only way we could find out what was happened in the natural history world was by word of mouth.

ONE of the oldest style nest boxes for tawny owls is what is called the "chimney" design which is basically four planks of wood screwed together with a base.

THE Handbook of Garden Wildlife 2006-2007 came in the post last week and I note that the firm has changed from C J WildBird Foods to C J Wildlife as far as their brand name is concerned.

ONE mammal in the Highlands has been very much in the news in the last week or so, namely the rabbit.

WHILST it is easy to get information on feeding birds in gardens, mainly because it is a multi-million pound business these days, the provision of water is often overlooked.

THE Highland Livestock Heritage Society has been very much in the news lately, especially as it featured on a recent BBC Landward programme.

LAST week there seemed to be a deluge of magazines and newsletters through the post and it was interesting to see in what way they related to the Highlands and Islands.

WHEN the Highland Bird Report for 2004 landed on my desk, it was difficult to know which section to turn to first so I just started at the beginning and went right through.

EVERY reserve area whether it be a National Nature Reserve, National Park or Local Nature Reserve should have a handbook - a book where everything that is known about the area is logged in some form.

THE garden is alive with young birds with many trying to get to grips with the peanut holders and imitating their parents who sometimes watch closely as if worried by their antics.

THE recent announcement that the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £4.3 million for a new archives centre for historical documents, etc, may focus people's minds on a wide range of subjects from the Clearances to estate maps.

THERE has been news about the mammal atlas for the Highlands as regards progress so far and a date for publication.

IT is easy to bandy figures around about wildlife, especially when you cannot really check them out.

LAST year I did not, for some reason, make my annual pilgrimage to Loch Garten to see the ospreys, but at the end of last month I managed to get down.

THE eagerly awaited book "The State of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland" has at long last arrived and it is meeting all our expectations as far as the Highlands are concerned.

OF all the many business cards I have been handed over the years, the one that intrigued me most was from a man who came to buy some poultry.

READERS of this column often ask me how I started writing and I was reminded of this in a round about way last week when I was photographing birds in the garden.