The foreword started with the sentence: "Most of the poems in this book were written without the aid of binoculars." The author then thinks of who could have had this invaluable aid. As regular readers of this column will know, my favourite wildlife and bird poet is John Clare in Northamptonshire in the first half of the 19th century and he certainly did not have binoculars.

After reading the foreword, I thought that I have the advantage of just grabbing a pair of binoculars and off I go to explore. However, it is not quite like that as I realised when I thought of all the paraphernalia I use, you could say need, to get to grips with wildlife.

Taking the binoculars to start with, as when I first started birdwatching the people that had binoculars were the lucky ones. My first pair were some 7x50 naval binoculars with the range finders still etched on the lenses. They were good for woodland work with such a wide field of view but in those days most of my birdwatching trips were to estuaries and large gravel pits.

These days if I am going to the coast I take my comparatively old 10x40s that give me the magnification needed. If I am inland I tend to use my wife's 8x42s as they give a wider field of view.

Binoculars are not only used by birdwatchers these days as some are designed to focus really close for use with insects such as dragonflies and butterflies. I have certainly used mine for looking at wild flowers on cliff ledges because I am scared of heights when climbing.

I carry so much gear with me these days that I have a check list in the back of my notebook to make sure I take everything. It avoids the disaster of this summer when in Strathdearn I saw a large number of red deer hinds cooling off in shallow water up to their bellies in the River Findhorn because of the heat. I had never seen this before and I had forgotten to take the camera. Items on the list I have just referred to my notebook include telescope, camera and accessories, notebook, biro, wellingtons, waterproofs etc.

What put it all in perspective for me was when I was talking to someone last spring who was putting up a series of large nest boxes in a strath. Having experience of a large series of nest boxes in the past, I asked how he found them all again. He uses a tracking device that can get him within a few feet of the box.

I thought of the lengths that he goes to until I realised that the first thing I do when I go into my study each day is to see what emails I have on the computer. That reached a new level this summer when I was trying to find out some information from the Sea Mammal Research Unit in Cambridge.

I noted what they called a "North Rona Blog" and it means that if I click on this I can get the daily log from the research team on the remote island of North Rona off the north coast. It's my favourite island, so I often log on to see what they are up to with the grey seal colony, or should I call it rookery? All this and I have not even mentioned which organisations I belong to and how many magazines I subscribe to. It is all really frightening and it can only get worse, or should I say better?

The garden tiger moth which develop from the "woolly bear" caterpillars.

Thinking of items I take into the field reminds me of one record this autumn that once again made me learn something new.

One of the items I carry with me is a small piece of 8 inch by 4 inch folded card and I would defy anyone to know what on earth I use this for. The reason is mainly for when I take the miniature dachshunds out for their daily walk. If I find anything that needs rescuing from the narrow road, I usually use the card to gently pick it up and move it to one side to save it getting run over by any vehicles.

Late in the autumn I started finding the occasional garden tiger caterpillars. These are often referred to as "woolly bears" because of their appearance with their covering of long hairs. In one week I picked up a small number of them and, using the card, transferred them to the safety of the grass verge.

One day I suddenly thought about why they were so small, being only about an inch long. It seemed odd to be going into hibernation when so small compared with the final very large caterpillar I had seen before.

Reference books gave me the answer as they are only partly grown when they go into hibernation and they fatten up in the spring before they pupate and emerge as one of the most attractive moths in the Highlands.

It is said that as far as the colours and wing patterns are concerned no two of these adult moths are the same.

They are not difficult to find in gardens as they are common almost throughout Britain, including the Highlands.

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