Keith Broomfield travelled through Scotland for five months in a caravan to research his new book, A Scottish Wildlife Odyssey. Gayle Ritchie finds out more.
It all began on the frost-laden merse of the Solway in Dumfriesshire at Caerlaverock.
The merse – or saltmarsh – is an inspiring open landscape that stretches as far as the eye can see, and on Keith Broomfield’s arrival there at dawn in early March last year, he was struck by the distant, clamouring calls of barnacle geese, one of the specialities of the merse in winter.
“It was mesmerising, and I instantly knew then, that I was on the cusp of a truly amazing adventure,” he reflects.
Keith was starting out on a journey which would take him through the Borders, into Ayrshire, via places such as the East Neuk, Trossachs, Perthshire, Aberdeenshire and the Cairngorms, as well as the Scottish islands and Shetland.
He was travelling in a second-hand caravan – “a useful base” – while on a five-month wildlife odyssey, soaking up experiences he would later write about and publish in his second book.
“The idea was to make it as a wildlife travel journey through Scotland, starting in the south-west and then zig-zagging my way across and up through Scotland, alternating between west and east, heading northwards all the while, until the trip ended in Shetland,” says Keith.
“This five-month journey was in no way comprehensive, more a snapshot of Scottish nature, a random dip into its deep riches.
“This is a journey that could be completed a thousand times, and on each occasion a different route could be taken, such is the vast wealth of wildlife found in Scotland.”
Broad-brush approach
Some of the places visited were new to Keith while others were favoured haunts from the past. And while some of the sites visited were nature reserves, most were not, as he wanted the book to have a “broad-brush” approach to Scotland’s incredible landscape and nature.
Keith was keen to highlight both lesser and well-known species.
While he says his twitching days are over, he gets enjoyment from observing the behaviour of more common bird species or seeking out insects, plants and intertidal life.
“It’s a mellowing of the mind if you like,” he muses, “Moving from the fast lane of ticking off new species to a more sedate and thoughtful approach to nature”.
Undersea life
Keith was keen to focus on some of Scotland’s undersea life, an area often neglected in nature writing.
To that end, the book includes encounters with strange marine creatures such as sea hares, isopods and comb jellies on his snorkelling adventures.
Water vole discovery
His most surprising discovery was a population of water voles in Glasgow – which don’t live by water.
Instead, they have adopted an underground living existence in parks and other areas of grassland in east end Glasgow housing estates.
“The population density of water voles here is higher than anywhere else in the UK,” says Keith.
“One site, which is probably the most unusual wildlife location I’ve ever visited was the massive Glasgow Fort shopping centre.
“Here, on its southern flank, bordering the M8, is a large green wall – a supporting buttress that is grassed over on its vertical surface, creating in effect, a high grass cliff, which is full of water voles. They have adapted with ease to their high-rise ‘tenement-style’ living, safe from predators within this formidable fortress. How cool is that!”
Emotional
Some of Keith’s wildlife encounters were rather emotional: observing at close quarters a mother and cub otter at Appin on the West coast; revisiting north Edinburgh where he grew-up and reacquainting himself with the city’s foxes; investigating the wildlife of nearby Wardie Bay, sandwiched between Granton and Leith.
“In the 1970s, there was a sewage outfall pipe in Wardie Bay, and as a youngster, I was totally oblivious to the hygiene hazard this presented to me, as I happily guddled around in rockpools full of toilet paper and human waste!
“It was great to revisit the site for my book, and to find the Firth of Forth clean once more and brimming with all kinds of sea creatures.”
Scottish islands
The highlight of Keith’s journey was visiting the Scottish islands, especially the Outer Hebrides and Shetland.
“The machair of South Uist is spellbinding with its colourful tapestry of wildflowers and abundant breeding waders, whilst Harris has a hypnotic attraction, and it was brilliant to observe minke whales when I was there,” he says.
“Whales are animals I was not previously well-acquainted with, and it was wonderful to get a glimpse into their amazing lifestyles.”
His trip to Shetland also brought about one of the “low-points” because it was there that he felt the full impact of climate change.
“This appears to be the main driving force between changes in the abundance, size and distribution of sandeels, and this is affecting seabirds such as kittiwakes which feed upon them,” he explains.
“It was heart-breaking to see so few kittiwakes nesting successfully on the magnificent seabird cliffs on the Isle of Noss, with their numbers having plummeted catastrophically there in recent years.”
Nature as a guide
While Keith started out with a rough itinerary, this changed and adapted as his wildlife odyssey progressed because he was finding new things and continually being diverted: “It was nature that wrote and guided the book; I was merely a bystander and observer.”
He hopes the book will open readers’ eyes to what a wonderful country we live in, one that we shouldn’t take for granted.
He hopes too that it will inspire, and encourage “even a handful of people” to become more interested and active in nature conservation.
“Whilst the book is a celebration of Scottish nature, it also highlights the very difficult environmental challenges we face to ensure we can live a more sustainable future, where both nature and humanity can prosper,” adds Keith.
A Scottish Wildlife Odyssey is published next month, but Keith has already been commissioned by Tippermuir Books to write another book – a British wildlife journey starting in Cornwall and ending in the north of Scotland. It will be published next year.
He says: “This really will be a journey of new discovery for me, as there are many parts of England and Wales I haven’t visited – and like Scotland – they too hold an Aladdin’s Cave of wild secrets waiting to be uncovered.”
EXTRACTS FROM A SCOTTISH WILDLIFE ODYSSEY
- There was a fluttering by the track edge on the moors north of Dunkeld that was so small and insignificant it barely registered upon my mind. Perhaps it was a flicker of the imagination, but curiosity took grip, so I scrambled down a small incline to investigate this movement. Up into the air flitted a little moth-like creature, before swiftly alighting on a grass stem, closing its wings to reveal the most stunning emeraldgreen colour imaginable. It was a green hairstreak butterfly, a scarce species that is a joy to find especially as they are easy to miss because of their diminutive size. The brightness of the emerald underwings is so striking, that, once seen, it remains indelibly imprinted upon the mind.
- It is hard to imagine a more absorbing scene of nature’s overwhelming urge to procreate than the one I observed from the top of the towering seabird cliffs at Fowlsheugh, south of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire. There were thousands of dramas being played out: guillemots courting, razorbills bickering and gulls patrolling for unguarded eggs to snatch. Fowlsheugh embodies nature’s wild soul, and the noise of the swirling seabirds, the heavy aroma of guano and the sight of thousands of bobbing birds out on the water was totally addictive. This is a seabird city, a place of life and death, and one where one becomes awed and bewildered in equal measure by its sheer vibrancy and clamour.
- If there is one thing guaranteed to set my pulse racing while walking in the countryside, it is stumbling upon a piece of corrugated iron dumped on the ground. A bizarre thing to say, perhaps, given it is a form of pollution, but beneath its protective cover, I know from experience, there is every chance some incredible creatures will be lurking. As I explored the north bankside of the River Kirkaig, near Lochinver in Assynt, Sutherland, searching for butterflies and dragonflies, a large sheet of corrugated iron lying adjacent to an old and crumbled drystane dyke shone-out at me like an irresistible invite. When I was still a teenager, lifting such sheets often revealed field voles, which scuttled away at great speed in brown-furred flashes. Although one of our commonest mammals, field voles are seldom seen; corrugated iron brought an opportunity to see these attractive small rodents close up. Thus, it was with great anticipation that I gently lifted this sheet of iron abandoned in the wilds of Assynt to reveal a bronze glimmering on the ground beneath – slow worms! There were two of them, intertwined. For a short moment they lay still, then, on realisation that potential danger threatened, they quickly retreated into their narrow underground burrows.
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Information
A Scottish Wildlife Odyssey will be published by Tippermuir Books in early March and is available to pre-order at www.tippermuirbooks.co.uk
Keith’s first book, If Rivers Could Sing, was shortlisted in Scotland’s National Book Awards 2021.
Keith writes a weekly column for The Courier and Press and Journal. Check it out here.
