I have started a new ‘tradition’ at home, in which I create a calendar of some photos that I’ve taken over the previous 12 months; I just finished the one for this year, so thought that I’d put up the photos that I have selected (including a couple of bonus mammal shots to round out the animal groups a little…!).
In 2012, I’ve been lucky enough to travel around Scotland a fair amount, and got a few nature firsts here – crossbills, vivaparous lizards, and finally saw the magnificent capercaillie (and ran away from it as it chased me and a very famous evolutionary biology professor up a path!). I also went to Sweden for a quantitative genetics workshop (where I learnt to love long johns as much as matrix algebra), took a trip to Canada (where I gave my first talk at a major international conference, Evolution 2012), and holidayed in Barbados (where Kirsty and I celebrated our engagement). The final bonus photo in this gallery is actually from 2013, and I hope it is a portent of good things to come!
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- A butterfly in Farley Hill National Park, Barbados.
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- Thousands of gannets nest on Bass Rock, an island in the Firth of Forth, Scotland.
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- A crossbill in the Cairngorms National Park, in the Highlands of Scotland.
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- A rogue male capercaillie in Speyside, Scotland; this guy chased myself and Professor Doug Futuyma up the path several times!
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- A dragonfly takes a breather by the river in High Park, Toronto.
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- A hairy crab on the beach at Bathsheba, Barbados.
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- Green-throated carib hummingbird, Barbados.
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- Long-horned beetle feasting on red berries in High Park, Toronto.
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- Anolis lizard checking out the new guests in our hotel in Barbados.
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- Gray kingbird looking nonplussed by the weather in Barbados (hurricane season).
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- A crab spider sucks the juices out of its prey, in Canada.
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- A juvenile red-winged blackbird in High Park, Toronto.
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- Waxwings strip the trees bare, in the glamorous location of Morrison’s supermarket car park, Stirling, Scotland.
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- Bonus picture #1: my first ever bear sighting! In Canada, of course…
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- Bonus picture #2: taken today, an otter exits the river right outside my flat!
I’m going to post this to Alex Wild’s request for end-of-year photo sets as well; mine certainly won’t compete with most of those on show, so you should go and check them out! There is some RIDICULOUS stuff going on. Hopefully I’ll have a competitive selection next year, as I’m off to Borneo in July for my honeymoon! That’s right: I’m getting married, like a real grown-up person.
Note: I’ve noticed that various people have ended up here after searching for rogue capercaillie in Speyside… I can’t give out the location myself, but I will say that we were taken there by a local wildlife guide, Steve Reddick, who was an excellent host and whose rates are also extremely reasonable!
Great pictures