Some good news for red squirrels. According to a report from the Scottish Wildlife Trust's 'Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels' project, one of our favourite British mammals is beginning to return to areas of Scotland where they have not been seen for years. This is largely at the expense of the non-native grey squirrel whose numbers are being controlled to encourage reds to increase and expand their range as well as taking measures to prevent the spread of squirrelpox virus. Killing one species to safeguard another may not necessarily be palatable to everyone and is a contentious aspect of nature conservation. And it's not the greys fault of course having been introduced by us but I must admit that I'd rather have reds in my local wood given the choice. They're just so much more attractive than their American cousins!

To donate or get involved visit the project web site.

I know us photographers would live in the Highlands are always banging on about the weather but this year's snow has been unprecedented and we have just had another 40-50cm in the past 36 hours and it's still falling. Whilst this looks great, local wildlife is struggling. I found a dead roe deer a few weeks back that had succumbed to the harsh conditions as well as two brown hares. Along with putting out peanuts for the garden birds I also put out carrion for buzzards and a male kestrel that hangs around near the house. Today for the first time he was feeding on a road-killed blackbird just metres from the kitchen window, so hoping to get my lens trained on him over next few days. This is one of the same bird taken last year.

Its now been over 2 months with snow on the ground save for a few days last week with another 6 inches arriving today. Not that I'm complaining - it has been great  for photography. Last week I hosted Edwin Kats a friend and fellow photographer from Holland and we enjoyed a pretty intensive 5 days out in the field. To be honest, on all bar one of these days I would have normally stayed in behind the monitor but as is often the case when you make the effort to get out there it yields results. A windy day on the tops was perhaps the highlight of the week with good numbers of ptarmigan and interesting conditions to help capture something different. These are a couple of minimalist images I liked.

On Monday and Tuesday this week I was out with Photo Plus magazine helping to shoot their Apprentice feature, which involved imparting my vast photographic knowledge onto two local photographers keen to improve their skills. Suffice it to say that it didn't take long but hopefully they went away with more than cold feet! So, thank you to Paul and Dave from Photo Plus and to Adrian and Heidi my willing apprentices - if nothing else we enjoyed several very welcome hot chocolates!

For those of you seeking some pearls of wisdom (I'm not sure why you're here in the first place) then you may be interested in a feature in the latest Practical Photography magazine (March 2010) in which I give supposedly expert tips and advice on winter wildlife photography. You'll be helping drag the UK out of recession if nothing else!