Summer in Scotland is a time of bright colours, remarkable light and wildlife spectacles by the thousand. The nation's seabird colonies are still alive well into July with comical puffins zipping to and from their burrows with mouthfuls of sandeels, while skuas and great black backed gulls watch on with predatory interest. Offshore, Scotland's seas are moving with cetaceans of all shapes and sizes. The Moray Firth's bottlenose dolphins pursue fish shoals while their white-beaked and white-sided cousins surface around the Hebrides. The west coast is also prime whale-watching territory, with minke whales abundant around Mull and the Small Isles and orcas frequently spotted in the Minches. To the north, the waters around Shetland are worth scouring for the larger humpback whale.

The islands of the north and west are also a haven for the elusive corncrake, a bird once threatened with extinction but which has recently experienced a resurgence thanks to changes in farming practices and better conservation measures. While corncrakes are largely absent from the Scottish mainland there are many other wildlife experiences to enjoy in the summer months.  In Speyside and upland Perthshire, for example, this is the season for red squirrel litters and for osprey chicks.  In the Highland glens, red deer are calving and, in late summer, stags will shed their velvet as the growth of new antlers is complete.  Around the country, swallows and martins gather in groups to prepare for their long flight to Africa where they will spend the winter.

Wherever you find yourself in Scotland during the summer months, be sure to look out for the fantastic array of wildlife making itself at home on our shores.