Travelling sketchbook - catch up The First

In August, I received a lovely buttery watercolour of a peachy sunset with some inky geese flying towards the horizon.

It reminded me of birdwatching at RSPB Mersehead, the barnacle geese swooping in from Svalbard on an autumn day, and of all the birdlife that we see when we go up to Dumfries & Galloway and the Solway Firth.

I thought I'd wait until we got up there, to see what particularly inspired me. A week later, the flowers were a sight to see, particularly the roses, pinks and purples of the willow herb, which I decided to have a closer look at.

I'd never noticed how red the spent pods were.

As I crouched beside it, looking intently and scribbling with my Inktense pencils, raptors circled high overhead and in the end, I wasn't sure whether I watched them, or whether they were watching me, nestled into the ferns and grass, like a pottering mouse or a tiny bunny....