Red squirrel in the Highlands of Scotland

Red squirrel in the birch forest, Highlands of Scotland

Red squirrel in the Highlands of Scotland

Young red deer stag silhouetted at sunrise in Strathglass, in the Highlands of Scotland

Red squirrel in the Highlands of Scotland

A red deer stag poses in front of the rising sun. One of a series of photographs taken in late October in Strathglass. The light was dramatic but brief, and I was fortunate to find myself in the right position to capture this moment.

Red squirrel in the Highlands of Scotland

Group of red deer in the early morning light of Strathglass, Highlands of Scotland

Red deer stags in Strathglass, Highlands of Scotland

Young red deer stag silhouetted at sunrise in Strathglass, in the Highlands of Scotland

Close up of a male red squirrel in the Highlands of Scotland

A roe buck's skull in a misty autumnal woodland. Highlands of Scotland

Red squirrel in the Highlands of Scotland

Close-up of a red squirrel in the Highlands of Scotland

Group of red deer in the early morning light of Strathglass, Highlands of Scotland

A small group of red deer stands out against the early morning skyline. Strathglass-Highlands of Scotland.

Red deer in the Highlands of Scotland

Red squirrel in the Highlands of Scotland

Red deer hind in the Highlands of Scotland

Red squirrel in the Highlands of Scotland

Royal stag in the Highlands of Scotland

Red deer stag silhouette, Strathglass

Red deer silhouetted at sunrise in the Highlands of Scotland

Red deer hind on the run. Highlands of Scotland

Roebuck in the Highlands of Scotland

Red deer stag in the Highlands of Scotland

Red deer stag silhouetted in the Highlands of Scotland

Just before sunrise, a red deer hind appears on the skyline. Scottish Highlands

Red deer group silhouetted on the hills above Strathglass in the Highlands of Scotland

Red squirrel in the Highlands of Scotland

European robin in the Highlands of Scotland

Stag in the early Autumn light, Highlands of Scotland

Worm's-eye view of a European robin - Highlands of Scotland

Red deer stags in the Highlands of Scotland

Red deer silhouetted by the rising sun in the Highlands of Scotland

Red deer stag silhouetted in the Highlands of Scotland during a Winter sunset

Red deer stag in the Highlands of Scotland

Red deer silhouetted at sunrise in the Highlands of Scotland

Group of red deer in the Highlands of Scotland

The names we have for things in nature have always intrigued me. They tell us something about our history as a species as well as revealing our complex relationship with it. After discovering that the earliest record of an Anglo-Saxon word was found written in runes on the back of a roe deer's hoof and simply read, "roe", I can't help but feel more of an ancient connection with this native species.

Pine Marten catching the late evening light in the Highlands of Scotland

Red deer in front of Beinn a' Bha' ach Ard, Strathglass in the Highlands of Scotland

Red deer stag in the Autumn sun, Highlands of Scotland

Treecreeper in the Hghlands of Scotland

Busted....sneaking in to the squirrel feeder

Stack of images, Ashridge Estate, Hertfordshire

Red deer in the Highlands of Scotland

Here is one of those once in many lifetimes wildlife encounters... I was looking for orchids on the embankment of a busy road when I became aware of an orangey coloured mouse at my feet. The mouse then surprised me by running up the nearest tree in front of me, which happened to be a one metre high sapling. At this point I realised it was no mouse, but a hazel dormouse - I presume a young one and not fully aware that it ought to be nocturnal yet! I took a few shots and then carefully bent the sapling over so that it touched the dense hawthorn hedge from where the dormouse had presumably come, and it quickly scampered into the safety of the dense hedge. I don't expect to have another close-up experience with a hazel dormouse again, what a wonderful - if brief - meeting.

Oxfordshire

Red deer at first light in the Highlands of Scotland