The Secret World of Twilight by Sally Coulthard

  

You might not think that there's enough to say about twilight to fill a hardback book, but this book is a real gem that will keep you enthralled all the way through. 

As we fill the world with more and more artificial light, twilight becomes more and more precious.Sally Coulthard shows us why, exploring the scientific, ecological and cultural importance of twilight in language that manages to be both straightforward and lyrical. She shares with us wonderful gems of information such as:

"The hawkbit, a dandelion-like wildflower, closes up shop, more often than not with a pollen beetle snugly tucked inside. Come the morning, the petals reopen and the rested beetle can be on its way."

The main narrative of the book is interspersed with the author's twilight diaries.  

I felt I learned a lot while reading this book, but it never feels overburdened by facts and is consistently readable and beautifully written. 

The Secret World of Twilight by Sally Coulthard, published (March 2026) by Head of Zeus (an imprint of Bloomsbury). 

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One of the aspects of twilight explored in the book is the twilight of the deep sea, which is the topic of a fascinating recent article on the Guardian website, which you can read here.  

Bank Holiday Butterfly Survey

 Today in Scotland we were given a bank holiday for some reason. I hadn't managed to do a butterfly survey yet this survey week (the survey year starts on 1 April, so this year the survey week starts on Wednesdays) as the weather hadn't been good enough. It was just about good enough this morning, so Crafty Green Boyfriend accompanied me on a survey at Lauriston Farm (Edinburgh's agro-ecology project). We didn't see a huge number of butterflies (two Speckled Woods, one Small Tortoiseshell and four Ringlets) but we enjoyed the walk anyway. The Buttercups are beautiful at the moment

and we enjoyed listening to this Song Thrush singing  

We found this interesting looking (but sadly dead) moth on a pavement, and I've looked it up and it's a Heart and Dart, which I'd never heard of before. 

 It has a very distinctive marking on its head

 

Glasdrum and a Chequered Skipper Butterfly

On the final day of our holiday in Oban we went to Glasdrum, a stunning woodland nature reserve

 

and home to the Chequered Skipper, a rare butterfly in the UK (though I think it's more common in continental Europe). The weather was dull and damp when we started the walk and we didn't expect to see the butterfly. However, just 10 meters or so away from the information board telling us to look out for Chequered Skippers, we were incredibly lucky to see this:

It's a tiny, beautifully patterned butterfly and we were delighted to find it so easily! We enjoyed the rest of the walk too, the woodland itself is beautiful, with lots of fast flowing streams running between the trees 

There are also wonderful views from the high points of the reserve

 

There's plenty of insect life to find. I was pleased to be able to get a decent photo of this Scorpion fly, one of a group of about five that were fluttering around this birch tree.  

Like Glen Nant, which I wrote about a couple of days ago, in this post, it's a steep climb in places, but a wonderful walk.

Benderloch Beach

 Another of the trips we made while staying in Oban last week was to Benderloch Beach. It's a lovely pebbly beach 

 

We saw a couple of pairs of Common Sandpipers, who were nesting on this beach (no photos of these birds though, we kept well away from them, not wanting to accidentally step on their nests). It was lovely to see Silverweed growing on the edge of the beach 

The landscape around the beach is also lovely - we heard a cuckoo here for the first (and only) time in our holiday. 

The Lovely Island of Lismore

 One of the days we were staying in Oban we took the ferry across to the lovely Island of Lismore. Luckily the weather stayed fine for the trip and we were able to appreciate the views of the misty coastline

The sunlight broke through the mist to light up this island beach  

The trip over to Lismore took about 45 minutes and there's a nice walk once you get there. You start by walking along the coast (much of this this path is boggy, but the surrounding trees and bushes are full of birds)

The path ends at the island's Gaelic Heritage Centre, which has a nice cafe. We took a detour to view this loch  

where we were delighted to see two Spotted Flycatchers, which are an increasingly rare sight these days (click on the photo below to get a closer view!)

If you're staying in or near Oban and wondering which of the islands are worth a day trip, Lismore is definitely one, as is Kerrera. Mull is worth a longer trip, and there are boat trips which take in several of the smaller islands at the same time. 

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I also wrote about our trip to Oban in today's post on my Crafty Green Poet Substack.

 

Glen Nant

On the second day of our holiday in Oban, we travelled to Glen Nant, a beautiful area of upland oak woodland, which also holds other trees including birch, hazel and alder.

 There are streams to cross

and uneven steps to climb

There's a lot of Hard Fern (Blechnum spicant) which I always like to find

and some lovely views 

It's a beautiful place to visit, but some of the the slopes are very steep, so be warned! 

Wildlife in Oban

 We're just back from a lovely (but very rainy) few days on the west coast of Scotland. We stayed in the pretty harbour town of Oban. Over the next few posts, I'll share some of our photos. Today, I'll focus on Oban itself. 

The waters around Oban are famous (for us at least!) for the Black Guillemots that nest in the walls of the promenade

 We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast very close to Dunollie Woods

which are part of the grounds of Dunollie Castle, which you can see in the background of the photo below 

the woodland walk also offers good views across the water 

We saw a Red Squirrel in these woods, but it didn't want to pose for a photo. Unlike this Hooded Crow in the centre of Oban