Seasonality journeys through the year, looking at British wildlife across the seasons, and also about our own relationship with it. Ian Parsons writes exclusively for Books from Scotland to tell us a bit more about the heart of the book, the changes of the seasons, and introduce readers to his work.

Seasonality: A personal account of nature through the seasons
By Ian Parsons
Published by Whittles Publishing

Seasons come and seasons go, in an uncertain world, the changing of the seasons, from spring to summer, to autumn, to winter and then back to again to spring is a reassuring constant. Each season brings with it its own beauty, a beauty that we can immerse ourselves in if we allow it. These last few years have proven to many of us how important it is to let wildlife into your life, to watch it, to listen to it and to enjoy how it makes you feel.

Spring is a month of renewal, from tree leaves bursting forth out of their tightly packed buds through to the liquidity of morning bird song, the nature that surrounds us seems extra busy in the spring time. There are many indicators that spring has arrived, from the fluttering of butterflies, to the blossoming of trees, but for me, my favourite sign that spring is here once more is the return of the swallows. The swallow is a bird that doesn’t know what winter is, joining us in April after an epic migration from southern Africa it spends our spring and summer with us and then departs, as our summer ends, to head back to the southern hemisphere to enjoy its spring and summer.

They are beautiful birds and I love seeing them that first time again, cutting graceful arcs through the sky as they return here to breed. But it is when they come into perch that you can really see their beauty, the blue/black plumage on their upperparts has a glorious iridescence that reflects the spring sunshine in dazzling brilliance. Their forehead and throat are blood red in colour, adding to their beauty; these are birds that are well worth looking closely at. Before long they have settled down to start to breed, often returning to last year’s nest site. As they start breeding so spring slowly slips into summer.

The British summer can be a fickle thing, idyllic days under clear blue skies can be followed by sodden ones under drab grey clouds, but whenever the sun shines you can find a fantastic and beautiful symbol of the season, butterflies. A butterfly fluttering by is something that always brings a smile to my face, they are beautiful insects and no summer would be complete without them decorating the day. Some species are restricted in range, but others are much more widespread, species like the Painted Lady and the Red Admiral are well known and common and then of course there’s the fabulous Peacock, a butterfly that as it flashes its wings it makes eyes at you. These insects are very fond of the buddleia we have growing in the garden, the long flowering spikes as popular with them as they are with us.

Butterflies though are somewhat ephemeral, and as summer draws to an end, as the days grow shorter, so they begin to dwindle. But don’t despair, colours are still aplenty in the autumn and one of the most beautiful displays in nature is about to begin.

The show of autumn colour put on by our trees is rightly famed, suddenly the greens we have grown accustomed to become yellows, oranges and reds. Not all species do this of course, but those that do, do it wonderfully. From the Field Maple highlighting itself in yellow to the Rowan glowing orangey red, our gardens, towns, parks and the wider countryside can take on a whole new palette at this time of the year. Of course, the trees aren’t doing it for our benefit, it is a process they go through to reclaim and recycle the goodness from their leaves before they discard them, the colours we see are a byproduct of this process, but what a byproduct they are! Autumn colour is a show to enjoy, but like the butterflies of summer it too is ephemeral, the leaves soon drop and as they do so winter joins us once more.

Winter is a season that can sometimes be described as bleak, and when the weather rages it can seem so, but there is beauty in the winter just as there is in the other seasons of the year. A twinkling coating of frosty ice crystals transforms even the drabbest road verge into a magical looking place, cold and crisp mornings may mean wrapping up and scraping the windscreen, but that shouldn’t lessen their beauty. Flocks of birds visit garden bird feeders, bringing with them an opportunity for people to appreciate their feathered beauty close to.

My favourite winter visitor is the Fieldfare, a large species of thrush that joins us from Scandinavia and Russia each winter, seeking our milder climate and the red berries of the hedgerows and gardens on which they feed. They are beautiful birds and always a pleasure to see, but it is their wonderful cackling call that I most enjoy, an almost other worldly laugh that says winter to me whenever I hear it.

The seasons are full of beauty, most of it close to our homes and my new book Seasonality is my own personal account of the journey through them each year, a guide to the wildlife of the seasons. It is about what I see, what I hear and what I feel as I observe the ever-changing beauty that surrounds us all.

Seasonality: A personal account of nature through the seasons by Ian Parsons is published by Whittles Publishing, priced £18.99.