autumn mammals

The new mammal talk is nearly finished but good to add a few more shots this autumn.

at the bottom of the garden

This month I am doing some small mammal surveys for the mammal society. To get a bit of practice I have been working in the meadow at the bottom of my garden. Wood mice were the most common but this bank vole was my favourite.

Finland

I have just returned from a wonderful week in Finland where I have photographed osprey and black throated diver. We spent a lot of time with each species and I am absolutely delighted with the results. I have in particular some very special osprey pictures which I am keeping in my back pocket for now. Here is one though to whet the appetite.



osprey



Marvelous Mammals

An afternoon session at the wonderful British Wildlife Centre allowed me to be a bit creative with my camera and some of the great mammals that they have there. Foxes, badgers, otters all performed and I even managed some shots of the normally shy weasels.

Black hairstreak

I have not done much pre-planned butterfly photography but my friend Oliver Smart has been working on a project to photograph all the British species. His latest subject, black hairstreak brought him close to me in the Midlands so I took the opportunity to join him.

Normally these small butterflies rest and feed high up in the trees. This one was no exception but as it had chosen a particularly flexible hazel branch it was possible to slowly bend the branch down to bring him to photographic range. The butterfly remained unfussed and we were able to get great views and images..brilliant!



Spring in the Highlands





I took advantage of the long weekend at the start of May to head to Inverness for three nights. The weather was good and there was lots to see. I am worried though that I might have forgotten how to do wildlife photography as I seemed to spend a lot of time with waterfalls!! I did plug a highland gap though with a lovely male (Scottish?) crossbill.

Focus4Nature raptor photography day

The weather broke just for one day for us in Mid Wales for the F4N raptor photography. And once again the birds were great and posed in lovely settings around the farm and estate.

I think that my fellow photographers were pleased to be able to practice on the large great grey owl before aiming at the rapid little tawny owl flying towards them

I will anounce some more dates for raptor photography very soon so if you are interested watch this space or email me for a heads up.

Spring Adders

Last year I made a date to get to the Forest of Dean and catch up with adders in early March. It was not long before I found one but it did not allow me to get at all close and slunk away. A cup of coffee later though and it was back in the same place. I used the long lens to get the shot without disturbance and was pleased that I had something to go home with.

 It was a bonus therefore that I then found a second snake that seemed entirely tolerant of my camera and allowed me to within a few centimeters without moving at all! I was pleased to see the real detail but would still like some more images so will aim to get back there again in the future.

Highland Winter

Only four days to get there, back and do some photography but my trip to Glenshee was great. My targets of winter ptarmigan, white hare and landscapes were all forthcoming despite the sunshine playing hide and seek most of the time.

Southern France

A very quick couple of days in Southern France allowed me to catch up with a few species I have never seen before including this confiding alpine accentor.

I am currently in Scotland for another smash and grab photography raid. The weather though has been poor so far so although my target is Ptarmigan, the best shots so far have been of rocks!..watch this space to see if things improve tomorrow for my last day.