News

I've just returned from a wonderful trip to Kenya organised by Jonathan Lewis of Norfolk Wildlife Photography. Please see many of my photographic efforts achieved during this trip under the gallery of "Been there done that: Kenya" but worthy of a special mention was our visit to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage based in Nairobi National Park.

The wonderful work of this orphanage, currently home to 27 baby elephants, has been well documented and I am so glad I got this chance to personally experience it.



It was a very bitter sweet moment, on one hand witnessing the joy of 10 baby Elephants softly, thunder their way down a slope with on thing on their mind.. to be fed a large bottle of milk formula,and on the other hand wishing that they were actually running to be fed in the wild, by their natural mothers.



It's heartbreaking when you hear their terrible plight and yet wonderful at the same time to know that they are now safe. When they are bigger and old enough, they will eventually be re-habituated fit and well, capable and strong into Tsavo National Park.



Human greed, not need, made these whimsical, wobbly, baby beasts now dependant on a human hand that will feed them. I can hope only that their natural survival instincts truly kick in once they are back on the plains of the Africa National Parks. That they know to stay well aware from human contact to live and enjoy a better end of their life than their traumatised start in life.

I'm trying to establish a regular pattern and path by a local sett of badgers.. its not easy given that they still only appear under the cover of darkness..I'm hopeful though as the mornings and evenings start to get longer and lighter I may get a chance of seeing one or more.

So far they are leaving me some very obvious clues as to their route from sett to field.

I have updated my card range for a new look and feel. If you have the time, I'd be really pleased if you would take a look at them and let me know what you think?

Each card is now a 5 inch square and blank so that you can use them for any occasion, comments received so far have been very kind and cards destined for use for anything from Get Well Soon, to Valentines Day and with Mothers Day coming up fast
As ever the Harvest Mice, Owls and the Tiger are already proving to be popular. The Hares are there by demand from existing customers.

If there are any must have animals or birds you'd like to see printed up as a card then please let me know!

Whilst the winter swans were the focus for my visits to the Wetland centres often it was the sparring and romancing performance of the ducks that became the show stoppers.I've added a portfolio of Ducking & Diving Ducks for Muse of the Month for March if you have time to have a look through at more pictures.

I wish I could include the whimsical whistle of the Goldeneye Drakes whose tuneful equivalent of a wolf whistle, is supposed to catch the attention of the a pretty little female. The courtship show dance is frequent, brief but dramatic. In fact it's almost as sweet or comical as their call. However hard I tried I always seemed to be behind the tail catching this display on camera.



whilst Tufted Duck fluff and buff their stunning plumage, Pochard's also threw in a few shapes and moves to attract female attention



Probably the noisiest of all the ducks were the Shelduck who postured and posed, flirted and skirted around each other as the girls most definitely led the boys around the pond and back.

The winter is almost over and although we didn't get the whitest of weatherly conditions in Norfolk we did at least get the wintery white of the Whooper Swans who came to escape the more arctic conditions of Iceland again this year.



I have made the most of the last few days of February visiting the wetland centres at Martin Mere and latterly at Welney getting pretty close to both the Whoopers and Mute Swans who were clearly keen to fatten themselves up before the return migration back to their homelands.



There is something very ethereal about a swan but as serene and graceful as they may appear they certainly aren't above nipping and biting the competition when it comes to feeding time.



Please take a moment to look at the new portfolio I have added to show more images of these majestic birds.

The title of which just has to be..Will you be my Valentine?

It wasn't just the predators I had fun with in the snow in Montana, its long been a long time ambition to have some time on the range with horses, big skies and cowboys! So I was super excited that I also got the chance to photograph a round up off the mustangs.



There were a few yeeha moments but again the snow was so deep that it was extremely hardwork for riders and runners but needless to say very picturesque!

With nighttime temperatures sometimes below -10 fahrenheit and wind chill factors combined it was a chilly but exciting start to the New Year for me in snowy Montana USA. With a fair amount of powdery snow already in place, conditions looked picture perfect for photographing predators in the snow.



By Day 2 the wintery landscapes got even more seasonal when a new weather front brought in another 9 inches of snow in the valley and 16 inches reported in the mountains by snowing continually for 24 hours!

The snow was often thigh high deep and going off track wasn't recommended. As some of my pictures will show you it didn't deter the animals bouncing around but did slow them down rather!

Certainly the white stuff provided some extra drama to the photographic opportunities and coining a phrase I picked up whilst there my 10 day stay in Montana was "crazy dangerous".


Needless to say I loved every moment and it was very tough having to return home to the English grey skies.

I have added a couple of favourite photos on the home page and more in the gallery under the category of A Howling Good Time" However, with about 10,000 images to go through it may take me awhile to sort through them but my initial favourites will be on line shortly.

See links for contacts at Triple D Ranch and Jeff Wendorff posted on the link site
Happy New Photo Year 2015

Landing at 4 minutes past midnight in deepest Montana USA I overheard a fellow passenger comment that on arriving back home after the holidays she had expected to see serious snow.

There looked plenty of the white stuff to me and slipping and sliding the next day walking along the pavements of downtown Kalispell there was more snow to be seen that I had experienced in a very long time. However, more snow was indeed on its way and within in 48 hours the airport had closed down under 9 inches of snow and further into the mountains up to 16 inches of snow were being reported!

This boded well for the reason I was here to photograph big cats, predators and other subjects in the snow at the Triple D Ranch. The natural backdrops used were rated with powdery snow, deep up to the armpits of the Snow Leopard and

The Mice began their own start or count down to the New Year without me, they get super excited about dandelion clock seeds! I was still picking the seed heads in November so they enjoyed what I'd consider to be a summer treat for for a while longer than expected.

I've kept the December Muse of the Month until quite late in true end of year award nomination style, I give you candidates for The Rear of the Year!

Deck the halls with hearts of holly, wreaths and the rest of everything else that's Merry..including Harvest Mice.

I confess to much preferring the Norfolk coastline during the winter months when beaches are wide and clear of holiday collateral, the big skies are coloured in 50 shades of grey and the surf pounds out a constant rhythmic bass beat.

At this time of year you never quite know what you will find, flotsam and jetsam abandoned or cast overside of a passing vessel, a migrant bird flown in dazed and confused from distant foreign homes or if you are lucky a Grey Seal pup or two.

Grey Seals have been steadily increasing in numbers over the last few years and this year is looking like a record breaker along the Norfolk coast. You'll remember last year that the exceptionally high tides emptied the birthing beaches, resulting in a huge emotional media plea for funds to help nurse several hundreds of misplaced seal pups until they were big enough to return back to their natural environment.

The Friends of Horsey Seals are happily reporting a steady increase of 20% births year on year. Much of this success due to the plentiful food reserves out there in the North Sea combined with the local volunteers efforts to quite rightly protect the birthing beaches keeping the curious and smitten public at a safe distance.



Sometimes one or two little pups very sensibly wriggle up into the safely of the dunes, close to the pathways and if you are lucky you can get a photo opportunity or two.



When looking into a pair of deep, dark pools of seemly liquid eyes I defy anyone not to instantly fall completely in love with a grey seal pup. They will break your heart with their plaintive cries, make you laugh with their flipper antics and clowning behaviour and make you cheer when pup and mum are reunited for love, grub and seal bonding kisses.



More photos can be found in the main gallery

Maybe it's because I just have never really looked for them before or maybe the growing conditions have been ideal this year, as in damp and warm. But having found my first Scruffy Inkcap / Lawyers Wig (Coprinus comatus) way back at the end of September it was for me an exciting discovery. This is despite being labelled a common find in most reference books, I was super excited!


Quickly overcoming the disappointment of my first find being unknowingly mown down and then discovering that actually this activity helped spread the spores and encouraged more to sprout, it would seem that Norfolk has had a bounty of them this year or certainly near to where I live.



Vast numbers of Scruffy Inkcaps with seriously bad wig / hair days.. hence the other name for them, Lawyer Wigs, seem to be still coming up roses along the edges of fields, mown lawns and pathways.



Often there have been too many to chose from so clumped together in such numbers that I haven't known how to compose a shot. Their splendour is over in a day or so, rising from the ground torpedo style just like Thunderbird 1 magnificently appearing out of the Tracy Island swimming pool. They quickly open and unfurl themselves inside out, dripping black inky spore on the grass around them that attracts insects and flies.


My attempts to photograph them have been humoured by friendly farmers and garden owners who have generously allowed me to crawl across their grass with my nail scissors and accompanying baggage to capture a little portfolio of toadstool tranquility. As my first serious forage into fungi photography (not easy to say aloud) I look forward to taking even more photo's as the season progresses.

My thanks go to Julie & David, Mitchell, Jonny & Siobhan.

More images are in the Sweating the Small Stuff Portfolio.

I've tried to find photos in my library this month that show how the colour red is significant in the month of November. I can't remember when I saw poppies so late in the year but a few hardy species are still bobbing about in the wind amongst the mustard seed. Redwings are flocking in, Red Stags are still posturing and Red Squirrels are gathering while they may.
Not that they can possibly understand but somehow even my mice look soulful, reflective and in some of their poses even in salute to all whom have gone before and to whom we are most grateful.

I am just back from a long weekend, made even longer but the delights of travelling economy airline, if you catch my drift, I can highly recommend a weekend in the Czech Republic to photograph birds of prey. 13 birds of prey in 3 days was the target and we were lucky to be able to checked them all off the Czech List



A total of 13 species of owl and eagles offered a Czech Republic style Smorgasbord of opportunities for flying and static shots. Some were only too often happy to perform others perhaps a little more camera shy, one in particular just too fast in flight to possibly react to!



A work shop led by the immensely talented and motivational Ben Hall, the trip organised through Tatra was throughly enjoyable, extremely well run and rewarding.



Please see the new portfolio under Been There Done That

The testosterone was definitely pumping and hearts were definitely thumping as loud as a base drum beat in Richmond Park this weekend. The rut was in full swing with mating, baiting and fighting behaviour on full display.

Despite keeping a respectful distance at all times, I literally caught up in the excitement as the picture below demonstrates.

Thanks to Ade & Big Steve for sending this on to me!

You can the action I was photographing posted in the gallery.



It seemed as though this year the boys greatly out numbered the girls who were seemingly keen to play the field!



Would they go with the loudest, the largest or the longest on persuasive charm.
The strongest, the stealthiest or the soppiest?
A toy boy, an old boy or excuse me ladies.. a big ole boy?



It would seem they couldn't really make up their minds as the harems changed hourly in size and territory.
Those girls led those boys a merry old dance that made all the better, photographic opportunities, possible!

Please look at my merchandise galleries to see ready to send cards and stationary.
I am excited to offer items for sale as Christmas present ideas as well as general seasonal use.

If you are interested in any of the products, or indeed any other image shown on my site that can be created into cards, then please leave me a message on the contact page and I'd be happy to get in touch with you!

Thank you so much.

This months submission is called Hip, Hip, Rosehip Hooray!

The Mouse of the Month feature seems to be working well and the viewing statistics put the image below as the most popular one to be viewed in September:



It will be interesting to see which of the Rosehip images creates the most interest from those viewed in Mouse of the Month October. Probably my favourite has to be the one featured in the slideshow on the home page.

As an update on my Harvest Mice, I have now had to separate the boys and the girls.. last year I was rather late or reluctant to do so and had way too many babies to look after through out the winter. The babies are just too adorable and so difficult to part with, so this year I will keep the frisky little dears apart. Perhaps there may even be enough room for the car to go into the garage, rather than last year when is was full of Harvest Mice in 5 Star penthouse terrariums.

Please visit my It's Not Just for Christmas gallery and look at the cards, stationary and 2015 Harvest Mouse Calendar launched for sale. All proceeds go towards my personal promotion of raising awareness for the ongoing protection of natural grasslands, and sowing of millet with wild flowers to enable this dearest of all little mammals to continue to survive in the wild.

In the mean time it's three cheers for Harvest Mice.. Hip, Hip Rosehip hooray!

Look what popped up when I was at Holkham Estate last weekend!

I wondered what all the commotion was in the woods, the mums and babies were all a little alarmed. At first I thought I was about to witness a "Fenton" moment but on turning around this little fella put his head proudly above the bracken!



So there you have it this years must have accessory is a Morrison's carrier bag, a grocer who at the moment is running the I'm Cheaper campaign message may be upset to be associated with anything dear, let alone a real deer!

All humour aside, people please take your rubbish home with you, plastic and wildlife do not mix..and I'd happily support the no plastic bag campaign rather than the tepid 5p a bag charge to dissuade us from using them.