My letter to my MP regarding the proposed amendments to the fox hunting act: Dear Stephen Metcalfe, As you are no doubt aware on Wednesday there will be a vote for amending the Hunting Act. These amendments seem to be purposely aimed and undermining the act to make it unenforceable, effectively legalising this outdated and…
DetailsA few weeks ago I was showing some fellow great crested newt eDNA surveyors around Wat Tyler CP when we spotted a grass snake in one of the ponds. I went in for a closer shot and it dived under water and into some blanket weed for a short while. It came up backwards, which…
DetailsBack in March I was up in the Cairngorms, which is famous for its Caledonian Forest habitat with pine martens, wildcats and capercaillie. The ponds there also hold wildlife unique to this habitat in Britain, including the Northern damselfly, Coenagrion hastulatum. Of course in March it is too cold for the adult to be on…
DetailsRecently I have been using the new Pentax 1.4x Teleconvertor with my Pentax DA*300mm for a lot of shots. I was previous not fully convinced it was sharp enough, but a few weeks ago this pied wagtail perched up on a fence and I got away a few shots with the above combo. They were…
DetailsSaturday was a busy day for me, with an early start to scout and set up for my Dragonfly, butterfly and other invertebrate photography workshop at Wat Tyler Country Park. It was fully booked, but all seemed to enjoy it. The weather wasn’t bad considering the forecast, with patches of cloud slowly thinning to a…
DetailsOn a recent visit to Bowers Marsh I was enjoying the singing skylarks and corn buntings as I walked along the path when I realised one of the corn buntings was singing in a hawthorn bush ahead. Unfortunately it was between me and the sun. I took some shots (which didn’t really come out) and…
DetailsBack in February a fox was appearing regularly at a local site so managed to photograph it a few times. On this particular occasion it was pouring with rain and after 10 minutes I was soaked through, but rather than give up like a sane person would I figured “well I’m wet anyway” and waited.…
DetailsIn the last couple of weeks the macro season has got into full swing with damselflies in particular now out in good numbers. I have managed to find some Damselflies that posed well enough for close ups, including this large red damselfly. Including a photo showing the underside of the thorax. I also got this…
DetailsA couple of shots of a 3 spined stickleback fry I photographed last week
Before David Cameron was elected he was keen to push his green credentials with his infamous hug a husky photo op and declaring he would lead the “greenest government ever.” So how have this government fared? Well they have: Slashed Natural England’s (the government’s wildlife and conservation body) budget by 30%, straight after they came to…
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