Over the autumn of 2015, a Juvenille Osprey has been resident at Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve in Hampshire. The Osprey is best viewed from the Tern Hide, when it sits on a perch in the middle of the lake. This perch is a fair way away, so the views are distant, and photos from here need a lot of cropping. These two images I took on an overcast day –
After taking some Autumn Landscapes images at Anderwood in the New Forest last weekend, I used some of my Topaz Labs plugins to create different looks to the original photographs. I did this to Create new looks to the images. Brighten things up as the weather was overcast and dull. Here are 3 different images, processed with various Topaz Plugins, along with the original image in each case for comparison.
One of the major attractions of Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, is the ability to see Red Squirrels up close and personal. I had the pleasure of visiting the Dorset Wildlife Trust reserve there on the Island, twice in October, when the squirrels are actively feeding and hiding nuts for the winter ahead. They come very close to people, even sitting eating on the tables right next to you. Here
I visited the North Yorkshire Dales in September – and as well as taking some Red Grouse photos, I also shot some landscape views whilst doing some hiking in the Dales. These are my favourite four landscape images from the visit. First a view over Swaledale from near the place I was staying. Then a view over Wensleydale from a hillside near West Burton. West Burton is a pretty village,
During this week I visited the Cotswold Falconry Centre for the first time. The Falconry Centre is right next to the Batsford Arboretum and home to approx 60 different species of Birds of Prey. The centre opens at 10.30 and flying displays take place each day at 11.30am, 1.30pm, and 3pm, with each diplay using different birds. During British summer time, March 29th until October 26th, there is an extra
Ham Wall is a RSPB nature reserve within the Somerset Levels and Moors, in area called Avalon Marshes near Glastonbury. It is an internationally recognised wetland and reedbed habitat covering around 469 acres, attracting many different species of nesting birds, including Cetti’s warbler, great-crested grebes and bitterns, along with other wildlife such as water voles, otters, butterflies and dragonflies. The wildlife to be seen at this time of year will
Middlebere Heath ( and the nearby Hartland Moor ) are owned by the National Trust. Middlebere has a path from the parking spaces at the entrances that leads down to 3 hides, two of which are small wagon like hides ( They make a good picture on their own ), with the last a larger hide past the rented cottages overlooking the Middlebere end of Poole Harbour – opposite from
Farlington Marshes is a Hampshire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve, located just of the A27 between Portsmouth and Havant. It is a wetland nature reserve and overlooks Portsmouth Harbour. The reserve is a wild bird grazing marsh, with lagoons, and it attracts over wintering wildfowl, especially Brent or Brant Geese which can gather there in large numbers. The reserve has cattle that are grazed on it, and if you visit with
Handa Island is a Scottish Wildlife Trust nature reserve located in the far north west of Scotland, and is home in the height of summer to close to 100,000 seabirds gathering to breed including guillemots, razorbills great skua and puffins (Information as published on the Scottish Wildlife Trust site). The reserve is accessed by a pedestrian ferry service that runs from Tarbet on demand during the visitor season. Tarbet and
RSPB Conwy is on the North Wales coast and is a fairly large nature reserve, with several hides and screens to go in, as well as providing views over the the Conwy Estuary, to Conwy Castle and Snowdonia. The reserve offers the photographer the chance to photograph a seasonally changing set of wild birds, and the RSPB reserve website has information and an updated blog to see what is available
