News

The bird watching festival at Martin Mere WWT last weekend was very enjoyable, despite the strong winds.
A big thank-you once again goes to all the staff & volunteers, who made the wekend a success.
On the photography front I am just in the middle of trying out a new water feature at my feeding station, so keep checking my latest images for the results, although with last weekend & Xmas coming I have been struggling for time, but hopefully next weekend (weather permitting) I will get a chance.
I have just added a few images to my Latest Images gallery, so please take a look.

Thanks
Tony

Martin Mere WWT are holding their annual Birdwatching Festival on the weekend of 26th/27th November.
I will be displaying my photographs in the marquee at the back of the new restaurant, which I will be sharing with Outdoor Photography Gear.
If you are visiting, then please pop over and say hello.

Where did Summer go?
I've not had many opportunities to get out with the camera, and the species I did hope to photograph this year, Kingfishers, had a bad Winter in our area, and although I have been told about a couple of places where they did survive, the birds were out of the range of my lens.
I like to turn my attentions to dragonflies in the warmer months when birds are a bit quiet, but they too seem to have struggled, as do butterflies, the buddleia at the back of the house has only been vsited later in the season.
We did get to the north of Scotland, where we watched Bottlenose Dolphins, Minke Whales lunge feeding, and even saw 4 Orcas on a trip over to the Orkneys. All these were too far away for decent photos, so I chose to sit back and just enjoy these special moments.
Please take a look at my Latest Images Gallery to see what I have managed to photograph.
Tony

Had a really good weekend at Martin Mere WWT last weekend, exhibiting my photos.
Met some very nice people and saw some familiar faces.
Special thanks go to the staff and volunteers at Martin Mere for organising these events and ensuring they run smoothly.
They are hosting a Bird Of Prey weekend on the 23rd/24th of July.
It should be a very enjoyable weekend and I will be displaying my photos once again.
Thanks also to Pat and Mike for driving up to see us. Please e-mail me as I have somehow managed to delete your e-mail address.

My wife and I have just spent a fantastic week staying on a farm in Powys, Wales.
I can honestly say I have never heard so many birds, they seemed to be calling from every bush and tree. The majority of these were Pied Flycatchers and despite what you may have seen on Springwatch, (2 failed nests), there were plenty of newly fledged birds and busy parents.
Red Kites were fantastic to see, as always, and we visited a feeding station at Nant Yr Arian, where approximately 150-200 birds turned up for an easy meal. On another occasion we saw about 30 Kites, including a leucistic (white) bird, on a freshly ploughed field, strange to think of them eating worms!
The farm where we stayed was also home to Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries, an uncommon species of butterfly, which I managed to get a few pictures of.
Please take a look at my latest images, for a brief view of whats on offer in the unspoilt Welsh countryside.

Regards
Tony

What a difference a few weeks make, especially when the sun is shining.
Butterflies are on the wing everywhere, so I have been re-acquainting myself with my Sigma 105mm Macro lens.
Photographing butterflies is quite tricky, as first of all they don't stay still for very long, secondly hoping they land somewhere where the background isn't too messy, and finally, the wind has been blowing all weekend making focusing almost impossible at times.
Anyway I have put my best efforts in the latest images gallery, along with a couple more water vole images, my wife and I can't get enough of watching these fantastic little animals going about their daily business.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Tony

Well, it seems to have been ages since I last got out with the camera, but the weekend just gone was very productive.
I have uploaded the last few images from my feeding station, and am just going through lots of pictures of water voles after I discovered a small colony of these rare & beautiful little mammals.
On Sunday I had a walk onto the moors close to where we live searching for wheatears. The weather was perfect & I managed to find 4 of what has to be one of our prettiest summer visitors.
Please take a look at my latest images gallery, where you can see the results
Thanks
Tony

Since talking to Neill at Stealth Wildlife's stall at Martin Mere a couple of years ago, I have been using their products as I was impressed with the quality.
I have reviewed some of their products in my Product Reviews section funnily enough, please take a look.