After a detailed review, the competition has made the decision to disqualify the Silver Award winner from the Birds in Flight category of the recently announced 2025 competition. Following further examination, it became clear that the submitted file did not meet the competition’s authenticity requirements and could not be verified as a genuine raw capture….
Category: THE PHOTOGRAPHS: by Tim Melling, Oscar Dewhurst, Paul Leyland, Guy Shorrock, Brian Leecey
Barn Owl by Brian Leecy
Mark writes: Brian sent me this super photo of a super bird and it took me back to various places where I have seen Barn Owls regularly in my life – from the Somerset Levels to the North Norfolk coastal marshes. The Barn Owl is a ‘stand and watch’ bird. I find it difficult to…
Short-eared Owl by Brian Leecy
Isn’t this a beautiful bird?
Mountain Hares
Mountain Hares are native to Britain and Ireland, unlike Brown Hares, so we should look after them. This very recent paper; … which is public access has an arresting title and the text looks pretty convincing to me. Grouse moors not great for Mountain Hares in the Peak District. Read the paper, look at the…
Black-browed Albatross – by Brian Leecy
There’s something about albatrosses – they are big, they are ocean wanderers and when they turn up in UK waters they are a bit lost! This bird has been around for a few weeks now and is sometimes seen at the RSPB nature reserve at Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire. I know a few people who’ve made…
Golden Plover by Brian Leecy
Smart bird!
Tim Melling – Red Grouse
Tim writes: I took this photo in mid-October while out on the Peak District Moors. It was standing on a drystone wall and was just catching the first rays of the early morning sun. This photo shows the feathered legs and feet which gives rise to its scientific name Lagopus, meaning hare-footed. There are a…
Tim Melling – Fox Moth
Tim writes: I stumbled across two large caterpillars of Fox Moth in mid-October within a metre or two of each other, but no others despite searching. This one was crawling around on the recently deceased flowers of heather on the moors. They are big too, as long as my longest finger though not quite as…
Tim Melling – Yellow-browed Warbler
Tim writes: Yellow-browed Warbler is a puzzling bird in many ways. Its closest breeding area is just west of the Urals, which is at least 3000km from Britain, yet hundreds turn up in Britain each year, particularly in autumn. The species breeds right across the taiga zone and winters widely in Nepal, southern China and…
Tim Melling – Red-flanked Bluetail
Tim writes: on 28 September the weather was good for photography and I hadn’t taken a photo for a few days so I decided to head for Spurn Point on the Yorkshire Coast where I had a wonderful time. This Red-flanked Bluetail was the star bird, though it was first found by someone else. I…