Tim writes: Merlins are scarce breeders on moorlands, mainly in the north but they do breed in places like Dartmoor. They usually nest on the ground among deep heather but will sometimes use old crow’s nests in trees. I photographed this adult female dashing rapidly over the Peak District Moors. They use this turn of…
Category: THE PHOTOGRAPHS: by Tim Melling, Oscar Dewhurst, Paul Leyland, Guy Shorrock, Brian Leecey
Tim Melling – Twite
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Tim writes: Twite (Linaria flavirostris) are scarce and extremely localised breeding birds. The main population is in Scotland but in England they are almost wholly restricted to the South Pennines where fewer than a hundred pairs breed. They are one of just two British songbirds that feed almost exclusively on seeds, the other being…
Guy Shorrock – African White-backed Vulture
Guy writes: Nature’s Clean-up Crew Vultures sometimes get a bad press, but these majestic birds are essential in cleaning up our landscape. A biological recycling team, vultures play a vital role in clearing away carcasses and preventing the spread of diseases like anthrax, rabies, tuberculosis and botulism. However, worldwide, vultures are considered one of…
Tim Melling – Nightjar
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Tim writes: Most people think of Nightjar as a bird of lowland heaths but this one was high in the Pennines at well over 1000 feet above sea level in Yorkshire. The second half of May is my usual time for Nightjars but ill-health meant I wasn’t fit enough this year. So I went…
Tim Melling – Scotch Argus
Tim writes: I visited Smardale Gill in Cumbria in late July and managed to find several Scotch Argus (Erebia aethiops) butterflies just emerging. This male is absolutely pristine with not a scratch nor scale out of place. It still has that iridescent bloom that freshly emerged butterflies show, but which disappears after a few…
Bird Fair books – review – Bird Photographer of the Year
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This review has no spoilers about the winners – you will first find out about them at the Bird Fair on Saturday at 4:15 in the Events Marquee with Chris Packham. I was one of the judges for this competition, despite knowing little about photography. Of course we made perfect, finely-honed decisions about the…
Tim Melling – Barred Grass Snake
Tim writes: I’m sure that many of you will have seen the surprising news announced recently that Britain has a new species of snake; Barred Grass Snake (Natrix helvetica). Without exception, every media source announced that this was an additional species for Britain, bringing the total to four (Barred Grass Snake, Grass Snake, Smooth…
Tim Melling – A Lark Ascending
Tim writes: This photograph was a lot more difficult to take than it looks. Once a Skylark has started to sing he rises up and rarely comes down. And when he does appear, it is usually too far away to capture. I photographed this one early morning after a night of heavy rain. This hay…
Oscar Dewhurst – Woodchat Shrike
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Oscar writes: These were very common where we were in Spain, and I was very keen to get some photos of them. Unfortunately they all seemed to have a preference to only perch on ugly wire fences or thick artificial-looking fence-posts. Finally, on our last day, I spotted this one on a thistle, which made for…
Tim Melling – Bearded Tit
Tim writes: I suppose the most unusual thing about this photograph is that it was not photographed in a reedbed. In winter they are supposed to feed mainly on the seeds of Common Reed (Phragmites australis) but I found a flock feeding in a rough field near to a reedbed in North Lincolnshire. It…