Tim writes: I spotted this young leveret crouching low in the grass near Holmfirth in late July. It was in a field next to a road, and I stayed on the road with the 420mm lens so as not to disturb it. Brown Hares give birth to about three litters each year, producing one to…
Category: THE PHOTOGRAPHS: by Tim Melling, Oscar Dewhurst, Paul Leyland, Guy Shorrock, Brian Leecey
Tim Melling – Fox
Tim writes: I see Foxes regularly on my garden trail cam but I have never managed a photograph in my garden as they are very shy, and strictly nocturnal. This nervousness is probably because of years of persecution in my rural Pennine area. But in urban areas there seem to be fewer people wishing them…
Guy Shorrock – Golden Eagle
Guy writes: Golden eagle – it doesn’t really get much better does it! Probably one of the most well-known birds to the man on the street – symbolic of beauty, power, speed & wilderness. I saw my first eagles when I was about 11 years old on a holiday with my father to Scotland. A…
Tim Melling – Purple Hairstreak
Tim writes: Purple Hairstreaks are one of our commonest hairstreaks, but they are not easy to see and even less easy to photograph. That’s because they are essentially a treetop butterfly that only occasionally ventures down to ground level. They occasionally visit flowers but usually obtain their sugary fuel from aphid honeydew on tree leaves. …
Tim Melling – Star Jelly
Tim writes: while walking on the Peak District moors this morning I came across some Star Jelly, which I have only seen once or twice before. I took this photograph on my phone but I thought it was too interesting to keep to myself. I hope you agree. So what is Star Jelly? Well it also…
Tim Melling – Stoat
Tim writes: I was walking in an area of felled forestry plantation near my home and I heard a funny noise that sounded like a cross between a squeak and a growl. I stood still and watched and this female Stoat appeared from an old brash pile just a few metres away. I stood and…
Tim Melling – Mole
Tim writes: “To the gentleman in the velvet waistcoat” was apparently a popular Jacobite toast. It refers to the mole that raised the hill at Hampton Court upon which the horse of William III (William of Orange) stumbled which subsequently led to his death. He broke his collarbone but he became ill when complications arose,…
Tim Melling – Swift
Tim writes: there does not seem to be a collective noun for Swifts other than the prosaic “flock”, and the implausible “scream”. It seems surprising that so many birds have special collective nouns yet the highly gregarious Swift has none. That’s probably because such terms were used by hunters (or collectors) and nobody in their…
Tim Melling – Wood Warbler
Tim writes: Wood Warbler is by far the rarest and most beautiful of the three Phylloscopus warblers that breed in Britain. Willow Warbler has about 2.2 million pairs, while Chiffchaff has about 1.1 million, whereas Wood Warbler only has around 6000 pairs, and that is likely to have fallen as the species is in steep…
Tim Melling – Squabbling Starlings
Tim Melling: I was recently watching and photographing Starlings in the garden and was surprised to see how much time they waste squabbling over the abundant food. They even squabbled over the bird baths which can comfortably fit five Starlings together. It seemed to be mainly the “teenage” Starlings that did most of the fighting…