Booming Bitterns

Good news on Bitterns yesterday from the RSPB – 11 males in 1997, over 150 males in 2015 after years of conservation science, habitat management, habitat re-creation and partnership working.  And this was, no-one would deny, led by the RSPB. We await the congratulatory press release from YFTB. At Ham Wall, there are apparently 17…

Oscar Dewhurst – Bittern in flight

  Oscar writes: I had been photographing a Bittern in the reeds for a few hours. I was having a quick look on the back of my camera at the image I’d just taken, and when I looked back the bird had moved right to the edge, obviously about to fly. Despite the early warning,…

Oscar Dewhurst – Bittern fishing

  Oscar writes: The recent 4 or 5 days of cold weather in the UK saw me spend most of that time at my local nature reserve hoping to photograph Bitterns. Unfortunately I didn’t have much success, and one morning spent over 4 hours lying on the frozen ground hoping for this bird to come out…

Introducing Oscar Dewhurst

Oscar Dewhurst is an 18 year-old wildlife photographer and birder from London. He’s been birding since he was 10, and photographing since he was 13, mainly in his local area of Southwest London, particularly at the WWT London Wetland Centre. Oscar’s work has been commended in several competitions, including the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of…

I hope they sink (V)

This is the fifth blog on the subject of Cambridge University Boat Club’s plans for a new boathouse (here, for new readers, are links to its forerunners; Blog 1, Blog 2, Blog 3, Blog 4). At the time of my previous blogs I had not seen the objections to the proposed development (which is much…