Standing up for Nature
Oscar writes: This is another one from Peru. There was a lot of driving to get from place to place, and on one of these routes we stopped at a couple of high Andean lakes where there were some wildfowl and other birds, including some Puna Teal with their bright blue beaks. Nikon D800, Nikon…
Oscar writes: Earlier this Summer I spent nearly 3 weeks in Peru. Having spent nearly 3 months there in my gap year, it was great to return and show the place to my family. For part of our trip we were staying near the Colca Canyon, and this river ran through the valley at our…
Oscar writes: I’ve just got back from a field course by my Biology course at Durham University which was held at a game reserve in South Africa. The work was pretty full on for the 10 days I was there, but we did have a couple of afternoons off where we did game drives in…
Oscar writes: I have several photos of perched Bearded Tits, but none of them flying so when I noticed a pair making regular feeding flights to and from the same place, it gave me the chance to have a few attempts. Eventually I managed this one of the adult male with food in its beak….
Oscar writes: I know this isn’t a technically great photo, but I thought I’d post it here just for interest as you don’t see many photos of Nightjars! I spent several evenings up on the heaths watching these. For the first few minutes it was just about light enough to take photos, but still with…
Oscar writes: while sitting in the cafe at Minsmere I saw 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker chicks in the trees outside, by the feeders. I crept outside so as not to flush them, and was able to photograph this one perched low down on the trunk of an oak tree. Nikon D800, Nikon 400mm f/2.8 VR…
Oscar writes: I spent many hours trying to photograph Stoats while I was up in Suffolk. On this afternoon they were crossing a grass path about 3m wide, so I needed quick reactions to be able to get any images. This was the only photo was an animal in it before it had shot…
Oscar writes: Following on from last week’s post where I talked about the Black-headed Gull colony and predation of their chicks, Marsh Harriers were another bird that would take the chicks to feed their young. Whenever they came over the scrape at Minsmere the birds would get very agitated, and for good reason, as…
Oscar writes: this was taken at Minsmere, where there are around 1500 pairs of Black-headed Gulls nesting on The Scrape this year. While I was there most pairs had chicks. These are the target of several predators, including big gulls and Marsh Harriers (see next week for this photo). Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls…
Tim writes: the Mountain Ringlet (Erebia epiphron) is our only truly Alpine butterfly, living high on mountains in Cumbria and Scotland. It must have been one of the first butterflies to colonise Britain as the ice retreated, but ironically it was one of the last to be discovered (25th June 1809 on hills above Ambleside,…