Tim writes: in Britain, Choughs are rather rare, and have likely always been so as there are few English folk names for them. There are many ancient references to Chough but that is because this was the name originally applied to the Jackdaw. Shakespeare refers to Choughs in seven of his plays but at this…
Tag: Tim Melling
Cuckoo – Tim Melling
Tim writes: I thought this was quite a dramatic flight shot of a Cuckoo flying past like a paper dart. I took this one in the Peak District when there were two males chasing each other on the moors. Cuckoos are suffering a massive population nosedive in Britain, but particularly those in England. All British…
Tim Melling – Cormorants
Tim writes: there are a lot of fishing ponds near to where I live which makes Cormorants rather wary. So I was really surprised when this Cormorant continued to dry its wings while I took its photograph. And this was on a stocked lake full of anglers. The microscopic structure of Cormorant feathers makes them…
Tim Melling – Grey-headed Albatross
Tim writes: this is a Grey-headed Albatross photographed at Shag Rocks, which is 150 miles west of South Georgia, where it breeds. It is a rare albatross whose world population was estimated at 250,000 individuals back in 2004, but the population is on a downward trajectory so it is likely to be much rarer than…
Tim Melling – coitus interruptus
Tim writes: I stumbled upon this macabre scene where a mating pair of Common Blue Damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum) had become entrapped in the web of a Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus). The spider was busily dispatching the female damselfly, while the male, also entrapped by the web, continued to hold onto her. You can see the…
Tim Melling – Antarctic Fur Seal
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Tim writes: this is a young Antarctic Fur Seal on a beach on South Georgia where about 95% of the global population breeds. Usually they are with lots of other Fur Seals, and penguins too, but I managed to photograph this one all by itself. Its scientific name Arctocephalus gazella translates as “bear head” while…
Tim Melling – Hobby
Tim writes: Hobbies are quite thin on the ground where I live in the Yorkshire Pennines so I was pleased when I came across this juvenile Hobby locally. Hobby is a falcon, one of four species that breed in Britain, the others being Kestrel, Merlin and Peregrine. But all others are resident, with Hobby being…
Tim Melling – Black Bear
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Tim writes: this was a close encounter with a female Black Bear. She had twin year-old cubs with her too (see below) but at this point she was so close I could only manage a head and shoulders shot. I stumbled across them by the roadside at Coal Harbour right at the north end of…
Tim Melling – White-chinned Petrel
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Tim writes: white-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) is a large petrel with a wingspan on nearly 1.5m. Within the petrel family, only the two Giant Petrels are larger. I have always thought that it was inappropriately named as its white chin is such a trivial feature. Its plumage is the colour of dark chocolate apart from…
Tim Melling – Weddell Seal
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Tim writes: the Weddell Seal was named after a seal hunter called James Weddell (1787-1834), who also had the Weddell Sea named after him. These Seals have the distinction of occurring further south on the planet than any other mammal. That’s because they usually live on permanent ice that is attached to land, using holes…