Hello and welcome

I have always had a keen interest in wildlife and the great outdoors;

I was an Angler for over 30 years but gave it up a few years ago to

concentrate on photographing wildlife. I lived in Runcorn; Cheshire a

short distance from the M56 that gave me great access to the Wirral,

Northwales and Lancashire, with some great countryside on my doorstep

I didn't have to travel too far in search of wildlife and photographic

opportunities.

Some of my wildlife photographs range from as far afield as Cuba,

Antigua, Saint Martin, Saint Lucia, Dominican Republic, Tuscany ,

Corfu, Turkey, Spain, Portugal.

I now live in the Charente area of western France.

Morning walks

June 17, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Morning walks

Most morning I went for a stroll with my camera doing a loop around the small hamlet, on one occasion I encountered a Pine Martin crossing the road and running along the hedge-row but missed the shot they are around and seen regularly but are difficult to photograph.

You can hear Golden Orioles singing, but it was weeks before I eventually saw one but didn’t manage a photograph of them either. I eventually managed to find a site that they seem to prefer.

Roe deer were a regular feature on my morning walks but again I never managed the clear shots I wanted. I did want shots of them in the rain so one morning as the rain came down I ventured out.

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Purple Heron

June 16, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Purple Heron

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Cockchafer

June 15, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha)

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Crested Tit

June 14, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Crested Tits

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I was told that Crested Tits were around and to look out for them. I found two within a short walking distance from my house.

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I will try to encourage them into my garden in future

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Bee-fly

June 13, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Bee- fly (Bombylius major)

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Often mistaken for a bee this harmless fly is easily recognised long proboscis

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Back on the Web

June 13, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Back on the Web

When I first decided to go to my house in France early on in the year my expectations were very high. This trip would last ten weeks, enough time to get the photographs I wanted and indeed expected.

However things often conspire to bring you back down to earth and it’s usually the things you can’t control. Weather is its’ own master. Sometimes you can chase the good weather, but when most of France is under water there’s not much point.

When I did get the good weather I had work to do on the house (Still that’s life).

All was not lost as I did manage to get a few shots that I was after, some in good weather, some in bad. So some are ok others are not.

One of the photographs I wanted was a Western whip snake.

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Western whip snake Hierophis viridflavus

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Back to France

April 06, 2016 • Leave a Comment

It’s time to return to my house in France after a few months away. I will be there for ten weeks, my wife and brother will be joining me for a few weeks during my stay.

A92X6342 I can catch up with the garden jobs that need doing, cutting grass and hedges and sowing this season’s wildflower bed. Putting up bird boxes and laying down some sheets of roofing felt for snakes and slow worms in my woods.

A92X8705 I still have work to finish off on the roof and sort out some external pipe work and a few bits and bobs however I will still have time in-between jobs to get my camera out for some macro work. I am also hoping to visit the Brenne with my French photographer friend and photograph Night Herons. It will be good to catch up with some of the local wildlife in the garden, Black Redstarts, Little Owl, Cuckoo, Lizards and Fire Salamanders, Barn Owl across the road in the barn, Deer down the lanes and Coypu on the lake, it’s a different world.