Top 12 Images - 2024
December 2024
The weather has been poor every weekend and Lower Hide is still closed at Leighton Moss. I have managed a couple of days out during the holidays though.
The first was to photograph the squirrels near Shap. I used a new 28mm f/2.8 pancake lens for some close up shots in the woods and then tried to capture some jumping squirrels down by the river. The light wasn't great but some of the pictures have come out ok.
My second trip was to southern Scotland. After a quiet morning at WWT Caerlaverock I spent the afternoon at RSPB Mersehead. Light levels were low again but I did experiment with some slow shutter speeds. Most of the photos were instantly deleted but there are a few I'm happy with.
November 2024
The squirrel photos below were taken on the 1st, on my way home from the Cairngorms. I haven't managed to take any pictures since then!
I've added three new galleries to the Field Trips page, all from 2024.
One of my photos was a winner in the RSPB Inspiring Nature photography competition. It will appear in their 2026 calendar for the month of July.
October 2024
Lower Hide is now closed at Leighton Moss so I've spent more time in other areas of the reserve. The bearded reedlings/tits have been showing well on the grit trays and there are a number of great white egrets around.
I had 5 days in the Cairngorms at the end of the month and there are a selection of photos above. I have 3000+ pictures to sort through and I'll add a full gallery to the Field Trips page when I've finished.
September 2024
Some years I don't get out at all in September, just too busy, but I've managed to get a few hours at Leighton Moss every weekend. The ospreys and most of the swallows have left but new birds are arriving. A hobby was hanging around during the warm weather earlier in the month and there have been plenty of great white egrets and the occasional bittern. The old Lower Hide is being dismantled in October but I did see an otter on my last visit.
Flooding at Mersehead
We booked a week in a cottage at RSPB Mersehead but high tides and heavy rain flooded the access road. The warden helped us get in but we were then stuck on site for 3 days. There are worse places to be trapped and we had the reserve to ourselves.
August 2024
We've had strange summer weather but enough dry days to get out and about. Leighton Moss has been very quiet, as it often is in August, but ospreys have been regular visitors and the great white egrets seem to have increased in number. I still haven't managed to photograph an osprey catching a fish but a gw egret did oblige, and then dropped it.
The lizard and toadstool pictures are my first attempts at focus bracketing and then stacking in Photoshop. The lizard was shot hand held so it is far from perfect, but something to build on. Hopefully there will be more fungi around in the autumn.
32 degrees in the New Forest
July 2024
I've had a few weekend trips to Leighton Moss, mostly to the salt marsh pools. There are a few avocet chicks about, a spoonbill catching crabs and ospreys are still visiting. Most of photos were taken with my new RF 200-800mm lens. The bright summer light has meant the narrow aperture isn't a problem but I don't think it will get much use in the winter. Images can be quite soft at 800mm but no worse than the 100-500mm with a 1.4x teleconverter. I try to stay at 600mm and f/8 most of the time.
Top 12 Images - 2023
