Mallorca Trip

Recently spent a few days with friends at a festival in Mallorca,great fun as it was the St Antoni festival lots of bon-fires around the town on the Sunday evening. Monday was the main event with the blessing of peoples animals outside the local church everything from Horses,Dogs,Cats,Rabbits,Ferrets,Parrots,Goldfish to a flock of sheep came past.
The afternoon most of the town walked up into the hills behind the town to eat and drink free red wine supplied by the town council! A tree had been cut down and stripped of its branches, which was to be dragged back into town taking many hours,all the time locals were letting of fireworks(no health and safety here thankfully!)where it was erected and the locals tried to climb to the top of it to win a cash prize,we sat in a local bar and watched all the mayhem go on around us great fun.

Partial Eclipse

Took a peek out of my bedroom window around 6:45am and realised there was an outside chance that this mornings partial eclipse of the sun maybe visible as it rose above a nearby woodland.Walked with Indie to where i thought a good viewpoint maybe wanted to have a tree or two in the foreground to give the picture some depth, the dawn sky was spectacular and around 8:15 the Sun began to creep above the trees veiled by a thin layer of cloud that i feel added to the amazing site of the eclipse.Within an hour a we were engulfed by a short lived blizzard but by then i was back home with a hot cuppa and pics safely downloaded.

winter frosts

The extreme winter weather we are currently experiencing has led to many birds turning up in unexpected places, i had a wander through my local park yesterday and came across a Green Sandpiper feeding in a shallow stream, Four Waxwings flew over and a Green Woodpecker was searching for food near to a children's play area.
The best photo opportunity was of a Heron standing sentinel like on the grass against a frosty backdrop, so braving the freezing ground i crawled as close as i could to get a few pics. The Heron is one of the main reasons i became interested in wildlife many years ago and i still love them and they always remind me of our ancient past creatures the dinosaurs.
I took Indie for a walk into the local woodland and it was like stepping through the wardrobe and into Narnia, the hoar frost turning the woods and surrounding landscape into a magical wonderland.

London

My favourite city in the world is London where there is enough of intrest to fill several lifetimes, i never get tired of visiting and have many places there that are very close to my heart this is just one looking down towards Ludgate circus with the iconic shape of St Pauls rising into the dusk sky. Inside St Pauls cathedral is Holman Hunts painting called 'The Light Of the World' one of my favourite paintings,i recently sat admiring it for an hour lost in its exquisite beauty so if you ever get to visit St Pauls find a few minuets to see this wonderful piece of British art.

Waxwings

Exciting news we are expecting an influx of WAxwings to arrive in Britain for the winter,some of these beautiful birds visit most years and can be fairly elusive but this year hopefully many thousands will make the journey down from scandinavia and provide much excitement and happiness to many birders and members of the general public alike. Its been three years since my last sighting which was at dusk just near to where i live in Bourne but alas they moved on the next morning before i could photograph them. This picture was taken in Stamford a few years ago the birds were very obliging for a couple of weeks. Keep on checking berry bushes as they can turn up almost anywhere and there have already been a few sightings of birds flying over the Bourne area.

Red Kites

After a few weeks of photographic inactivity I've at last been out and about with my camera again,last Saturday dawned bright and clear and had a touch of the chilly winds of the coming winter about it.
I was out as soon as possible into an area that is a particular favourite of mine the light was perfect and i was lucky enough to come across a couple of Red Kites that were enjoying the sharp breeze and performing their spectacular aerial manoeuvres after a while i was able to get into a good position for a few photos.

Hare watching

August arrives and as the harvest begins i like to get out to my favourite Hare watching areas to see whats going on, its a good month to see action as you still have the chance to see boxing taking place and the viewing is easier as the landscape takes on a more autumnal appearence as crops are gatherd.
Ive been for a couple of walks with Indie this week and seen several Hares including some beautiful young ones as they explore the hedgerows and fields where they live.