Entries in the ‘Projects’

Over the last few weeks I’ve been photographing a family of Pied Flycatchers and Redstarts. Both species arrive in April from Africa to raise their young here before the long joinery back to Africa.

Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers are two of my favourite summer visitors to our shores. When these birds arrive I know our summer is just round the corner. They travel all the way from North Africa to raise their family in a beautiful part of the Peak District, before heading back to Africa.

The New Big 5 project is an international initiative to create a New Big 5 of Wildlife Photography, rather than hunting. Shooting with a camera, not a gun.  It’s a message backed by more than 100 world-leading photographers and conservationists including Dr Jane Goodall.

The Pied Flycatchers are back from Africa, as the British countryside is bursting with life and beauty now.

The time seems to have flown since my last post on this wonderful project documenting a family of Redstarts I started some weeks again now in the stunningly beautiful Peak District National Park. In my previous blog post you can read by clicking here the Redstart chicks had not long hatched.

I’ve been working on another project in the beautiful Peak District National Park photographing one of the UK’s most beautiful and stunning summer visitors; the Redstart. This attractive cousin of the Robin and Nightingale is one of my favourite summer visitors to our shores. They travel all the way from North Africa to the UK to raise their young before leaving for Africa at the end of summer which I find amazing.

Recently I found a pair of Long-tailed Tits that were building a nest in a dense hedgerow protected on all sides by thorny branches. I’ve spent as much time there as I can, working from a camouflaged hide to minimise any disturbance to these tiny birds by my present.

The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the north-east coast of Northumberland. There are between 15 and 20 islands depending on the state of the tide. They are divided into two groups, the Inner Group and the Outer Group. The main islands in the Inner Group are Inner Farne, Knoxes Reef and the East and West Wideopens. The main islands in the Outer Group are Staple Island the Brownsman, North and South Wamses, Big Harcar and the Longstone,the two groups are separated by Staple Sound.