A Raven and a Griffon Vulture
Ravens are large birds. They look like toys next to Griffon Vultures.
Snarl
Golden Jackals use their levator labii superioris muscle to snarl. The name means ‘raiser of the upper lip’. This Jackal’s top lip …
Golden Jackals assemble
The Golden Jackal family which has arrived on our mountain outcrop seems to consist of an adult pair and a youngster. I …
Battle is joined
Our workshop leader isn’t sharing the information that someone has been sitting in these very hides in the Bulgarian mountains for several …
A Golden Jackal arrives
As we sit in the hide at dawn in the Rhodope Mountains, marvelling at the enormous Griffon Vultures which have just arrived, …
The magic of Griffon Vultures in the Rhodope Mountains
We’ve spent a day in a minibus travelling east from Lake Kerkini in Greece to the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria. In the …
Golden hour
It’s a gorgeous sunset. The sun is setting over Lake Kerkini and I have several thousand more images on my new memory …
Evening light on the snowy mountains
The Dalmatian Pelicans of Lake Kerkini are certainly photogenic. So is the Lake and the surrounding landscape. Perhaps the most important thing …
Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow
I’ve tried long exposures to get blurred photographs of birds before. I love the technique if it works. Just look how epic …
Its beak can hold more than its belly can
Pelicans love fish. They’re very fish-motivated. They’re also quite fish-competitive. These three Dalmatian Pelicans are in a fish-battle for fish-supremacy. Only one …
A strange bird the Pelican…
For my trip to Greece to photograph the Dalmatian Pelicans of Lake Kerkini I did what you should never do as a …
Dalmatian Pelicans on Lake Kerkini
I’ve just spent a week in Greece and Bulgaria in a group of six people taking photographs of the wildlife there. I’ve …
Curious Guillemot
This Common Guillemot is curious about the boat we’re on as we go past it in Lyme Bay. It’s ready to dive …
A shake in turquoise
There’s a Great Northern Diver in Brixham harbour. It’s been floating and preening for a while now and I’ve been waiting for …
Blue Lotus
Along the Nile and through North Africa and beyond, the Blue Lotus flowers above the water, its roots deep in anoxic mud. …
Black-Tailed v Bar-Tailed
Black-Tailed Godwits are wonderful birds. Here are some in flight over the River Exe. Black-Tailed Godwits are often confused with Bar-Tailed Godwits …
Uria aalge
There’s a Common Guillemot, Uria aalge, flying past. There’s a colony perched on a rock in Torbay and they fly regularly across the …
I have so many questions about this…
Take a look at this Avocet flying by. Have you seen the state of its toes? Covered in brown mud? That, however, …
Snoozing Diver
There’s a Great Northern Diver in Brixham harbour. I climb down the slippery stone steps to sea-level and perch as low as …
Grey and Red
Devonian Red Sandstone – it’s red, it’s stone made out of desert sand, and it’s found in Devon, as well as elsewhere. …
Shag braking
It’s not just how fast you can fly – sometimes it’s how fast you can stop. Here’s a Shag putting on the …
Red-Throated Diver in Torbay
It was a thrill to have a distant view of a Red-Throated Diver flying fast and low over the sea in Torbay …
Peregrine Falcon
What a thrill to see a Peregrine Falcon flying over the cliffs in Torbay. Especially in such beautiful weather. Peregrine Falcons are …
Mud and Bar-Tailed Godwits
The Bar-Tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica, is a large migratory wader. Calling them migratory is one of the world’s greatest understatements. One of …
Red-Breasted Mergansers
There’s something comical and slightly zany about Red-Breasted Mergansers. Just look at that feathered crest: There are a few birds on the …
The duck that says cryc
Isn’t this female Teal a stunner? The iridescent green colour of the speculum on the wing feathers is breathtaking in this sunshine. …
Eurasian Curlew
Here’s a big beautiful Eurasian Curlew flying past our cruise boat on the River Exe. Whenever I hear the word Eurasian in …
Avocet flypast
I find Avocets so exotic I’m still partially resisting the idea that they actually exist in my life. Just look at how …
Kingfisher on a boat
We had a wonderful time at the weekend on a Stuart Line Cruises guided birdwatching cruise out of Exmouth. The firm are …
Extinction Advent calendar – Day 24
Which species is next? We are. If we can’t maintain a healthy natural world, with all its ancient complexity, we are likely …