Latest News

December 2011

Web site additions

On some of the fine days this autumn I have been out in the wonderful New Forest (my local patch) as well as heading further afield.  I have also added a number of mammal, bird and flower images through the year.  This includes many photos from the Po Delta in Italy including this one of a Purple Heron in flight (below).  This is a super part of Italy and it is great for wildlife watching.  I shall be leading another easy-going Travelling Naturalist tour there in 2012. See my Tours page for a full list of the locations I am visiting in the New Year.

All of my Falkland Islands shots are now uploaded to my web site and this includes Penguins (see below for a seasonal take on King Penguins!), Black-browed Albatross, Great Shearwaters, the endemic Cobb's Wren plus many more birds from this British Overseas Territory.  I also took pictures of some of the flora and mammals as well as securing images of the landscapes.  Among these latter images are a few poignant reminders of the 1982 conflit.

My web site now holds over 27,000 images which are all available as prints or for publication.  Use the 'Search Picture Library' facility to check if I have the species or location you need.

Raising money for conservation

Once again this autumn I have been raising funds for conservation purposes.  The Sussex Wildlife Trust have repeated their advertising for my Christmas Cards in their membership magazine and on their web site.  Whilst the chance to purchase these products in time for the 2011 festive season is now just about past, I am still happy and committed to donate 10% of the sale of my greetings cards/notelets, my Fine Art Giclee Prints and my Canvas Prints to YOUR local Wildlife Trust providing you mention them when you order.  You do not even have to be a member of that Trust for this offer to apply!  And remember, prints make great and unusual birthday, retirement, wedding or anniversary gifts.

March 2011

LOOKING TO PICK UP A PENGUIN FOR YOUR PUBLICATION OR AS A PRINT FOR YOUR WALL?

During a trip to the Falklands, I was able to photograph 4 species of penguins to add to those species I had already photographed in New Zealand.

To the left is a colony of Gentoo Penguins at sunrise that is my personal favourite and it has proved to be one of my most popular images as a canvas print.  It was taken just a few yards from the lodge on Sealion I also saw a very rare leucistic (pale plumage) Rockhopper Penguin on Pebble Island. 

Much of the wildlife in this British Overseas Territory is exceptionally tame and I was able to get great images of a broad range of birds, mammals and a few plants.  Some of the penguins were so approachable that I was even able to photograph some Rockhoppers with a wide angle lens! 

The species of penguins I have photographs of are Blue, Fiordland Crested, Gentoo, King, Magellanic, Rockhopper and the endangered Yellow-eyed.

I am still leading wildlife watching tours for Dorset-based company the Travelling Naturalist but whilst at the British Birdwatching Fair last August, I was invited to begin leading nature photography tours for a brand new company, Focus4Nature.  This year I am leading a flower photography tour to the Vercors National Park but in January and again in the summer of 2012 I will be leading tours to Yellowstone National Park in the USA.

September 2010

During November 2009 Liz and I visited New Zealand with a group of Travelling Naturalist clients.  This is truly a fabulous county where they are taking huge, positive steps to rid some areas of introduced species so that native wildlife can recolonise its former haunts.  We thoroughly enjoyed these wonderful islands.

Many of the birds were very approachable and I was able to secure photos of 5 species of Albatross (Black-browed, Royal, Salvin's (left), Shy and Wandering) as well as a number of endemic species unique to this remote island nation.  Much of the scenery was a bit reminicent of the UK, green and verdent farmland.  But added to that was the chain of mountains on South Island called the Southern Alps.  High in the hills I was able to photograph one of the World's rarest wading birds, Black Stilt (right). in fact we reckon that we saw something like 5% of the total World population of this elegant species.

We also visited a few off-shore islands including Stewart Island where much of the original vegetation still exists and along with it there are still good populations of endemic bird and flower species.  However, it was in the town of Oban that I managed to obtain photos of one of New Zealand's endemic parrot species, a Kaka (left), nibbling away at carnation flowers beside a garden path.  All of the birds from this trip are now on my web site and I soon hope to add the flora and landscape images.

 Other recent work includes local landscape and wildlife photography, more pictures of our favourite tour destination, Corsica and a fantastic trip to the Falklands.  I will give you more news on the latter destination in my next 'Latest News'.

March 2010

At last I have begun the update of my web site!

It is still far from complete, even with my digital images, but I am adding new photographs each day.  With the amount of pictures I have in stock and therefore need to add, it may take some time yet especially as I hope to add scans from many of my transparencies too.

However, the site is already much more comprehensive than the original version and shows more bird images than I had previously been able to upload.  This does not mean that all of my stock bird species are shown. 

I also need to add images of other groups, keep photographing new locations and species as well as ploughing through the backlog of digital files that I have taken recently.  These include trips to New Zealand and to the Falkland Islands where I secured many exciting new pictures.

If you would like to be kept informed of my progress as I continue to add species and locations, add your name to the growing list via my 'Contact Details' page and I will send you occasional bulletins detailing progress.  I will NOT pass your name on to anyone else.  I promise!

I would also welcome your feedback so if you find any problems or like the way the site is laid out, please don't hesitate to email me with your comments.

The intention is to add more categories, including sales items such as books, greetings cards and other products as soon as possible.  I hope to make this the subject of my next news bulletin.