Springwatch 2014

I'm back home after 5 weeks filming for BBC Springwatch. It was my first visit to RSPB Minsmere - an awesome reserve managed by an equally awesome group of RSPB staff and volunteers. This was me filming a bee swarm on the root plate of a fallen tree, which was broadcast at the end of programme 5.

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A New Look

With spring arriving, bringing with it a host of migrant species, and others coming out of hibernation, coupled with the fact that I've neglected this site for a number of weeks, I decided it was time for a re-design and a slight change of direction. Hopefully visitors will find the new design to be cleaner and more attractive. There's still the odd tweak or two to be made, but I think it's sufficiently complete for me to start posting to it again. If anyone spots any bugs, etc, please let me know!

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Species List review

There were some really memorable additions to my photographic species list in 2013. Highlights included watching Basking Sharks feeding off the isle of Coll, Pine martens in the Scottish Highlands, watching a Hummingbird hawk-moth feeding in Lancashire in early November (!), and finally photographing a Water Vole in Gloucestershire. Avian highlights have included watching White-tailed Eagles, Golden Eagles and Hen Harrier in the Hebrides, watching territorial cuckoos chasing each other around the Dorset heaths, and searching for Great Grey Shrike and Two-barred Crossbills closer to home.

The 'one that got away' was definitely the Scottish Wildcat. Having spent a few nights out in the middle of nowhere on the west coast of Scotland I was rewarded with a sighting which will stay with me forever, but which resulted in no photograph.  Notable 'did not shows' for me of the year included the rare Tree Sparrow, Common Dolphins, and Pearl-bordered Fritillary among many others.

Finding new mammals is becoming increasingly difficult, but there are obvious opportunities amongst bats, rodents and cetaceans, all of which are under-represented, as well as some of the mustelids. Birds are also becoming harder to find, but there are still some obvious omissions. The reptile list is pretty much complete, featuring all native species and all but one introduced species. Sub-aquatic species are an obvious challenge, not least due to my lack of suitable equipment and general aversion to swimming. And I must finally get a moth trap going this year!

I don't make things any easier by insisting on a photographic record rather than just a sighting, but it's fun. The list itself is undoubtedly a bit 'trainspottery', but behind the list there have been countless hours spent enjoying everything that British nature has to offer - the list is merely an easy way for me to remember the characters I've met and observed along the way.

Happy new year!

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BBC Springwatch film

Here's the short film I made with the BBC for Springwatch 2013.

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Home again

It's been a busy few days, and I'm back from a great time in Pembrokeshire, finishing with a trip to Skomer earlier today. The weather was amazing, and most of my target species put in an appearance. I've got a pile of photos to sort through, some of which will be new additions to the
species list, but hopefully there'll be a few 'keepers' amongst them too!

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Site commenting

I've removed the need for visitors to have a Google+ account in order to be able to leave comments on the blog. It's now possible to comment using one of a variety of different profiles, or even anonymously.

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Springwatch

A huge thank you to everyone who was kind enough to send me mails and messages about my film on Springwatch last night. It was great fun to work on and the Springwatch team were fantastic. It took a lot of persuasion to get me on the wrong side of the lens though!
If you missed it, you can see it
on BBC iPlayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0214fhh/Springwatch_2013_Episode_4/, about 18 minutes from the start of the programme.

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Welcome to WildInBritain.com

Welcome to WildInBritain.com!

This site will act as a kind of photo-journal of my wildlife encounters in the UK. Looking back through my photo archives I realised I had thousands of pictures that, as time moved on, were losing context. With many of them I didn't even remember where the photo was taken. The best of them often ended up on my photography web site, or on one or more photo sharing web sites, but the bulk would get filed away in a bunch of folders, seen by nobody and forgotten by me. That is
why I started this site.

I live in the Forest of Dean, so certain species may end up somewhat over-represented as that's where I spend most of my time, but I try to travel as much as I can. Even when I don't take all my camera gear out, I try to at least carry a pocket camera, or even a phone camera, as you never know what you might see or when. This site isn't here to show off my best pictures - that will become embarrassingly obvious when you see some of the pictures that I'll be posting - it's more of a wildlife diary, warts and all.

I like to try not to discriminate with regard to the species I try to see. Certainly some are more photogenic than others, many are easier to see than others, but all species are important and all hold interest for me.

Please note that many posts might seem a bit unseasonal at times, at least in the early days, as I dig stuff out from the archives. I'll still throw in current posts too.

Thanks for visiting :)

Ben

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