JANUARY 2025 - Wild Boar, Bewick’s Swans & Short-Eared Owls
Between working full-time and volunteering in bird husbandry every week, I don’t have much free time to get out with my camera. I’ve been feeling the pull to pick it back up and get out in search of some wild subjects. Each day I wander past my gear, I feel a pang of guilt and longing. Only a year ago, I was out in the bush every day with my camera in hand. These days I’m lucky if I get out once a month.
That being said, I’ve been making more of an effort to get back to it. So here’s some of my recent work.
I visited Stratford Butterfly Farm recently and thought I would take my camera “just in case”. Well, I’m glad I did because I had fun experimenting with macro photography and the beautiful butterflies made excellent subjects.
On my way to Cardiff for a weekend, I stopped off at the Forest of Dean to look out for some woodland creatures to photograph. I had hopes in particular for the notorious Wild Boar but I had no idea what my chances of actually getting to spot them were. Unfortunately, there was a lot of forestry work going on in the area I had chosen to stop but after a bit of perseverance and wandering slightly off trail, I found myself stumbling into a whole group of them. Being flighty animals, they quickly scattered leaving me shocked and excited for more. But I had a feeling they might come back so I settled down and waited for their return. Not too much later, one of them did come back to the spot they were foraging. There must have been some irresistible grub there. I spent a few precious moments watching and snapping some pictures before it carried on back to it’s group.
I’m lucky enough to work at a Wetlands Conservation Centre which at this time of year, becomes home to many different species of migratory birds. Most enthused about is the Bewick’s Swan, who choose to over-winter with us in their hundreds. I got off work early one evening while the light was nice so I head over to my favourite hide to snap some shots. As the sun began to set, the sky turned a gorgeous orange and pink, which caught in the reflection of the water and created a heavenly candyfloss scene.
Most recently, I went in search of owls. Short-Eared Owls to be specific. I had heard on the grapevine of a good place to spot them this time of year so when my day off collided with beautiful sunny weather, I head out in search. I waited for the afternoon to get the beautiful golden light and it didn’t disappoint. At first, it seemed a bit deserted bird-wise, there weren’t many feathered friends in sight but just as the light glowed golden, the first owl appeared, gliding just above the long grass. There were a couple around and they gave us a good show, even landing on a nearby branch to pose in the setting sun. I was really excited to even see such a beautiful specimen, let alone get these shots.
In a couple of weeks, I am heading to a conservancy in Kenya for 3 weeks. I will be taking a variety of photographs for them, of which I’m hoping many will be wildlife. I will be sure to send another update and share my images from Kenya next month so stay tuned.
Thank you for reading.
C