From the archives No 1

Shorelark taken in Morroco in late winter 2012. I was photographing Crimson Winged Finches when this chap came and landed next to me in the car park I was laying in.

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl taken in March in south Lincolnshire.

Capercaillie

I remember as a child watching David Attenborough being attacked by a 'rogue' male Caper. I remember watching Birding with Bill Oddie and him missing them. Then in 2003 I finally saw some heads of some male Capers at the lek at Loch Garten. Subsequent viewings have been a repeat performance at Loch Garten and nearly being knocked off my feet by a female in Finland, while her young scattered. But never a rogue male... until now...

 I visited the bird briefly twice during our two day stay. Thankfully it was sunny on the second day. What a bird!

Famous Grouse

Plenty of Red Grouse were seen during our few days in Scotland.

Otter swim

Didn't have much luck with the Otters today or yesterday. Good views yesterday of the 'pups' fighting though.

Black-bellied Dipper

This Black-bellied Dipper has been around all winter in Thetford. Yesterday we were lucky enough to get some pretty decent views. I saw the second, shyer bird that Pinky found, today.

Otter encounter

I have always wanted to see Otters in Britain, having only seen one, briefly, running across a road in Spain. The Thetford Otters proved to much of a temptation so Sarah and I joined up with Kev Du Rose and had some remarkable encounters with one individual.

Waxwings

Found around 30 Waxwings at Tallington Lakes this morning. Had been along this road several times recently on my way to and from Stamford in the hope they would be there- today I struck it lucky. Plenty of berry in gob shots but never had these drinking shots before...

Varanger & Lapland June 2012

Spent an enjoyable couple of weeks up in the north at the beginning of last month. There were many highlights, despite the fairly poor weather conditions we experienced. Below are a small selection of the photos taken during the trip.

Hawk Owl

Hawk Owls were pretty easy to find around Varanger this year with six broods and two individuals found all by the roadside with no effort. We spent a lot of time with them and took a lot of photos so the above shots are just a small proportion of my favourites.