Photo of the Week: The Best of my Wildlife Art Photographic Studies
A Wildlife Photo A Week
My photographs are studies for my paintings. I've selected the best images of the season for you each week. From puffins photographed along the Yorkshire coast to badger cubs at play - this is the very best of British wildlife.
Click here for more snapshots taken throughout the seasons.
Click here to see these photographs translates into paintings on my Wildlife Painting of the Week’ blog.
September 14th, 2019
Swallow
Wildlife Photo of the Week
Swallows start their 6,000-mile migration back to southern Africa now. This exodus marks the end of summer here in the UK. These sleek black-backed birds fly up to 200 miles a day, feeding on insects as they cross the Sahara. The next time we see them it will be spring when they make this epic journey back again to breed.
Click here to read my story of a late brood in a storm lantern on my porch and see the painting they inspired
September 6th, 2019
Otter Cub
Wildlife Photo of the Week
Otter cubs can't swim until they are at least two months old. Thankfully they have two layers of fur, which not only keeps them extra warm but also helps keep them afloat since air is trapped close to their skin. Their thick coats are made up of around a million hairs per square inch and are the thickest of all mammals.
Click here to read my story of watching an otter cub and its mother in Scotland.
August 30th, 2019
Badger
Wildlife Photo of the Week
As the days grow shorter, your chances of seeing a badger in daylight lessens. Look out for young males that have left the sett they were born in and are looking for new territories. If the weather is hot these badgers can venture into gardens to drink from ponds. Sadly as these youngsters explore the countryside they often become victims of road kills.
August 16th, 2019
Tawny Owls
Wildlife Photo of the Week
Tawny owls are at their noisiest just now as they fight over territory. Listen out for extra loud hooting and ‘kee-wick’- ing at night. This is the sound of young birds reaching maturity and beginning to look for new homes and of older birds fighting to hold on to their patch. Normally extraordinary caring parents, it is strange to see how these owls turn on their young at this time to chase them away from their territory.
Read more about why tawny owls hoot loudest now
August 9th, 2019
Roe Deer Courtship Ring
Wildlife Photo of the Week
Now is the time to look out for roe deer performing their extraordinary courtship ritual. The male chases the female until both are tired and then he follows her lead as she weaves slow, hypnotic circles for hours. At the end of this trance-like dance, she will allow him to mate. Look out for ‘roe rings’ , as the circular paths in the grass that the deer make during this performance are known.
Click here to read my story about how I once found myself at the centre of a roe ring and see the paintings inspired by the experience.
August 2nd 2019
Osprey
Wildlife photo of the week
Ospreys set off for their African wintering grounds now. The females start off the migration, followed by the males and then, when they are old enough, the young make the 4,000-mile journey alone. It is thought these youngsters follow an inherited genetic programme which tells them where to go. For both generations, these return trips are staggered and can take up to four months as the birds take time to stop off and fish for days at a time. Look out for solitary stopovers in Yorkshire anytime now.
July 26th 2019
Redstart
Wildlife photo of the week
Redstarts are the ‘Ninja’ versions of robins. Summer visitors to the UK, they are very similar in shape and colour to our native robins and even have the same habit of bobbing up and down. But the black bands across their faces help to distinguish them robins. Look for them in cities or industrial areas. Their name, redstart comes from the way that their red tails frequently shiver behind them.
July 19th 2019
Hare
Wildlife photo of the week
Hares can be difficult to spot in summer when the grass is long. Look out for them along the margins of fields or on country lanes and farm tracks – and watch out if you are driving, they are known for changing direction at the last minute! Hares are solitary animals but come together in large groups to breed. This photograph makes an excellent study for a future painting.
Click here to see my collection of hare art work.
July 12th 2019
Treecreeper
Wildlife photo of the week
Treecreepers are so-called because of the way they crawl up tree trunks but not down them! If disturbed they generally freeze on the trunk, their black and brown mottled plumage perfectly camouflaged with the bark of a tree or nip quickly to the other side of the tree. If you see a bird dart round the back of a tree trunk, it's probably a treecreeper.
These birds make their nests behind flaps of bark, lining it with hair and feathers. Given that a clutch size is about 5-6 it can get crowded in there! When they grow too big the chicks huddle together on the outside, clinging to the bark in a ball as in the photograph below - count the tails to find out how many there are.
July 6th 2019
Weasel Wall
Wildlife photo of the week
More is known about the habits of snow leopards than of weasels, but I created a haven in my garden in order to capture their magical lives. With more than 60 surveillance cameras hidden in this weasel haven, I have captured secretive moments like this one of a young kit peering out from behind a wall.
Click here to read the full story behind my weasel art studies
June 29th 2019
Kestrel Fledge
Wildlife photo of the week
Kestrel chicks are fledging now. These young birds remain close to their nests after their first flight, returning to it to roost at night. The adult birds continue to feed them for at least a month whilst they learn to hunt for themselves. Unusually for birds of prey, there is no aggression between these youngsters and they can be seen roosting together and even rubbing beaks as they perch waiting for a meal from their parents.
Scroll down to watch a short video clip as these kestrels all jostle for position at the entrance to the nest.
https://vimeo.com/344995581
June 22nd 2019
Wet Fox
Wildlife photo of the week
Throughout June, vixens begin to leave their cubs during the day. This fox was photographed after a heavy downpour in Dalby Forest. She was foraging for food to take home to her hungry young. I followed her all day and the photographs I took became studies for a new collection of paintings.
Click here to read her story and see the painting it inspired
June 15th 2019
Soaked Stoat
Wildlife photo of the week
The weather this week has been miserable, especially for wildlife. Just look at this stoat making its way through a slippery clump of clover. It’s fur clumped together in wads, rather than its usual sleek condition. Stoats were once valued for their fur, which can turn white in winter to help them camouflage in the snow. I've spent the last five years photographing and filming six generations of a stoat family living in my garden for a new collection of paintings. These go on show in my gallery today.
Click here to find out more about my exhibition
June 8th 2019
Badger Cubs
Wildlife photo of the week
Long summer evenings are excellent for watching badgers. The cubs are now weaned from their mothers and it is possible to see them romping playfully outside their setts. I visit a badger sett near my home and gallery on the Yorkshire Wolds every evening and the animals are so used to me now they treat me as part of the clan.
Click here to read my blog post on watching this set and see the paintings the badger sightings have inspired.
June 1st 2019
Cuckoo
Wildlife photo of the week
Cuckoo chicks continue to get fed by their foster parents weeks after they have fledged the nest. They mimic the begging calls of the chicks of their host species, chirping as loudly as possible in order to fool these foster parents into bringing as much food as they would to a brood of their own.
By mid-June, they will be living independently and by August these birds will make the long journey south to Africa. They never get to meet their true parents and fly across the Sahara south all alone, guided on their incredible journey by the night skies and the Earth’s magnetic field
Click here to see the painting inspired by the photograph below and read about how I got the picture.
May 25th 201
Puffins
Wildlife photo of the week
Puffins can carry up to 12 small fish in their beaks - this saves extra fishing trips to keep their chicks fed as they grow. These clown-like birds get their name from the way their chicks are so thickly covered in feathers - they look like fluffed-up balls and are called pufflings. Look for puffins now in nests along clifftops at RSPB Bempton.
Click here for more on where to see puffins and when to go
Read More
Enjoy my wildlife photographs? Take a look back at this Spring's Wildlife Photo of the Week and at 2018's Wildlife Photo of the Week: Spring, Wildlife Photo of the Week: Summer and Wildlife Photo of the Week: Winter
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