Great new BBC show - Hands on Nature

Watched the first episode yesterday and it's brilliant. I only found it by chance as for some reason best known to those in BBC marketing, it doesn't seem to have had any publicity at all. Criminal! Similarly, it's on at a funny time - 3pm weekdays. It deserves a better slot than that. Anyway, hosted by BBC wildlife expert and photographer Chris Packham, it takes us on a tour of UK wildlife hotspots - a photographer's dream.

As Chris himself says: "Nature needs to be experienced first hand. You have to be able to touch it, see it, smell it and exercise your curiosity. And that's what Hands On Nature is all about."

We agree. In fact that's why we got into wildlife photography in the first place. By the time you read this, the series may be half way through but there's an excellent website to back it up where you can find even more information.

Here's the link to the Beeb's Hands on Nature website: Hands On Nature.

Wildfile - Mammoth UK Wildlife Links

That's mammoth as in huge. Wildfile.co.uk is a quite stupendous collection of links relating to UK wildlife and environmental websites. 41 different categories! The wildlife photography section is excellent. The whole site is a goldmine.

Interesting comment regarding David Bellamy on their site, "Climate change denier David Bellamy must go."

Check out the whole lot.

Puffins on Skomer

Off the Pembrokeshire coast are two islands, Skomer and Skokholm. Both are part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, and form part of one of the most important seabird breeding areas in Europe. Manx Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, Wheatears, Oystercatchers, Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, Guillemots, Razorbills, Peregrines and Ravens all breed on these islands.

And so do Puffins, and it is these that are highlighted in Amateur Photographer magazine this week. Marine biologist Matt Doggett has a selection of great puffin shots published in the portfolio section. They are well worth a look! The shot above won the student category in the British Ecological Society's competition this year.

Skomer is definitely on our list to visit! (Good web sites: Skomer & Skokholm)

Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Portfolio 15

Just received this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year book (Portfolio 15.) Guess what - it is stunning! Joe & Ann McDonald - favourites of mine - have three pictures in it this year. Bence Máté's pictures - he has the cover - are wonderful too. You can buy it for £15 at Amazon at the moment:



(one day I will figure out how to get this link in the right place...)

WildArena Seminars

WildArena still have a couple of places left for their Autumn seminars. The dates are:

Nature in Focus - Saturday 26th November and Saturday 3rd December.

In The Company of Wolves - Saturday 10th December

I have used WildArena before, on their Leopard and Birds of Prey days, and they were excellent. More details at www.wildarena.com.

A very Oddie autumn

No doubt about it, autumn is here - in fact it arrived rather too soon if Bill Oddie's Autumnwatch survey is anything to go by. And judging by the ice on the car this morning winter's not too far away either.

Anyway, photography wise, there's loads to snap away at. And who better to show us the way than the bearded one himself?

Check out his Autumnwatch section here and find the best of UK autumn wildlife - video clips the lot: Oddie's Autumn.

We have a responsibility

Following on with another of National Geographic's masters, Thomas D. Mangelsen. He makes a really valid point that many of us may not have considered. "A lot of young photographers just getting into wildlife photography don't quite make the link that they have a responsibility to protect what's out there," Tom says.

"We have the ability to make images that will teach people about endangered species and places needing protection, pictures that can even change minds, and we have a responsibility to do it. Sometimes I meet people who sort of skip that part. They want to take pictures because they think it's a cool thing to be a wildlife photographer. They don't quite understand they have the option to do more than just take pretty pictures."

You'll find the whole article here: Thomas D Mangelsen. (Another good guide - but not perfect - has been written by the Nature Group at the Royal Photographic Society, and can be found here.)

Michael Nichols

Excellent set of articles from a National Geographic photographer here - http://michaelnicknichols.com/article/.

All the articles are illustrated with Michael's excellent pictures (do not leave the site without checking out the tigers!) It really is an excellent resource.

Wildife Photographer of the Year 2005 Exhibition

From the Natural History Museum website, here are the details:

"The exhibition is in the Natural History Museum's Jerwood Gallery.

Find out how to get to the Museum.

Opening hours are

• Monday to Saturday 10.00 - 17.50
• Sunday 11.00 - 17.50
• Open on bank holidays.
• Closed 24-26 December.

Late night opening: From 28 October 2005 - 24 February 2006 the exhibition will be open on Fridays until 21.00. Find out more about Time Out After Hours."

Water Voles - hard to find - harder to photograph

Published by the Mammals Trust UK, The State of Britain's Mammals 2005 report covers the key themes of mammal conservation over the last year. Among this year's most notable findings is the description of the water vole as "seriously under threat". Alas I've not been lucky enough to see one in the wild, let alone photograph one. Not hard to see why when the report describes the water vole as "a contender for the UK's most rapidly declining mammal". A real shame.

You can download a free copy of the report here: The Report. And if you want some brilliant footage of wild British water voles, the fantastic Arkive is the place to go: Water Vole movies.

Find Wildlife with Wild Woods

Just found an excellent wildlife 'finder', provided by the Forestry Commission. With their web page, you can quickly find sites of interest close to your location. Give it a try - it's at the Wild Woods Homepage.