January 2004

As usual, I never got round to pursuing some of the subjects that were mentioned in my last update, but I have been to various other locations over late December and January and got some decent results.

Just before Christmas, I went to Yorkshire to visit relatives. I managed to escape for a couple of days and went down to an area called Donna Nook just below Grimsby to photograph the seals that fill the beach in the winter months. I was confronted with hundreds of seals and endless picture opportunities.
I was so pleased with my results that I have decided to add a new gallery to show you the results, and this will be added shortly.

Also a brief morning trip saw me visiting the RSBP Fairburn Ings reserve, and that produced some great shots of finches and Canada geese It is an excellent reserve and I was very impressed by the layout and facilities.

The winter waterfowl on my local Somerset levels gave me pictures that included teal, wigeon, black tailed godwits, marsh harriers and a bonus otter!

My next plan is to search out Bewick and Hooper swans that are around the levels at the moment, and a trip to Gigrin farm is on the cards to see the red kites, but that will require blue skies so I'll have to pick my days carefully.

Good news is that the Somerset otter group is using my otter picture for the front page of their latest news letter, and the Environment Agency is using a barn owl picture for this year's Biodiversity Action plan they are producing.

There are 16 updates this month.

All images © Copyright Brian Phipps