June 2005

At last I’ve found time to update the news page!! Where do I start…. well the last few months I’ve been busy with work and photography, hence why there has been no updates for a while.

Going back to December, I visited Donna Nook on the Lincolnshire coast for the seals and I met a friend who put me in the right direction (thanks Nick!!). I managed some superb pictures of the seals having fun splashing in the sea; also the Sanderling were very obliging too, although they could have done with staying still a bit more often!

Also in December I managed to fit in my monthly trip to the New Forest after a tip-off to the whereabouts of some of the big stags. The 2 hour drive was worth it as the ground was white with frost, and I only needed a 300mm lens to get frame fillers!.

January saw me concentrating on the influx of short eared owls that descended onto the West Country. I had 3 superb sites at one point that had more than 3 on each, and one of them had 10! Unlike previous years I had to hunt for them, but not this time - I was spoilt for choice. My success didn’t go unnoticed as I was contacted by Andy Rouse, and I took him on a few of the short-eared owl sessions. If any of you have met him you’ll know what he is like!! Also the West Country was filling up with waxwings. I'm not a bird watcher by any means, but I couldn’t resist a short drive out to the local Sainsburys where the wax wings could be found very easily in the surrounding trees.

When I’ve managed to get a bit of spare time, I’ve caught up with my favourite hides on the Somerset Levels. I wanted pictures of winter waterfowl and, in particular, a large selection of lapwing pictures, which I was successful in getting.

February came and so did the snow, so another 200 mile round trip to the New Forest for the weekend had to be arranged very quickly to photograph much needed Sika and fallow deer in the snow. This month I’m also planning trips for the coming summer months, including days with Andy Rouse and wildlife cameraman Charlie Hamilton James. I’ve various perches and posts erected now around the levels, which are already being used by a number of owls.

Between March and July, I have been to Yarner woods in Devon, which has a superb woodland feeding station that is topped up every day; it attracts huge numbers of birds and you are spoilt for choice. Whilst in Devon, I have photographed Dippers on a number of occasions.

I organised a trip to Woburn Abbey to get some much needed deer pictures, and the head deer keeper was kind enough to give me a behind-the-scenes tour and let me into the deer park 3 hours before the public came in, which was great as I got all my pictures before people started arriving…so a big thank you to Callum Thompson for his help! I got so many pictures it was unreal! I desperately wanted Muntjac, Chinese Water, and Pere David Deer, which I got no problem shooting from my car window.

Early June, I decided a trip to the British Wildlife Centre, near London was way overdue. So this was quickly arranged to coincide with the fox cubs wandering around in the enclosure. It was a superb day, and I recommend it to anyone. They do photography days, and you are given access into enclosures which have Scottish wildlcats, otters, foxes and deer, to name but a few. Great pictures are guaranteed.

Also my barn owl and little owl photography has been very rewarding with excellent pictures forthcoming, The Somerset Levels hold good numbers of owls and, if you do your homework, you should have no problem finding them hunting. Check out my owl galleries and you will see the success I’ve had with owls over the last few months - I'm extremely pleased with the results.

After all the places I’ve visited above, I'm still out on the Somerset Levels every week driving around!

Also in the next couple of months I’ll be adding a few extra galleries on deer, which will include Muntjac, Pere David and Chinese Water deer.

Others pictures which are being planned for this website within a month are a snake gallery, which will include all British snakes such as Grass, Smooth, Adder, and Slow Worm.

A large selection of otters, foxes and British wildcats are also waiting to be processed, and of course more owls!!

Last of all Amateur Photographer is doing a 5 page article on myself in the issue ending 17th July. Best of all they contacted me out of the blue, I didn’t go to them!

So, have a read and let me know what you think.

Sorry about the irregular news updates - I’ll be trying to do better!!

All images © Copyright Brian Phipps