Exmoor, October 2012

Here are a few pictures from a fortnight spent on Exmoor. Weather was reasonable for the first week, with one lovely frosty and still morning, but the second was mostly mist and fog! My main focus was the annual red deer rut.

Mist over the Quantock Hills.

Mist in the Exe Valley.

Hinkley Point A and B Power Stations across Bridgwater Bay.

Autumn colours in an Exmoor Combe.

Breakfast time for cattle.

One of the highland cattle on Wilmersham Common.

The East Lyn River above Lynton.

Tarr Steps on the River Barle near Dulverton.

A red deer stag and hinds.

A roaring stag, protecting his hinds from rivals.

A young stag rests before being driven away.

A hind and her calf.

A distant hind.

Seals at Donna Nook, Lincolnshire, September 2012

An early autumn weekend at Donna Nook on the Lincolnshire coast provided a wealth of opportunities to photograph adult and juvenile grey seals and some common seal pups. The common seals were born earlier in the year and have left their mothers, and now congregate with the greys. The greys themselves will be pupping in a couple of months, a time when it is best to leave them in complete peace.

The seals are on a large sand bank a mile off the coast. This is reached by an arduous trek across mud and sand at lowish tide. We were fortunate in seeing some sun, but the wind remained strong over the whole weekend leading to sand storms after the bank had dried out. This added to the range of images but meant we had to be extra careful with our equipment.

Badgers in Dursley, August/September 2012

I have turned my attention to some local badgers. Unfortunately, these live very close to Dursley and it is rare to see them out in daylight. Hence, it has been necessary to use artificial light. One of this year's cubs, in particular, is now used to flashes and so it is possible to get some good shots as he comes to feed. A continuous bright light is also needed to aid focusing in the dark. The penultimate picture was taken in pouring rain - the rain drops look like stars in the sky!

Finland, July 2012

Some images of Europe's top predators from a trip this month to a remote area of Finland close to the Russian border. The weather was far from perfect, and luck with wolves was poor, but here are some images of wolves, brown bears and wolverines.

A brown bear mother and three cubs in the "swamp" at Martinselkosen.

Cub watches as mother reaches up into a tree.

The cubs watch an adult approaching to see if he is friendly.

Two of the cubs playing.

A cub goes exploring.

Adult licking honey off a branch.

A cub from last year.

Two young adults in more serious playing.

Two adults keep well apart...

...whilst another two square up for a fight.

A wolf in the middle of the night near Kuikka.

Wolverines at Erä-Eero near Lieksa.

A raven at Erä-Eero near Lieksa.