Grey Herons portraits: preening and exfoliating

I spent several hours with these herons, initially creeping in short stages through the grass until I had positioned them against dark woodland. After a while they always ignore me, settle down to sleep and often start preening. There has to be some trust before they begin preening as they often close their eyes or position their head in such a way that I remain out of their vision. Most of these shots are full frame, some with slight trimming of the black background.

Richmond Deer: Dawn till Dusk

Saturday, Richmond Park... here is one of the first photographs of the day in the cool mist and morning frost, followed by one of the last after a warm afternoon, ending with rich sunset colours.

Dabchick Drawing

New sketch of a Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)

Indian Summer Rut

I made a short visit to Richmond last weekend while the week-long 'summer' of blue skies in the south-east hit 29C. The Red Deer were taking it easy in the shade until late in the day when the territorial battles commenced. I concentrated on getting some shots of stags showing some accidental ornamentation.

Drawing Urban Parakeets

Did another drawing at the weekend of a Ring-necked Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) based on a photograph from Richmond Park. Although naturalised, self-sustaining populations are present in many cities in western Europe (category C1E on the British List) it is still quite scarce in Scotland. One or two have been present in Ayrshire for a year or two, hence another drawing for the Ayrshire Bird Report.

Tiger Flatworm larvae under the microscope

Day-old Tiger Flatworm (Maritigrella crozieri) larvae.  Filmed through a binocular microscope in the laboratory using my Nokia N8 cameraphone.

Back to the drawing board - Dunlin

I've started drawing again for the Ayrshire Bird Report, motivated by my PC which has decided to break down, allowing me to get back to basics with just pencil and paper.

I like doing wing details, particularly on waders (shorebirds). Here is a Dunlin (Calidris alpina). Click the image for a larger version.



Previous drawings can be found on my main website:
http://www.fssbirding.org.uk/sketches.htm

At work

When I'm not birding, I'm working (or sleeping). Some photographs from the molecular biology lab...

miniWorlds

The blog will shortly be getting back to birds, but in the meantime here are some miniature photographs of London. Also viewable as slideshow on the main site here:

www.fssbirding.org.uk/miniworlds.htm