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Now I know that the Brown Rat is not everyone's favourite animal but personally I think they have a bit of a bad reputation. Yes I realise they can carry disease and the last thing you want is a rat in your home but outside I think these rodents are characterful and extremely intelligent. Recently, I have been photographing a family of Brown Rats and I have been mesmerised by their cheeky nature and their adaptability. They are opportunistic and make the most of any situation that goes their way and for that I admire them. Anyway I hope the following images don't make you cringe but instead give a you a greater appreciation for this very successful little mammal.     The images above feature a youngster that was particularly brave and not particularly afraid of me. The rest of the images in this gallery feature the rat I believe is the mother ...      As you can see I got pretty close and they were really rather relaxed. I am now tempted to actually do a project on these fascinating rodents. So, stay tuned and see if I carry on following this unusual photographic subject.
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So, first off I have to say sorry for being off the radar for the last few months. I have had a completely manic few months but could have a few really exciting things lined up for the future and particularly regarding my photography. Also the weather for 2 months or so was absolutely diabolical with a lot of flooding and real lack of photographic opportunities. So where do I even begin ... well first off I got an image in to the final round of Wildlife Photographer of the Year! Sounds great, and it was but a complete nightmare followed ... I ended up having a catastrophic hard drive failure and that one image alone was one of about 50 images that were not back up. I know it is completely my fault and it is definitely a lesson learnt. Now I know exactly what I need to do for next year and I can't wait to get cracking on some projects. Anyway here is a random selection of images from the last few months when I have been able to go out with the camera. 
Your typical garden Bluetit
Kestrel
Slow Worm
Wren
A village just down the road from my company's office, a small and quaint little place called Cheriton, has a lovely village green which is currently occupied by 3 Mallard Duck families. One mother has 6 chicks, another has 5 but one seems to have around 20 ducklings. Truly amazing!! So anyway, after work the other day I decided to head down there and see if I could get any shots of these cute little critters. I parked up, and headed towards the village green, within moments I was flat on my stomach with a duck family only a few metres away. Before I knew it I had spent over an hour photographing them both in and out of the water as they fed, slept and explored. Anything this cute in nature, definitely deserves to be photographed. Two sets of images for you this week. To start with the Barn Owl was out hunting again, over the water meadows at work. It is an amazing sight but slightly worrying seeing it out in the daylight again. On the Sunday I went round to see a friend and with the camera on standby I went to see whether I would have any luck photographing some Fox Cubs. Luckily for me one of the little devils was cooperative and rather inquisitive. A lovely set of sightings for one weekend and I hope you like the photos ...       Back at the start of the summer, some of you might remember that I was lucky enoguh to have a Water Vole living right outside the office front door. After a summer of heavy rain, plenty of food and lots of waterways to explore this Water Vole disappeared. There was the odd occasion where one of my colleagues would hear the tell tale "plop" as it ducked underwater. Now, much to my delight, it seems to be back in the mill stream enjoying the vegetation and perhaps even the small amount of shelter and warmth the old mill provides. So over a 20 minute spell I went out with my camera and got rather close, in fact at one point it was probably only 2 feet away from ... well my foot! I hope you like looking through the portraits. The first image, below, was the furthest the Water Vole was away from me throughout the session. All of the images were shot at an Aperture of f/2.8 or f/3.5 which helps the vole stand out a little better from the vegetation. Ideally I would have loved to have been in the water to get the lowest angle possible, this might have to wait for another day.  Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius ) I lost sight of the vole at one point as he went off under the mill, I assumed he was going to disappear so I moved to the edge of the mill stream only to realise he was actually coming round and ended up only a couple of feet away. I was absolutely amazed, the vole knew I was there and I made my movements very deliberate so as not to scare it off. I slowly moved backwards as I didn't want to be too close and once I got a couple of metres away I tried to get a couple of images. The image below was my favourite from the mini series of images.  Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius)  Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius) The image below was by far my favourite of the short session. The Water Vole had been moving to and fro feeding on the surrounding vegetation and was repeatedly returning to this spot to nibble its salad. The light improved and the little fellow turned to look at me, perhaps wondering what the noise of the camera shutter was. I love the colour, the composition and of course the cute factor of this little chap!  Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius) A really wonderful way to spend 20 minutes on a cold morning. Winter is definitely coming, the nights are getting longer and longer and the cold is starting to bite. It makes you appreciate the slightest bit of decent weather and when you get an opportunity to photograph something as lovely as this small mammal, then you really have to make the most of it.
Over the summer a pair of Pied Wagtails used the out-buildings around the Naturetrek office to bring up a brood of chicks. I can't be sure how successful they were as I couldn't get close to the nest without disturbing them. It does seem that the chicks fledged successfully though. Now that autumn is turning into winter I haven't seen the birds all that often, but when the weather is nice and the sun is shining we often see a pair of birds hopping across the rooftops. Last week we had one such day, so I thought I would make the most of it and head out into the courtyard for a spot of lunchtime photography. The light could not have been better, the sun was relatively low in the sky and lighting up the birds perfectly. The challenge was trying to focus on such fast little birds that are quite unpredictable. After 10-20 minutes (most of my lunch break) I started to have some success and they were seemingly un-deterred by my presence. I think my colleagues thought I might have been a bit loopy as I stood on top of the wall in the car park, trying to get a higher point of view. For me the photo below was one of my favourites from the half an hour or so I spent photographing them. The light is great as I mentioned before and the bird is in such an interesting pose. It was actually watching a fly as it buzzed slowly by, only moments later the Wagtail flew off and intercepted the lethargic insect, quickly devouring it and searching for its next snack. The other thing that makes this picture stand out for me is the lovely colour and texture of the corrugated iron roof, it really adds to the composition.  Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) Now the image below is what I tried to get from the outset, some fast paced Pied Wagtail action, the issue was it was so high paced I could hardly keep up. If you blinked you missed the bird take off altogether, then it was a quick spin around to try and spot the bird, only then realising it was back at the same spot it left moments earlier. Now with a 1D series camera my success rate might have been a little higher but I noticed significant improvement as time went on. After only half an hour I really started to be able to judge the timing for take off and managed to get some striking results. Landing on the other hand was a completely different matter (0% success rate :D).  Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) More of a portrait for the image below, nothing particularly special other than a posing bird lit beautifully in the afternoon sun.  Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) The image below is definitely my favourite image from the half an hour session, as I said earlier I started to learn when the birds were readying themselves for take off and that led to this shot. It was great timing, fantastic light and the wider format really makes the bird pop out! I have to say I was dead chuffed when I saw I had captured this incredibly quick moment.  Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) For me this demonstrates exactly why you should have your camera with you at all times. I only got half an hour to go out with my camera and I probably got 10-15 shots that I was really happy with. That is probably better than when I go away to Africa. The fantastic autumnal light made it possible but it was a great half an hour with a species I had never even thought to photograph before.
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