Coffee break, Kittiwake

Coffee break, Kittiwake

ByDawn

Mines a flat white, maybe a gingerbread biscuit too. There’s a Herring gull at my feet, trying to look cute, but mostly just looking intimidating, circling the table and carefully watching with piercing pale eyes as I eat. Like many seaside towns, the cries of gulls ring out through the streets, but here, it’s a…

Rodney

Rodney

ByDawn

Affectionately known as ‘Rodney’ to locals, (thanks to Mike Webb’s brilliant cartoon ‘Mere Quacks’ in our local newspaper, the Diss Express), this special arachnid can be found down at Redgrave and Lopham Fen, managed by Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The Fen Raft Spider (Dolomedes plantarius) is one of our largest and rarest spiders. Thanks to extensive and…

Orchids and Auroras

Orchids and Auroras

ByDawn

My social media feeds have turned pink and green. As many others did, I left the comfort of my warm bed on Friday night and travelled a short distance to avoid the glow of Norwich on the horizon. As I stepped out of the car I could see a pale misty band across the Northern…

Jurassic gardens

Jurassic gardens

ByDawn

Don’t move. He can’t see us if we don’t move. The reptile tips his head. Patterned scales glint in the sun, golden eye, unblinking, watches us, time slows. But we’re not keeping still because we’re trying to avoid becoming a dinosaur’s dinner. We’re not moving so we don’t disturb the mini velociraptor in front of…

Green-winged Glory

Green-winged Glory

ByDawn

I spent a morning in May at a local meadow, photographing these beautiful native orchids. I often think our native botanical riches are a bit overlooked, but we do have a fascinating selection of species here, and I will definately be trying to explore more in the future. The Green-winged orchid is one of around…

Fascinating Fritillaries

Fascinating Fritillaries

ByDawn

Hello. I’m blogging again. Well, don’t expect regular updates, but I felt like writing again, and wanted to try and document some of my photo trips this year. I invited my lovely mum to join me for one of my first trips out with the camera, because I hoped this was a sight she would…

Lackford Lakes

Lackford Lakes

ByDawn

It’s been a long time since I picked up my camera, but what better way to start my photography year than with a trip to a fantastic nature reserve in the heart of Suffolk. Lackford Lakes is well know for it’s great wildlife and birdlife and for good photo opportunites too. It was one of…

The Murmuration

The Murmuration

ByDawn

You may have noticed from my Facebook page that I have had the most amazing luck to find a Starling murmuration on my way home from work. If you’ve never witnessed a murmuration before, I strongly suggest you go and see one next Winter as it is one of the most enthralling spectacles in the…

Short eared owl

ByDawn

A wonderful first for me today. I’ve always wanted to see and photograph Short-eared owls, but I’ve never quite managed it, for some reason they have always eluded me. So today, on the advice of the wonderful and talented John Richardson (CLICK to have a look at his blog) I headed over to a beautiful…

Spot the bird

ByDawn

Wildlife photographers have a habit of showing only their very best work, which is of course understandable. It does leave aspiring wildlife photographers a little disillusioned or disappointed with their own efforts, because it’s a fact that for every amazing photo taken, there’s ten, twenty, or a hundred (or more!) ‘misses’. After all, we’re dealing…