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Wildlife Photos for 2021

/ Laura Tuke / 1 Comment

Last year was an unusual one for us all, as we got used to a new reality, but for me it was also a year of colour, amazing wildlife, and fabulous adventures. I learnt alot and was able to continue to grow as a person, which includes my skill in wildlife photography and passion for communicating nature with you all. To celebrate, here’s a collection of my nature photos spanning 2021, capturing a range of themes, species and stories, and holding a feel good factor. Enjoy!

January

I began my year taking advantage of frosty mornings to capture the birds relying on our garden during the winter. Here a starling looking magnificent in its speckled plumage.

February

In 2021 I made it my mission to take my first up close photos of snowdrops. I enjoyed the challenge, brightening up a gloomier start to my year.

March

As the first signs of spring began to arrive, my focus turned to the ground and colourful spring flowers. Here a celandine peaks out its sunshine head from a thick cluster of green leaves.

April

As spring burst into life, my focus turned to the animal species now becoming active in the rural landscape. Here is a relaxed hare (and pheasant) that I ended up spending a sunny afternoon watching feed on this hillside.
Each year grey wagtails are becoming a more and more frequent sight on my family’s farmland. We now have a soft spot for them as they brighten gloomy winter days and add a flash of colour in spring sunshine.

May

In 2021 I bought my very first macro lens which I was very excited about. It was great fun to head out with no set challenge, and just see what I could find!

June

Last year was definitely the year of butterflies for me. I had alot of fun expanding my knowledge of species and getting to see an increasing number living on my family’s land, such as this meadow brown.

July

A series of photos that I took of this ladybird became some of my favourites for myself and my family in 2021!
Another one of my 2021 favourites, a spectacular marbled white!

August

There’s something special about a sunrise over water with pinks, oranges and yellows streaked across the sky like a watercolour.

September

One of my favourite places to be is between two ears exploring the countryside. Here I also had the golden glow of a setting autumn sun to make my ride even more magical.

October

Autumn has some of the best sunsets, with everyday promising something different. Here an oak tree holds on to its leaves as autumn continues its advance through the landscape.

November

A magical part of late autumn is seeing the sun rise over dewy fields covered in a blanket of wafting spiders’ webs. These are produced by thousands of small spiders active before winter arrives.

December

To round off the year, one of my wildlife activities was to plant some new fruiting trees and shrubs down in my family’s conservation field (here a crab apple). Tree planting is definitely a rewarding activity at this time of year!

Here’s to new adventures in 2022!

Spring Countryside Camera Trapping 2020

/ Laura Tuke / 3 Comments

Through the stillness of an early morning mist, a shape appears, carefully stepping through the short undergrowth. She weaves through the trees, stopping to pick and browse as she goes. Then she stops, motionless. Ears pricked she listens out into the gloom, something catching her attention. Magnificent silhouette, the more impressive for her swollen belly, a sign of new life to come. Here she is captured, a glimpse of a world unknown, forever immortalised in a frame.

Camera traps provide a window into another world, one that is often unseen and unknown. As technology improves and efforts increase, humans are now capturing the natural world in increasing detail, observing new behaviours, and keeping track of wildlife that would otherwise be difficult to monitor. Camera traps also provide us as individuals with the opportunity to open our eyes to the world that lies outside our doors. To find out more about camera traps, how to use them, and for some inspiration, check out my ‘How to… Use and Make the Most of a Camera Trap’ post.

Since I got my camera trap a few years ago, it has become an important way for me to explore the hidden world around me. In particular, during spring 2019, I spent 10 weeks conducting camera trap surveys across 5 sites on my family’s land in Dorset. It was a lot of fun to see what species I could detect and in what numbers, whilst seeing how things changed over a period of time. For my results, check out my ‘Spring Countryside Camera Trap Surveys’ post on my blog.

Camera Trapping 2020

This year, despite COVID-19 leading to a national lockdown, I tried to utilise the time I got to spend outside to get my camera trap out as much as possible. The result was some successful and really enjoyable camera trap experiences throughout the spring, which helped to keep me going. On my adventures, I chose to focus on a mixture of 5 new and old sites, including Badger setts, a footpath, a Sycamore copse and a meadow. It was great to once again monitor the animal populations on our farm, experience new life, and to see if something interesting might turn up!

Highlights

The real stars of my camera trapping this spring just happened to be our British large mammals. In particular some of my highlights involved fantastic sightings of charismatic Badgers. One of my favourites was capturing 2 cubs playing and fighting outside the entrance of a sett at all times of day in April, with a parent often popping in to check on them. I also had some great luck at another sett in June, where my camera trap captured 2 Badger cubs interacting with each other in their natural habitat, in an open area within a hedge. It was really great to see!

This year Foxes were also popular sights on my camera trap. These ranged from adults and cubs at their dens to being captured on the move, giving me a new insight into their lives and interactions. Roe Deer were also a popular sight on my camera trap as they moved through their habitat and spent time foraging, with does and bucks often being seen separately at these same locations. All wildlife are fantastic to be able to experience in this way though!

When Things Go Wrong!

With the highs of camera trapping, there are always bound to be some lows. With many successful days camera trapping this year, my low came in the form of one project not quite going to plan! After sightings of a new fox den at the border of a hay meadow, I set out to try and get photos of this family. Over the course of two weeks I threw all my ideas and efforts at achieving my goal, but over and over again the cubs alluded me. Instead my camera seemed to spend more time capturing the local Roe deer population in this particular location! Here though are some of the glimpses I did catch of this elusive family:

The Best Bit!

There is always going to be one highlight that stands out from a season camera trapping. For me this year my best bit came in the form of a surprise. Whilst having my camera trap out on an active Badger sett for a week in May and then in June, my camera, amongst many photos of Badgers and their cubs, caught some unexpected shots of a lone Fox cub. In my photos, most days the cub would spend its time sleeping and playing alone in the central area of a hedge above a Badger sett. Sometimes it also made an entrance at night, but it was always seen alone. It was an interesting insight into this cub’s more unusual world.

As the natural world now begins to descend into a deep slumber, get out there now and explore, allowing your surroundings to give you strength, whilst leaving nothing but footprints.

Spring 2020: In Photos

/ Laura Tuke / Leave a comment

As the world was thrown into disarray with the full force of a pandemic, our daily lives were hit by lockdown, slowing and grounding to a halt. For the natural world outside our windows though, spring was just beginning, with days warming, buds bursting, and migrants making their return. Even when our own lives were being disrupted, the natural world was carrying on.

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For me, spring has been a real lifeline this year. With the natural world bursting with life, I was able to draw real strength from the return of the swallows, the flowering of the bluebells and the trees becoming cloaked in delicate new leaves. Every moment I could spend out in nature gave me the strength to continue as if nothing had changed, cherishing every moment for what it was. For this I am grateful, and I really appreciate that I am lucky to have the beautiful Dorset countryside right on my doorstep.

As spring begins to make its exit, I wanted to take some moments to reflect on a time that has taught me a lot, brought me some real magic through the natural world, and will be remembered for as many good memories as those eclipsed by Covid-19. To begin with, here are a selection of my favourite photos from this spring. They range from spring wonderment to heart-warming moments, that all mean something to me.

Spring 2020 in photos

1) Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly – The photo featured above was taken only last week, and reminds me of how valuable the time I spend expanding my knowledge of nature really is, including the identification of butterflies and flowers. I found this Small Tortoiseshell butterfly on a 10m long chalk mound that my parents have created for wildlife within our farmland, and it really is coming into its own this year!

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2) Bluebell & Spider – When the bluebells are flowering, it has to be one of my most favourite times of the year. As the woodland floor transforms to a carpet of blue purple, I feel at my happiest and enjoy noticing new details each year, such as the spider hunting on these drooping bells.

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3) Goldfinch – I love the simplicity of this photo of a Goldfinch taken back in March. The bright colours of the bird vividly stand out from the swelling buds and bare twigs of the hazel in this hedgerow. It was enough to brighten a moment on a decidedly chilly spring day.

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4) Stitchwort – Every flower is unique and different in its own way. With Greater Stitchwort, every flower stands out like a small white star, carpeting verges, hedgerows and woodlands alike.

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5) Dandelion Seeds – Now as an adult I still hold on to the child-like curiosity that a dandelion invokes. With hundreds of parachuting seeds waiting to fly, this dandelion creates a beautiful fluffy silhouette in the spring sunshine.

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6) Lleyn Lamb – This photo is as it seems, a photo of a sleepy newborn lamb, born earlier this year. I am proud to say that I come from a farming background in the heart of Dorset. It has been this that has provided me with a spectacular backdrop to learn about the natural world around me, given me the knowledge and experiences to be able to make informed decisions about how I live my life, and given me an understanding of the important relationship between the environment and modern agriculture.

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7) Wild Garlic & Insect – I love to notice the details in nature and get down to the level of the ‘small things’. This may be noticing the curl of an unfurling fern, the patterns on the petals of a tiny flower, or the jewel-like colours of an insect exploring a cluster of star-shaped wild garlic flowers.

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8) Sunrise – One of the best times of day has usually come and gone by the time most people have woken up in the morning. A sunrise is a golden time though to get out, listen to the birds singing and watch as the world wakes up around you. There is nothing like it!

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9) Dark Rabbit – One of my more unusual sightings this year has to be this rabbit, that has notably darker fur compared to the usual European rabbit. It was small in size, and though showing wild instincts, it was slightly less fearful of us humans. Everyday it could be found sunning itself in a small open area within vegetation situated behind our farm buildings.

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10) Moschatel – Every year I try and learn one new species of flowering plant that can be found in our woodlands and surrounding countryside. This year it was the turn of Moschatel. An often overlooked flower due to its greenish colour, Moschatel is also known as Townhall Clock, due to its flowers having 5 faces that make it look like a cube or townhall clock in shape.

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11) Chiffchaff – One of my highlights of spring every year is the return of the Chiffchaff. When I hear this bird sing for the first time each year, I feel like spring has truly arrived, so I am particularly saddened when their singing finally falls silent as autumn grips the landscape.

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12) Feather – This photo is a good example of the beauty of detail. It is simple, but a spot of light highlights the real elegance of this contour feather, now left to lay amongst the vegetation.

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13) Aberdeen Angus Calf – This inquisitive and interestingly marked calf is another photo that connects with my farming roots. Spring is synonymous with new life, from on the farm to the wider countryside, and this little one was just one of many, precious and to be celebrated.

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14) Spider & Hart’s-Tongue Fern – Some days I walk along in my own world and the wildlife around me merges into one. Other days the world becomes bigger though and I see every detail pop out at me, such as with this spider making its home on a Hart’s-Tongue fern.

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15) Fox Cub – As people who follow my blog or social media will already know, this spring I have had fun yet again using my camera trap on my family’s land. This has to be one of my favourite photos from this year! It was a totally unexpected surprise when this fox cub turned up on my camera trap.

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16) Vole Bones – With the return of breeding barn owls to my family’s farm, I had some fun one afternoon dissecting the pellets left by these owls. It is definitely a very rewarding feeling when you are then able to identify the species the bones you find come from. Here I believe this mandible to be from a bank vole.

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17) Field Rose – I have always loved taking photos of flowers and capturing their small details. Here a field rose, you can clearly see the reproductive organs from the stamens to the stigma.