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The results of the Scottish Nature Photography awards 2012 have been announced. Congratulations to the overall winner Charlie Phillips who won with a belting shot of a young Bottlenose dolphin. I’m delighted to say my image of a Mountain hare entitled ‘Tor Malkin’ (‘Malkin’ is old Scots for hare) achieved second place in the Scottish Wildlife category:

Really though I should have called the image ‘Preslava’s hare’ as it was Pressie (my better half) who found her up on the tor (hill) sitting out a snow blizzard. So this competition placing like all my work is because of and dedicated to her.

You can see all the category winners here:

http://www.scottishnaturephotographyawards.com/2012/2012winners.htm

I’m delighted to say that the April issue of BBC Wildlife features a couple of my Barn Owl images, together with my photography tips on how to photograph them.

The day after I submitted my ‘how to’ tips article I was sat in a hide I’d set up on private land with the land owner’s permission close to where my parents live hoping to practice what I preach. This was my first shot (literally my first shot, I’ve learned to time it a bit better over the years when to take the shot). Full frame. Not bad as a first attempt I guess but not entirely happy. That was before the atrocious weather of course that has blighted the limited time I have had available to photograph this winter. Hopefully I’ll be back later in the year though to give the owls another go. That’s assuming it’s not going to rain for the rest of the year. If that’s the case then I’m building an ark!

There’s also one of my Kingfisher images in the April issue. I’m always very proud to see my work appearing in such a prestigious magazine. And particularly that they are using one of my favourite images.

Many thanks as always to Sophie, Wanda and the rest of the BBC Wildlife team for your continuing support.

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The Great Grey Owl is sometimes referred to in Scandanavian myth and folklore as the Phantom of the North. For the last couple of years I’ve visited Finland in winter hoping for the chance of  photographing this beautiful bird hunting in the snow. The more I chased , the more the opportunity seemed to elude me though.

Only a matter of weeks after returning from Finland where I had been fortunate enough to photograph the Northern Lights with good friend Danny Green, I found out from our guide Antti Peuna of Finnature that a couple of Great Grey Owls had been found hunting in open areas in Finnish lapland.

Surviving winter isn’t always easy for the Great Grey Owl. Vole populations are highly cyclical, reaching a peak  every 3-4 years before crashing. When this inevitable crash occurs prey becomes scare and the owls have to travel several hundreds kilometres in search of better hunting grounds. During these difficult  times Great Greys sometimes come to open areas if they can’t find food elsewhere. The last time this occurred was in 2009 when the BBC’s Frozen Planet team’s footage of hunting Great grey owls was taken (again with the help of Jari Peltomaki’s Finnature).

For Danny the opportunity to photograph this bird has haunted his imagination for many years. He was on the last leg of his Long Journey North and hoping to include this perhaps the most iconic  species of the North in his book of the same name, some eight years in the making. A few weeks earlier that hope appeared to have all but gone with publication deadlines looming, replaced by a weary acceptance that we were  perhaps chasing ghosts. I like to think that there is something poetic that at this moment of  surrender this magnificent owl finally emerged from the forest, revealing itself to us.

There was no time to waste, Great Greys are nomadic and there was no knowing how long the owls would remain in the area they had been found. Flights were hastily booked followed by a madcap dash to Heathrow. A  long wait at Helsinki for our connecting flight to Lapland followed. For once it was a gamble that paid off though. Just a few hours later we were stood watching the ghost of the North, staring unblinking back at us, perched in falling snow. Unreal.

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There were 5-6 owls in the area at the time, there were a pair of owls though that were particularly accommodating , on which we focused our photography over the next couple of days. I’ve included a few of my favourite images from the trip here.

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I learnt a lot working alongside Danny during our time with the owls, in particular about understanding  light and interpreting animal behaviour for which I’m very grateful.

Danny’s The Long Journey North is now available to buy exclusively from his website. With a forward by top BBC wildlife cameraman John Aitchison, it’s a visual exploration of the Arctic and Subarctic regions of Northern Europe and a stunning collection of images showing some of the most beautiful and iconic species that can be found in this varied and pristine wilderness.

Many thanks also to our guide for our time with the owls, Antti Peuna and all at Finnature  Finnature. It was an amazing experience.

This is my last blog for the year. And what a year, with wildlife highlights including spectacular Northern Lights, wild wolves, adorable Brown Bear cubs and  magnificent Great Grey Owls. If Carlsberg did wildlife photography…

I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who follows my work for your support and on behalf of Pressie and myself to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and joyful New Year.

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The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind for me. At the end of last week I found out that one of my water vole images has made the cover of the latest issue of the highly prestigious BBC Wildlife magazine.

Wanda Sowry,  Picture Researcher at BBC Wildlife had asked for the image a few weeks ago, but I’d assumed it was for use in the magazine’s Wild section so thought little more of it.

It came as a huge surprise then when my good Terry Whittaker put a post up on Facebook last Thursday about Kate Long’s wonderful article on the Secret Life of the Water vole and mentioned my image featured on the cover.

Needless to say I’m absolutely thrilled. Its an immense privilege and a dream come true.

A huge thank you to Sophie Stafford Editor of BBC Wildlife, Richard Eccleston and Wanda for  your continuing encouragement and support of my work.

A special thank you too to Terry, who I worked on the vole project with at a private stream in Kent. And to Richard, who owns the property. Cramp and mild hypothermia suffered standing motionless wearing chest waders in frozen water for hours on end  in late November to achieve the image all worthwhile!

The British Wildlife Photography Awards event and book launch was a wonderful affair.

That’s me being congratulated by Stephen Moss one of Britain’s leading nature writers, broadcasters and wildlife television producers on my British Seasons: category win. Pressie and my mum and dad were there to see me pick up the award. My father, one of the UK’s top ornithologists and editor of the Hampshire Bird report inspired my love of wildlife from an early age. He confessed to having a a tear in his eye when I went up to collect the award. It’s a good feeling to make your parents proud.

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Great to catch up with old and new friends alike including Neil and Jo McIntyre, Dale and Catherine Sutton, Mark Hamblin,  Andrew Parkinson, Calum Dickson, Jamie Hall and  Simon Litten. Simon’s one of my favourite photographers. We share the same approach to wildlife photography. I would urge you to check out Simon’s website and highly entertaining blog. Well worth following.

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Sorry if I’ve missed anyone out. The evening was a bit of a blur, as have been the last few weeks since the results were announced. I’ve also received some really lovely e-mails including from people I haven’t heard from in a long time which was really nice.

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I’d like to give a special mention to Maggie Gowan Director of BWPA, every year the competition grows and its a tribute to Maggie’s hard work the competition is the success it is. Also sponsors, including Canon and Sky who provided the competition with the much needed financial support it requires to keep it going (and growing!).

The BWPA category win is the icing on the cake on what for me has been a great year of wildlife watching. Mountain hares, northern lights, King Eider, Great Grey Owl, Wolves, wolverine and bear cubs. What a wonderful world we live in.

There’s just one more  blog from the field to come this year which I’ll post to coincide with the release of my great friend Danny Green’s highly anticipated book ‘The Long Journey North’  at the start of November. Earlier this year Danny and I shared an amazing (and madcap) adventure to Finnish Lapland to photograph the iconic Great Grey Owl. The images have been held back so far to coiincide with the the release of The Long Journey North. Hopefully they’ll be worth the wait.

In the meantime, Autumn is here and there’s a nip in the air. I’m going to be working on some personal projects of my own for the next six months, taking a path less travelled than my previous work. I’m really excited about these projects. Whilst I’m working on them the blog will go quiet. Time to hop it and get back to enjoying what I love most, the wild places.

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Last weekend Preslava and I drove from London to Dumfries and Galloway on the Scottish borders. Here, all round nice guy Alan McFadyen has developed probably the best opportunity in the UK to photograph that most dashing of birds of prey, the Sparrowhawk.

This has been made possible because his lowland woodland feeding station attracts an extraordinary number of small birds including Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blue tit, Jay, Goldfinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker.These in turn attract wild Sparrowhawks. Classic opportunist predators, they are regular visitors to the hides.

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The Sparrowhawk is one of nature conservation’s success stories. They have made a remarkable recovery from the effects of organo-chlorine pesticides in the 1950s and 1960s. These highly toxic chemicals poisoned Sparrowhawks and resulted in them laying eggs with unnaturally thin egg shells which incubating females cracked.

Since the banning of these toxins their recovery has been such that they are now threatening to become victims of their own success. Their  ruthless reputation has meant that they have been wrongly blamed for the decline in songbirds.

Over the course of the two days Pressie and I were in the hides, we were privileged to see the male Sparrowhawk on a number of occasions. It’s an amazing experience to be fixed by the glare of those pitiless, yellow eyes. The male Sparrowhawk is a beautiful bird of prey. A glorious mixture of rusty orange and gun metal blue. On the last day in the hides we were very lucky to have him come in and perch in front of the hide in last light of the day.

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A perfect end to a perfect weekend and I started on the long journey south very happy.

Alan has recently teamed up with Nature Photography Hides, good friends Mark Hancox and Danny Green’s exciting new business venture. If you would like to book a Sparrowhawk workshop you can do so via the website.

The team have recently added a drinking/ reflection pool which is already working well and attracting Red Squirrels. This can also be booked via the Nature Photography Hides website. Preslava had great fun watching the squirrels running around whilst we waited for the Sparrowhawk to pay us another visit.

I’d like to thank Alan for allowing us to use his hide and sharing his Sparrowhawks with us. Cracking set up, cracking birds and a real testament to all his hard work. A real opportunity not to be missed. Cheers Alan!

So where was I before all the excitement of the BWPA awards and Natures Images announcements?

After the Nature Images part of our Finnish Predators trip had finished Danny and I returned to the Wolf hides to spend another three nights. By this stage of the trip we were pretty tired (there are images on Lassi Rautiainen’s Facebook page to prove it). It proved a wise decision though because we also got to photograph the Alpha female. The shot above is of her howling to communicate with the rest of the pack. It was extraordinary to hear. We stopped photographing for a moment just to listen for a moment to the mournful , haunting call of the wild.

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On our last night in the hides we were rewarded by a visit by this adult male wolf. Not the alpha male but an elegant wolf in prime condition and potential future leader of the pack.

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And that, we thought was that. A great way to end the trip. But then, just as the last light went, Danny spotted one wolf and then another emerge from the forest until we watched as  the whole pack of nine wolves in total made their way across no man’s land. We didn’t bother with the cameras at all this time. We just sat there watching. For both of us it was a moment to cherish for the rest of our lives. If I close my eyes now I can still see the pack running through my imagination.

In June 2013 I’m returning to Finland, running a trip on behalf of Natures Images to photograph wild brown bears. The trip only went up a few days ago, but already there are only 2 places remaining. So if you would like to join me to photograph one of Europe’s most iconic and threatened predators you’ll need to hurry. Click here for full details.

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I know, you wait for a blog for ages and then two come along at once….

I am delighted to announce also that Natures Images have asked me to run a trip for them to photograph wild Brown Bears in 2013.

The magnificent and threatened Brown Bear  roams an area of taiga forest wilderness along the Finnish Russian border. On a summer evening when darkness hardly falls we will watch from specially designed hides that offer swamp, forest and meadow habitats waiting for the bears to visit.

Sitting in a hide, with large dominant males only a few feet away is an awesome experience. The females with young are also a joy to behold, especially watching the delightful playful antics of the cubs.

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This will be my fourth season photographing bears and every night I have been in
the hides it has been completely different. You’re guaranteed bears, that’s for sure!

In my opinion there is no better place to photograph the European Brown Bear than our  location for our trip which Nature’s Images have run successfully for 5 years now. You can view the trip itinerary here.

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There are only seven places on the trip and three have gone already. And the trip only went up this morning!!!!

So, if you would like to photograph one of Europe’s top predators then you need to hurry. Please click here to book your place. You won’t regret it. I look forward to meeting you, as does my friend Fozzy here!

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The results of the highly prestigious British Wildlife Photography Awards are announced in this morning’s national press.

I am delighted to say that I have won the British Seasons Category with my Winter Hare portfolio.

Now in its fourth year, the British Wildlife Photography Awards attracts entries from Britain’s top wildlife photographers, both top professionals and amateurs alike. This is also the first creative award I have won since coming second in the under 6s Highlcliffe painting competition with a Van Gough inspired painting of Bluebells, so I’m duly chuffed.

This year’s winner is a really superb image. A breathtaking image of diving Gannets wryly entitled ‘Gannet jacuzzi’ by Dr Matt Doggett and a worthy  winner in my opinion.

Many congratulations to good friends Neil McIntyre and Dale Sutton, category winners also  in the Animal Portraits and Hidden Britain categories respectively. Richly deserved. Looking forward to catching up with everyone at the Awards evening!

You can see the winning images and highly commended entries at the equally prestigious Mall Galleries  in London from 17th to 22nd September 2012.

They will then  form part of a national wide touring exhibition. The full schedule is listed below. Dates and venues:

• Nature in Art ,Gloucester. 9th October – 25th November, 2012
• Nunnington Hall, Yorkshire. 3rd November – 16th December 2012
• Moors Valley Country Park, Dorset. 2nd February – 17th March, 2013
• Stockwood Discovery Centre, Museums Luton, Bedfordshire. 19th January -30th March 2013
• Penryhn Castle, North Wales. April and May 2013. Dates to be confirmed.

The British Wildlife Photography Awards: Collection three featuring a selection of entries from this year’s competition is now available from AA publishing.

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This blog post almost feels redundant with all the press coverage these three little bears have received in recent days in both the national press (with coverage in the Daily Mail, Times, Telegraph, Metro and Mirror) and internationally. They even made it on to Good Morning America and Chinese State TV. That’s what you get when you go on a  Natures Images trip I guess!

Our last location for the trip is in my humble opinion without doubt the finest place to photograph the European Brown bear. You only have to look at the stunning images that have come from this location over the years.

This was my third visit to this location in as many years. Last year we had had a wonderful time watching the antics of the bear cubs. This time though no cubs had been seen prior to our arrival and we only had a couple of days there so my expectations were duly conditioned. To be honest, I was just looking forward to catching up with old friends again. Bears and guides alike!

It was a real surprise to be told on our arrival by Marku our host that in the last week three mothers had started to visit with their cubs. The reason for their late arrival was most probably because of the wet weather of May and June putting the mating season back a couple of weeks.

It was a real joy to watch the cubs’ boisterous play. It was great to capture them climbing trees…

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play fighting….

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And generally just looking cute and adorable….

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There was a serious point to all this horseplay. These cubs were learning important life lessons. Both mother and cubs alike were always watchful for large males making their way from the forest interior into open swamp.

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Ever protective, on spotting a male the mother bear would quickly move the cubs back to the relative safety of the forest where they could climb high out of harm’s way

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Tree climbing proved to be something more of a challenge though for this particular yearling!

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Over the course of my three visits to this particular location, I’ve started to build something of a portfolio of this most charismatic of boreal predators. One thing I’ve struggled with though is capturing images that really get to the heart of the boars’  (male bears) character. With lots of opportunities (at one point I counted 11 males in front of our hide – sort of like the Lynx effect but in reverse!) this was something that I was really able to work on during  this trip. This next bear had character in abundance. A huge old boy with a deep scar across the bridge of his snout. If you check out Danny’s recent blog  you’ll see a close up of that scar.

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It was a magical couple of days. This location never fails to disappoint. My only regret was that Pressie (visiting her parents in Bulgaria for the summer) wasn’t there this year to share in the bears’ antics. Sorry Dan you’re a great friend but it’s not quite the same!

Solitary male bears also visited the first location of our trip and the next three shots come from a couple of really nice encounters we had.

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I deliberately selected a slow shutter speed for this next shot. The bears here are particularly wary. They can’t half shift it when they need to. I don’t blame them with wolves around!

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Wolves? Where wolves? (sorry I couldn’t resist!). It is to the wolves and Lassi’s place to which I will return for the last of my trip reports. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, it did.