The green wind-up merchant! Its not that I don't get shots of them, its just that try as I might, I havn't got the shot I want of one; Well yesterday was a bit better, I came home with several Green Woodpecker shots in the can, but alas, when opened on the computer, of the two best ones, one had its nictitating membrane half closed over the eye and one was just not quite sharp 'cos the bird moved! I am more than happy with the one shown below though. Another trip to Richmond park added a big heap of new Deer images to the hard drive, this time I went for some more atmospheric images as well as the rutting stags.A cold and frankly horrid foggy morning at Little Paxton filled me with the overwhelming thoughts that I should have rolled over and stayed in my nice warm bed.... but a Black headed gull, the fog and the rising sun all conspired to give me a set of images that made it well worth being out, it was a good day!
Its a place I have always meant to get to in autumn, and for some reason I never have, until now! Richmond park, a National nature reserve in the middle of the urban sprawl of London is the place to photograph Deer. Red Deer mainly, but also Fallow Deer are here in good numbers, and right now is the mating season, so there is lots of action. Of course being in the right place at the right time is essential, and in order to get some of the shots I wanted I will have to go back for a second visit, mainly because the promised sunny start to the day was a thick foggy one! It wasn't just the Deer, there were loads of Robins singing, Ring necked Parakeets squawking, and quite a lot of fungus out too. 
I've had a couple of very busy weeks, I generally see loads of Hedgehogs, so being commissioned to photograph one with a new brand of Hedgehog food did not seem too much of a challenge, how wrong can one be!
It took several evenings of pretty hard searching to nail one down, the saddest part of the search was the number I saw squashed in the road, 27 during 3 nights. Some might think that that is a sign of a healthily high population, but this time of the year they are feeding up ready for winter and therefore more active. It isn't just cars they fall victim to either, garden slug pellets are responsible for many Hedgehog deaths, also garden ponds with steep edges kill them too, Hedgehogs can swim, so a small ramp that enables them to get out of the water would perhaps save a Hedgehogs life!
As its that time of year I have also been out photographing fungus, havn't a clue what most of them are , they are very photogenic though, but its going to be a chore identifying all the ones in my latest pictures.
I've also been trying to get better shots of Greenfinches fighting in mid air around the feeders, still not got the shot I have in mind, but I have added a few more quite nice flight shots!
Lastly the irresistable Little Stints at Salthouse have been a delight to photograph, great location and great light, wet through to the bone from laying in the mud, bliss, especially when you see the results of the days image taking!
