I'm looking forward to 2012 with a range of new photographic trips and lots of shows planned. Early February will find me in the Highlands for ten days or so, so look out for new images from there coming soon. If you want to see new images when they appear, like the facebook page for the earliest previews.

 

 

Returning to East Yorkshire to discover that there was actually more snow here than in much of the Scottish Highlands, I finally managed to photograph our most local Highland cattle. The farmer who owns this particular group had orignally told me where to find them almost a year ago, I have been waiting for a sufficiently snowy day ever since, Highlands just never seem to look right on grass! The newborn was a suprise and his head shot is probably my favourite photo of the year so far!

 

 

 

 

A brief trip to Speyside in February presented the opportunity to add a new range of woodland birds to this year's print range, along with a few new shots of Red squirrel and grouse, and my first ever photographs of Mountain hare. There was suprisingly little snow on the Western side of the Cairngorms, far more towards the east and the Lecht Ski Area where most of the Grouse were photographed and on the steep tops in the Findhorn Valley. Mountain hare and Red deer were found here, and further Mountain hare in the Braes of Glenlivet with help from Glenlivet Wildlife. Woodland birds and squirrels were mostly taken at the RSPB's Loch Garten reserve. Famouse for it's successful summer Osprey nesting area the visitor centre is quiet in winter and provides peaceful winter feeding areas for tit, woodpecker and finch species, as well as the acrobatic squirrels.

 

 

 

 

When did you last meet an Emu on the Lakeland hills? A brief trip to the Lake District in early January 2012 was mainly to photograph Herdwick sheep, but a short side trip to the South Lakes Wild Animal Park yeided shots of one or two slightly more unusual Lake District residents.  Herdies were photographed around Borrowdale, my longtime favourite spot for these charismatic Lakeland sheep, and up on the Honister Pass. Sadly there was very little snow, hoping for more in the Highlands in a week or two.