Back in the summer I treated myself to a day at a hide where green woodpeckers are the main visitors. I'd spent most of May monitoring the three great spotted woodpecker nests in my local woods and thought it was time to photograph their green cousins. I'd only seen them a couple of times before so it would be a good opportunity to add some decent pictures to my portfolio. I booked into a local pub the night before and was pleasantly surprised to find out on arrival that the Bull at Rippingale was the inspiration for the Archers the long running radio programme. As part of the BBC’s post-war drive to promote agriculture and farming, Henry Burtt who lived in nearby Haconby, a nationally recog
A couple of times a year I have to visit our office in Berkshire which although a bit of a trek from Yorkshire does mean I can meander on my way there or back and stop off on the Downs to watch the red kites. This is where I first began to notice the kites after their re-introduction and they always captured my imagination effortlessly soaring on the thermals over the countryside. Being able to spend a couple of hours watching and photographing them is always an amazing experience. On this particular occasion a farmer was mowing a field and this had attracted the attention of at least a dozen kites who were on the lookout for anything disturbed by the tractor. It also meant they were very cl
