Sorry I have not posted for a while. Here are a some photos that I have taken in different places over the last few months. All are taken in France apart from the top one. ...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2015/08/sorry-i-have-not-posted-for-while.html
Yesterday I went to the Ridgeway in Oxfordshire to photograph a short-eared owl. I managed to see it hunting. After coming home and reading up about them I now know that short-eared owls are usu...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2015/04/short-eared-owl.html
Today I went to Woolley Firs (BBOWT ) near Maidehead to watch the Runnymede Ringing Group in action. Carl Hunter Roach explained the process. I was very fortunate to get to hold and release ...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2015/02/bird-ringing.html
After Christmas I returned to Otmoor to see the starling murmuration a second time. There were more starlings but their display was not quite so impressive. They went down into the reeds quic...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2015/01/back-to-see-starlings-at-otmoor.html
Happy 2015 everyone. Recently I have had a pair of jays visiting my garden daily. This is a surprise as I've never seen them here in other years. They are coming to get the peanuts I am leavi...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2015/01/jays-in-my-garden.html
Yesterday I went with Alex of Appleton Wildlife Diary to Otmoor. It was my first time seeing the starling murmuration and it was amazing. The birds were very loud and arrived in large numb...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/12/starling-murmuration-at-otmoor.html
I was in the Oxford Times recently in an article about volunteering at Chilswell Valley. Here I am lifting bundles of cut reeds with a fork. You can read the full article here .
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/12/oxford-times-article.html
It was a nice surprise to see that one of my autumn photographs was chosen as the Radley Lakes photo of the month. Here you can read why it was selected: OCTOBER PHOTO OF THE MONTH The Octo...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/12/radley-lakes-photo-of-month.html
On Monday 8th December I went to a talk by Hugh Warwick run by the Oxon Mammal group all about hedgehogs. I was surprised to learn that hedgehogs have declined by 37% in the last ten years. ...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/12/hedgehog-talk.html
So pleased to have come second in the 12-14 year old budding photographer category with my photo of a red-headed cardinal beetle. Results here
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/12/gloucestershire-wildlife-trust.html
After the muddy walk up the hill, Andy Gunn (BBOWT) told us more about the reserve and why it is so special. The calcareous fen is good for wild flowers but the reeds are over growing and neede...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/12/wild-winter-wander-at-chilswell-valley.html
I was kindly invited by Mike Kosniowski of the Abingdon Camera Club to join a bird watching session at Farmoor Reservoir. It was a very cold and frosty morning and when we arrived the mist was ...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/12/frosty-morning-bird-walk-at-farmoor.html
Back to scythe the reeds at Chilswell Valley. First we had to get up the hill in all the mud because they are building a new board walk, so vehicles have gone up and down the hill tearing up the...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/12/volunteering-in-mud.html
Whilst in Hertfordshire visiting my grandparents, I was pleased to be able to visit College Lake and go on a guided walk with warden Owain and volunteer Graeme. We saw pochard, dunnock, reed b...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/11/college-lake.html
I'm excited to have joined A Focus On Nature and am listed as a young conservationist on their website. Check out my biography here .
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-focus-on-nature.html
Really enjoyed going to the talk about water voles by Tom Moorhouse at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History . Thank you to the Oxon Mammal Group for organising it. I learnt that P...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/11/tom-moorhouse-water-vole-talk.html
I met friends at Radley Lakes for a walk on Sunday. I enjoyed photographing fungi, autumn leaves and birds.
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/11/radley-lakes-on-sunny-afternoon.html
This was my first visit to Chimney Meadows nature reserve. I attended a harvest mouse training session organised by the Oxon Mammals Group . Derek Crawley from the Mammal Society taught us ho...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/11/harvest-mouse-training.html
In half term I spent a day at Peckmoor Copse near Greenham Common, coppicing hazel trees with BBOWT. It was great fun and nice to be outside on such a sunny day.
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/11/bbowt-team-ranger-day.html
A grey afternoon at Radley Lakes with family and fellow young naturalists. We saw shoveler ducks, egyptian geese, comorants, a bush cricket and more. ...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/11/radley-lakes.html
Excited to have got a second hand Nikon 70-300mm lens at T4 Witney as a Christmas present. I was served by Richard who was very helpful. Bit frustrated that I have to wait until Christmas be...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/10/t4-witney.html
It was fun spending the day out at Hughenden Manor, National Trust with friends and family. The gardens opened out into parkland with a stream running through. There was also a nice orchard. ...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/10/hughenden-manor.html
Pleased to find out that one of my photographs has been selected for the People's Choice Award of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Photographic Competition . Here is my picture of a red-heade...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/10/gloucestershire-wildlife-trust.html
Excited to have come third in my local camera club competition in the under 16's category with this shot:
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/10/camera-club-competion.html
A sunny day at Chilswell Valley scything reeds as part of the Wild Oxford project. Thanks again to Jim for teaching Mum and I. Pleased to hear the reeds are being used at Hill End to make r...
http://bensbirdsandbeastlybugs.blogspot.com/2014/10/scything.html