Sri Lanka: Don't Mention The Boar. Sunday 11th November

Sunday 11th November

To get from my room to the restaurant, I had to get past a herd of wild boar. Thankfully, they were as wary of me as I was of them.  The monkeys were always ready to steal anything that wasn't nailed down. I didn't see any elephants at the reserve, which is probably a good thing if this notice is anything to go by. The writer has a sense of humour...

Much as I appreciate the chance to visit Sri Lanka, I felt that this trip was a missed opportunity; too much time spent on a coach with almost no contact with locals. Our guide was interested in history but not in the wildlife. Shame.

Sri Lanka: Elephant Orphanage

Thursay, 8th November 2012
Orphaned elephants at Pinnawala, near Kandy. The elephants are taken to the river twice a day, watched by lots of tourists. The Mahouts are there to make sure that they don't wander off to the far side of the river. There are currently around eighty elephants at the orphanage. Around a third of them were brought to the river this morning.
Elephants at Pinnawala are used to contact with humans and so cannot be released back into the wild, unlike at the Elephant Transit Home where they are kept away from people as much as possible.
Controversially, Pinnawala has sold Elephants to private interests leading to allegations that some have been neglected or mistreated.

Elephant Transit Home
Elephant Orphanage

Grrr.

Tuesday 5 June 2012

A big black bear near Whistler. It looks well fed. I've managed to see bears at Whistler on my last three visits, each time from the ski lift, however this one was taken on a trip into the back country where we could get a lot closer to them.

Costa Rica: The Quaker Cloud Forest

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Monteverde Cloud Forest. Lots of rain, which is why it's a cloud forest. It was settled by Quakers from Alabama in 1951. They were pacificsts; concientous objectors, who, when Costa Rica abolished it's armed forces in 1948, decided to move here. They started the dairy industry which is still going strong but also protected the environment long before it became policy in Costa Rica. Thanks to their continued stewardship of the land, this beautiful spot remains relatively unspoiled. (The two roads in are unmade and the locals insist on keeping it that way).

It's not all peace and light though: The hummingbirds were fighting fiercely to claim their place at the feeder. We also saw a Resplendent Quetzal. It is well named. Magnificent.

Walk The Walk: Costa Rica

Friday 2 March 2012

Out at 6.15 this morning to search for wildlife along the canals of Tortuguero National Park
We saw Howler Monkeys, Toucans, Sloths and a few other creatures. I didn't manage to get any decent pictures but on our way back we saw a troop of Spider monkeys swinging through the trees. They had to get from one side of a narrow canal to the other by way of this flimsy palm frond. First up were adults, including mothers with babies. They were across the gap in a shot and my pictures were hopeless. This juvenile took it a bit more cautiously so I got a nice silhouette, which I've sharpened up in Silver Efex.
We are back out this afternoon so I'm hopeful of getting something else.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog, Costa Rica

19th February 2011
Staying in Toruguero National Park on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast. There's wildlife everywhere, including this little tree frog, if you know where to look.

Hummingbird, Costa Rica

Tuesday 22 February 2011: Hummingbird

Hi from a very sunny Monteverde. I've taken lots of pics today and I haven't time to go through them. This one jumped out at me so here it is.

I got some nice Howler Monkey pics and some shots of a spectacular Mont Arenal, the volcano we didn't see when we were staying acoss the road from it. From 50 kilometres away, it is an impressive sight.

Humpback Whale

Wednesday 8 September 2010
Why I Love My Job

Whale watching today off Cape Cod. We saw around twenty five Humpbacks, and one of them gave us a masterclass in breaching, leaping out of the water around fifteen times, very close to our boat. it was a juvenile, weighing around twenty tons. Quite a sight!
I've been on many a whale watch and I never tire or get blasé, but today was truly extraordinary.
I wasn't sure whether to post this pic or one of the whale's fluke, but as this is the first time I've managed to photograph a whale breaching, it won the day.
I took around three hundred pics, which include bits of whale, splashes where the whale had been a second earlier and one of an empty sky. Don't ask me how I managed that.
More pics here:    Humpback Whales

The Birds: Starlings, Brighton

Tuesday 25 November 2008

Starlings flock around the Palace Pier (It's officially Brighton Pier but it will always be Palace Pier to me) before settling to roost here and on the skeleton of the West pier.
There were thousands of them swooping all over - and nearly as many people on the beach to photograph them or watch the show.

A Whale's Tail, Newfoundland

Saturday 2 August 2008

Taken off of St Anthony, Newfoundland. A humpback lifts its tail before a dive. I've been on half a dozen whale watching trips in Newfoundland and seen lots of whales. This is the first time that I've succeeded in getting anything like a decent shot.

Australasian Harrier, New Zealand

Tuesday 18 March 2008

Mount Cook National Park, near the Mount Cook Hotel. This beauty posed for me on the post, raised it's leg - and crapped...

Jellyfish Ballet

Sunday March 1st 2008
Taken at Undersea World, Singapore

Southern Gannet

Sunday 2 December 2007

Looking for a place to land amongst the rest of the colony near Napier, New Zealand.

Albatross

Monday 26 November 2007

A White Capped Mollymawk, a member of the Albatross family, off Stewart Island, New Zealand.
I've been lucky enough to take to the seas around New Zealand several times and I've seen lots of Albatrosses. They don't seem to fly - they glide effortlessly and it is a most beautiful thing to see. Photographing them in flight isn't easy as they tend not to get too close. Luckily, there was a fishing boat nearby and this one was looking for a feed.