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The

Magazine of the Nature Group of the rPS

IrIS

Issue No. 108Winter 2010-2011

ISSN 1757-2991

Marsh Fritillary by Martin Withers FRPS

Now Available - Version 3.1 - revised and rebuilt CD ROM

‘An Interactive Guide toObtaining your Nature Associateship’Over three hundred copies of this interactive CD have been sold since its conception.Now thoroughly revised. The whole interface has been rebuilt to incorporate:

� Covers every aspect that needs to be considered, before preparing your application!� A new section with advice on problems seen in many digital applications, print and projected images.� The core features of earlier versions including successful applications and interactivity.� Information panels are now static, taking less time to load.� The screen resolution size is increased to 1280 x 1024, with automatic monitor adjustment.� The ‘Guide’ is best run by copying the file from the CD to your hard drive.

The CD-ROM (PC only) costs £10 incl p&p. Cheques payable to ‘RPS Nature Group’ should be sent to:Trevor Hyman LRPS, 3 Northcourt Lane, Abingdon, Oxfordshire. OX14 1QA

The RPS Nature Group Annual Exhibition CD/DVDOrder your copy of the 2011 Exhibition CD/DVD now*. CD £10 / DVD £12.50 incl p&p *CDs/DVDs will be dispatched as soon as they are available.

Cheques should be made out to ‘RPS Nature Group’ and forwarded with this form to:

Nature Group Secretary: Margaret Johnson LRPS53 Mapperley OrchardArnold, Nottingham, NG5 8AH

I enclose my cheque for £..... Please send me a copy of the 2011 Nature Group Exhibition CD/DVD:

Name:

Address:

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www.rpsnaturegroup.com 1 The Iris - Winter 2010-2011

Contents

2 Editorial

3 From the Chair

4 Gran Sasso D`Italia and Abruzzo National ParkGianpiero Ferrari ARPS

9 Cuba – in search of the world’s smallest birdby Kevin Elsby ARPS

12 The Ngorongoro Craterby John Bulpitt FRPS

15 Iceland - Land of Ice and Fireby Colin Smith FRPS

19 Etosha National Parkby David Cantrille FRPS

22 A Hedgehog named Bunterby Gunars Ulmanis

24 2010 - A Digital OdysseyRobert Hawkesworth FRPS

26 News/Other Matters

27 Election Nomination Form 2011*

28 Field Meeting Volunteers Form 2011*

* Both forms plus the Entry Form for the 2011 Nature GroupExhibition are also available at:www.rpsnaturegroup.com

Publication information

‘The Iris’ is published by the Nature Group of theRPS three times a year. Copy and publicationdates are as follows:

Spring Copy deadline 20th DecemberPublished late March.

Summer Copy deadline 30th AprilPublished early July.

Winter Copy deadline 31st AugustPublished early November.

All contributions should be submitted to theEditor. Items covering any aspect of naturephotography and/or natural history arewelcomed, including reviews on equipment andrelevant books.

Copy should be sent as .txt or .doc files by emailor on CD - please do not send hand written copy.

Digitally captured photographic images arepreferred but scanned transparencies are alsoacceptable. Images should be supplied on CD(no DVDs please) as RGB Tiff files, 6” x 4” at 300ppi (1800 x 1200 pixels, file size approx6.17MB). Original transparencies may besubmitted, however, the Editor cannot specify howlong they may be away from the author.

No payment will be made for material used andwhilst every care will be taken, neither the Editor,the Nature Group or the Printers can acceptliability for any damage that may occur tophotographic material submitted.

The views expressed within The Iris are solelythose of the contributor and do not necessarilyreflect the views of the Nature Group Committeeor the Editor.

Distribution:

‘The Iris’ is forwarded to members using addresslabels produced by the RPS Membership Dept inBath. Any member not receiving their copy shouldcontact that department so that their nameappears on a label in the future. However theSecretary will be pleased to post single copies tomembers who have failed to receive them.

Copyright:

© All rights reserved. No part of this publicationmay be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by anymeans without prior permission of thecopyright holder.

© Photographs and articles - individualcontributors. All other material the NatureGroup of the Royal Photographic Society.

Printed by Stanley L Hunt (Printers) LimitedMidland Road, Rushden.

Design & layout by Dawn Osborn FRPS

ISSN 1757-2991

A Date for your Diaries

Chairman’s DayProvisional Date: Sunday 6th November 2011

Smethwick P.S. Clubrooms10.00am for 10.30am start

Programme to be announced in the Spring issue.

CommitteeOfficers

Chairman: Peter Jones ARPS Bilsthorpe, Notts, NG22 8TB Tel: 01623 411215 E-mail: [email protected]

Secretary: Margaret Johnson LRPS53 Mapperley Orchard, Arnold, Nottingham, NG5 8AHTel: 01159 265893 E-mail: [email protected]

Treasurer: Margery Maskell ARPS Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire CM23 5DWEmail: [email protected]

Vice Chairman: John Bebbington FRPSLangport, Somerset, TA10 9SETel: 01458 253027 Email: [email protected]

Immediate Past Chairman: Geoff Trinder ARPS Belton, Doncaster, DN9 1PGTel: 01427 872051

Committee Members

Editor of The Iris: Dawn Osborn FRPSDereham, Norfolk, NR20 4ST E-mail: [email protected]

Exhibition Secretary: Sue McGarrigle LRPS Charlecote, Warwickshire, CV35 9EL E-mail: [email protected]

NG Rep to Advisory Panel: John Bebbington FRPSLangport, Somerset, TA10 9SETel: 01458 253027 Email: [email protected]

Programme Co-ordinator: Colin Smith FRPSChorley, Lancs, PR7 3NUE-mail: csmith3@ blueyonder.co.uk

John Jones ARPS Kegworth, Derby, DE74 2FWTel: 01509 672125

Robert Hawkesworth FRPSWollaton, Nottingham, NG8 2SL Tel: 01159 281050 Email: [email protected]

Tony Bond FRPSLeigh, Lancs WN7 3LJTel: 01942 674773

Ex officio Committee members

President of the Society; Vice-President of the Society; Director General of the Society; Hon. Treasurer of the Society; Chairman of the Nature A & F Distinctions Panel

Nature Group Exhibitions

Copies of Nature Group Exhibitions dating back to 2000 areavailable to book for camera clubs/photographic societies. 2000 to 2007 are only available in slide format. Since 2008 a CD of the Exhibition has been produced and isavailable for purchase.For more information please contact the Exhibition Secretary,details above or go to our website: www.rpsnaturegroup.com

The Iris - Winter 2010-2011 2 www.rpsnaturegroup.com

Editorial

Welcome to the Winter 2010/2011 edition of The Iris.Firstly, let me take this opportunity to thank all thosemembers who responded to my plea for articles -some of which are included in this issue and otherswhich you will have the pleasure of seeing in theSpring and Summer editions. Again, thank you all.

Kicking off this edition is a report of a trip toGran Sasso D`Italia and Abruzzo National Park byGianpiero Ferrari ARPS illustrated with images takenby Gianpiero and Martin Withers FRPS. Followingthis is an account of a visit to the Ngorongoro Craterby John Bullpitt FRPS and a visit to Cuba by KevinElsby ARPS.

The next item in this issue is your entry form forthe 2011 Nature Group Annual Exhibition. Pleaseenter your images. There are sections for both printsand Projected Images (slides or digital) so no oneshould feel left out in the cold. The Entry Form canbe removed without detriment to your copy of TheIris, so please use it.

The second half of this issue contains articles byColin Smith FRPS and David Cantrille FRPS. Colinretells his story of a visit to Iceland while David’saccount is of his visit to Etosha. Then we hear froma member about a Hedgehog in his care and finallyfrom a devout slide user who has finally made thetransition into the world of digital image capture.

You will also find two forms - one is for thenomination for election to the committee. Committeemembers are elected for a two year period everyother year. A postal voting slip will be included in thenext issue (if necessary) for any member not able toattend the AGM. Votes received will be added tothose of members who do attend the AGM. The otherform is a plea to members to volunteer to lead aField Meeting. We bang on about this every year -every year we are asked for more field meetings andyet fewer and fewer members volunteer to host suchan event. No specialised knowledge is required, youwill not be required to teach anything or be an expert.You only need to know your way around your chosenvenue and to have a good idea of what is likely to befound at the time of year you choose. So, what isstopping you? Contact Colin Smith asap.

That just leaves me enough space to wish youall a very Merry Christmas and a Happy andphotographically productive New Year.

First I must thank John Bebbington FRPS, my ViceChairman, for standing in for me and writing theChairman’s report for the last issue of The Iris.Since then things have been fairly quiet as mostof us have been enjoying our holidays, whether athome or abroad, and hopefully taking lots of newwildlife images.

Between now and Christmas there are a few fieldmeetings coming up - I shall certainly do my bestto attend as many of them as I can and I trustthat you will too. Field Meetings are organised formembers by members, so please attend if youcan, especially as those members acting asleaders will have gone to a fair bit of troubleorganising them.

Last Christmas I suffered a heart attack. Sincethen I have had both good and bad times buthave had lots of leisure time to relax and enjoyour new garden. Three years ago we moved fromour bungalow in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire to abarn conversion in Bilsthorpe, Nottinghamshire -part of an old farm complex. Looking south, out tothe front, our view is of our local church - just astone’s throw from our front door step. At the rearof our back garden we have ranch style fencewhich separates us from a field which drops some100 feet before rising 300 feet - at one time thiswas a slag heap going back to the mining days ofBilsthorpe Colliery, now it is fully regenerated withtrees and looks just like part of the SherwoodForest.

Throughout the past eight months I have spentmany hours watching my local wildlife. In theSpring the Rooks were busy renewing their oldrookeries and later in the year, when they hadfinished breeding, there were hundreds andhundreds of them flying over our barn at sunsetto roost in the trees on the hill opposite alongwith Crows and Jackdaws.

What we all look forward to is sighting our firstSwallow bringing the first hope of summer,followed by House Martins and, always last, theSwifts, then we know summer has arrived.

Most of us have some kind of bird feeders in ourgardens. Ours attracts mainly finches - we have

had flocks of Yellow Hammers. We also had a pairof Pheasants which bred in the adjacent field -the female brought her chicks into the garden. It was not long before the birds of prey found ourfeeding stations and made use of the easypickings. We only have three: Kestrel, SparrowHawk and a pair of resident Buzzard. Recently oneBuzzard was quartering our drive and the churchgrave yard eventually landing on the church toweronly to be chased off by a crow.

The end of July and early August was a good timeto watch the Swifts gathering together just beforethey set off south followed soon after by theSwallows and House Martins. On August 11th wehad hundreds of Martins flying low over thegarden and our little valley searching for food,resting on our pergola and house roof, thensuddenly they were disturbed - a Kestrel hadtaken one from our ridge. August is also the timewe have large numbers of Goldfinches and theiryoung coming to the feeders along with manyGreenfinch and of course Wood Pigeon.

We have also planted many butterfly loving plantsin our garden and have been rewarded with avaried selection of butterflies. Our pond attractsDragonflies and has given us lots of opportunitiesto photograph them. We also have a residentyoung Rabbit which seems to do no harm to thegarden and an even more welcome visitor - aHedgehog.

Well that’s summer gone for this year. I hope thatyou all have enjoyed yours as much as I have.

From the chair


During late May 2009, three friends, Martin WithersFRPS, John Wakely and myself, Gianpiero FerrariARPS, spent a week in the Abruzzo region of centralItaly. Our first 4 days in the area of Mount GranSasso dÌtalia (Great Stone of Italy) and theremainder in the Abruzzo National Park.

Gran Sasso d’Italia is a mountain located inAbruzzo and forms the centerpiece of the GranSasso e Monti della Laga National Park, establishedin 1993, and holding the highest mountains incontinental Italy south of the Alps. It is part of theApennines, the mountain range that runs the entirelength of the Italian peninsula. This area is wellknown for the outstanding beauty of the landscapeand for its flowers. Teramo and L’Aquila are thenearest cities to the Gran Sasso, while Rome is 132km by road.

Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise(National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, oftenabbreviated to Abruzzo National Park) was the firstItalian national park, being founded in 1923. Themajority of the park is located in the Abruzzo regionthough it is not constrained by regional boundariesand also includes territory in Lazio and Molise. Thepark headquarters are in Pescasseroli in theProvince of L’Aquila. The park currently covers anarea 506.82 km2 (195.68 sq mi).

Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo plays an important rolein the preservation of species in danger of extinction,such as the Italian Wolf, the Abruzzo Chamois, theEuropean Lynx and Marsican Brown Bear. The park isaround two thirds Beech forest though many othertrees grow in the area including the Silver Birch andBlack and Mountain pines. Other characteristic faunaof the park are Roe and Red Deer, Wild Boar, GoldenEagle, Peregrine Falcon, Alpine Chough, Snowfinch,White-backed Woodpecker, two species of Salamanderand lots of insects and beetles, including the rareRosalia longicorn.

The aim of our trip was to have a short holiday insearch of wild flowers, mainly orchids, and insects.The accommodations were both good and affordableand the areas we visited surpassed our expectationsbeing incredibly rich in orchids and other flowers,

nothing rare or unusual, but an absolute spectacle.The weather was incredibly hot, but higher up in themountains the air was much cooler.

We flew from East Midlands airport to Rome inthe early morning, arriving in Rome about 10 am. Wehired a car and took the Rome Pescara motorway,exiting at a place called Popoli and travelled theroad N.17 spending all afternoon driving slowly andstopping frequently to visit meadows and smallwoodlands. Along a very interesting road leading toSan Benedetto in Perillis and the small road leadingto Collepietro we found Orchis bertolonii (BertoloniOrchid), Orchis mascula (Early Purple Orchid), Ophrysbombilifera (Bumblebee Orchid), Anacamptispyramidalis (Pyramid Orchid), Orchis morio (Green-winged Orchid), Cephalanthera longifolia (Sword-leaved Helleborine), Ophrys sphegodes (Early SpiderOrchid), Platanthera chlorantha (Greater ButterflyOrchid), Platanthera bifolia (Lesser Butterfly Orchid)and Orchis italica (Naked Man Orchid).

Some special butterflies were found, like ItalianMarbled White, Southern White Admiral, Marsh,Glanville and Marbled Fritillaries, Transparent Burnetand Beautiful Damselfly to name just a few.

Around the city of LÀquila there was a gooddisplay of Poppy fields, obviously the fields had notbeen sprayed, and a close look proved to be veryrewarding, not just for the display of poppies, but forgood old arable field flowers still growing amongstthem such as Ground-pine (Ajuga chamaepitys) CornCockle (Agrostemma githago) Cornflower (Centaureacyanus) Venus` Looking Glass (Legousia hybrida)Forking Larkspur (Consolida regalis) and SummerPheasant`s-eye (Adonis aestivalis)

We stayed in Navelli at a B&B named ‘SecretAbruzzo’, owned by Francesca and Jimmy - a veryfriendly place where we made our base for 4 days.

We spent the next 3 days visiting the area fromNavelli to Campo Imperatore passing throughincredibly rich orchid areas, especially around thevillages of Capestrano, Ofena, Villa Santa Lucia degliAbruzzi, Castel del Monte, Castelvecchio Calvisio,Calascio and Santo Stefano di Sessano. Weencountered Ophrys promontorii, Orchis militaris

Gran Sasso DÌtalia and Abruzzo National Parkby Gianpiero Ferrari ARPS


www.rpsnaturegroup.com

(Military orchid), Orchis purpurea (Lady orchid), Orchistridentata (Toothed orchid), Orchis pauciflora(Sparsely-flowered orchid), Acera anthropophorum(Man orchid), Orchis picta, Orchis bertolonii, Orchismascula (Early Purple orchid), Ophrys bombilifera(Bumblebee orchid), Anacamptis pyramidalis(Pyramidal orchid), Orchis morio (Green-wingedorchid), Cephalanthera longifolia (Sword leavedHelleborine), Ophrys sphegodes (Early Spider orchid),Platanthera chlorantha (Greater Butterfly orchid),Platanthera bifolia (Lesser Butterfly orchid), Orchisitalica (Naked man orchid), Orchis provincialis(Provence orchid), Dactylorhiza sambucina (Elder-flowered orchid) both red and yellow forms plus somebeautiful hybrids such as Orchis hybrida, a very robustplant, a cross between the Lady and Military orchids O.bilineata=(Ophrys bertoloni x Early Spider orchid),O.couloniana=( O.bertoloni x O.promontori),O.neowaltery=(Early Spider x O.promontori).

In these unspoiled meadows the insect life wasvery interesting too, lots of day flying moths, beetlesand butterflies such as Large, Small and RedUnderwing Skipper, Eastern Dappled White, Woodand Small Southern White, Painted Lady, Commonand Scarce Swallowtail, Green Hairstreak and WallBrown, lots of fritillaries like Queen of Spain, Pearl-bordered, Spotted, Marsh, Glanville, and Knapweed,also great numbers of Blues including Common,Little, Silver-studded, Mazarine, Adonis, Chalk-hilland Brown Argos, just to name a few. The Coppergroup was present in the form of Small and Purple-shot, but the highlights were several beautifulMorocco Orange-tips in tip-top condition.

Campo Imperatore was very interesting too.Lining the roadside to the summit were an incredibleamount of Lady Orchids (O. purpurea), MilitaryOrchids (O. militaris) and Elder Flower Orchids (D.sambucina), at the summit one area was coveredwith yellow Ranunculus while another area of themountain was carpeted with Pansies in variouscolour forms of Blue, Red, Yellow, Pink, and White,while yet another area with melting snow wascarpeted with millions of Spring Crocuses andSpring Squill (Shilla verna) plus a great number ofGentians both Spring and Trumpet. In the GranSasso area we did not find any rarities, but thebeauty of it was in the richness and the vast amountof orchids that we did see, one of the mostproductive areas we have ever visited.

We spent the last 3 days in the Abruzzo NationalPark, entering the park through the north entrancealong the road from Cocullo, Scanno and Passo Govi.After Scanno the road starts climbing and the

Toothed Orchid Martin Withers FRPS

Orchis hybrida Gianpiero Ferrari ARPS

Orchids reappear, lots of Dactylorhiza sambucina(Elder-flowered orchid), Orchis provincialis (Provenceorchid), Orchis mascula (Early Purple orchid), Orchispauciflora (Sparsely-flowered orchid) and Orchisustulata (Burnt orchid). In one beautiful area wefound 3 plants entirely white of Sparsely-floweredorchid and 9 plants of a beautiful, elegant, Pinkcoloured orchid named Orchis coulemanii (a hybrid ofSparsely-flowered x Early Purple orchid).

At Passo Govi we found meadows full of Earlypurple and Elder-flowered orchid, hundreds of Orchispallens (Pale-flowered orchid) a plant with beautifullight yellow coloured flowers. We had seen this orchidbefore in other parts of Europe, but never in suchquantity, the hybrid between Pale-flowered and Earlypurple orchid was present too, three plants with pinkcoloured flowers in full bloom.

In the Park we stayed at a B&B at the village ofVilletta Barrea. The first day we decided to golooking for the Scarpetta di Venere (Venus shoe) theItalian name for Lady`s Slipper Orchid in a placecalled Camosciara, a very rare plant in the Park. Theonly place where it can be found south of the Alps incentral Europe. In the Abruzzo National Park thisplant is extremely rare, altogether there are only 12flowering plants known to exist. We attempted toobtain some information from the Park InformationService but without luck - due to the rarity of theplants they will not give any information away. So wetook a decision to go and look for it anyway. The areawe went looking was a place called Camosciara, amountain slope covered in woodland mainly Oak,Beech and Pine, it was rather like looking for aneedle in a haystack. As we searched a few moreorchids were added to our list, Dactylorhizamaculata, (Common Spotted orchid) a rare plants inthis part of the world, Listera ovata,(CommonTwayblade) and Neottia nidus avis (Birds nestorchid). After about 3 hours our search brought us toa little brook, in front of us appeared the mostbeautiful orchids we had ever seen, a group of fourplants of Cypripedium calceolus, in full flower, ourfirst Lady`s Slippers and in a most unusual place.Photographing these orchids was not very easy, thelight was very poor under the woodland canopy andthis group of plants were growing only a few inchesaway from the brook, so the only way to do it was totake our shoes off, roll up our trousers and step intothe ice cool water of the mountain brook. Theexcitement of finding the plants was so great that wehardly felt the cold. We spent over an hourphotographing this beauty of nature, but had to takesome breaks because of freezing feet!

The Iris - Winter 2010-2011

Black-veined Moth Gianpiero Ferrari ARPS

Moroccan Orange Tip Martin Withers FRPS

Glanville Fritillary Gianpiero Ferrari ARPS

Red-underwing Skipper Martin Withers FRPS


In the evening as we returned to ouraccommodation, we were told that a Marsican Bearwith two cubs had been seen for the past threeevenings in a particular part of the Park, so wereturned quickly to the car and took a long drive totry to see this very rare and elusive creature.Unfortunately, in spite of our best efforts, the bearand cubs failed to show themselves.

The second day we decided to go in search of theAbruzzo Chamois. This involved a two and a half hourclimb to the Valle di Rose and up to the snowline ofMonte Camosciara, to an altitude of 2500m. It was ahard climb but very successful as we saw about adozen of these lovely creatures and obtained somegood photographs. Other interesting finds on thismountain top included a good display of SpringCrocus, some Pale Pasque flowers, a few PrimulaAuricula (Bears ears) and Saxifraga porophylla.

Our final day of photography was spent in anamazing meadow in the southern part of the parkalong the road to Barrea- Alfadena, about 3 kmsafter the sign post marking the exit of the park. Hereare a few meadows where the orchids are in greatnumbers, especially the Man and the Adriatic LizardOrchid which were at their very best. This unspoiledmeadow rewarded us with a great display of flowerand insect life, with an amazing number ofAscalaphid libelluloides (strange insects resembling

Italian Marbled White Martin Withers FRPS

Abruzzo Chamois Gianpiero Ferrari ARPS

a Dragonfly) and Black-veined Moth (Siona lineata)a day flying moth almost extinct in the British Isles.

On the last day we returned to Rome along theroad to Pescasseroli, Gioia dei Marsi, and Pescina, wemade a few stops between Gioia Vecchio and Gioiadei Marsi, and added a few more species to our list.There were thousands of Cephalanthera damasonium(White Helleborine) in full bloom, several O. fusca andLesser Butterfly Orchids, but the most interesting findfor us was a population of strange Late Spider Orchid(O. fuciflora), strange because there was a greatvariety and difference among the plants, there werebig plants with small flowers, little plants with tinyflowers, and so many variations in colour andmarkings on the labellum, something we never noticedbefore in the Fuciflora group. On our return wecontacted a local expert from this area, to see if heknew about this population of O.Fuciflora, theanswer was yes and they are currently monitoringand studying this population, but as yet, they havenot come to any conclusion.

Altogether our trip was very successful and veryenjoyable, we had been able to see and photographa great number of Orchids and other flowers andsome truly amazing insects, in some dramaticlandscapes.


Ascalaphid or Owlfly Martin Withers FRPS

Transparent Burnet Gianpiero Ferrari ARPS

Lg White Heleborine Martin Withers FRPS

Spring Crocus Gianpiero Ferrari ARPS

Lady’s Slipper Gianpiero Ferrari ARPS


Cuba – in search of the world’s smallest birdby Kevin Elsby ARPS

Although a full time GP, I am fortunate to be able totravel widely in my spare time, as a lecturer onwildlife on cruise ships and also as a wildlife tourguide for Naturetrek, one of the UK’s leading wildlifeholiday companies.

Over the years I have visited most of the countriesof South America and the Caribbean, but had nevervisited Cuba. My wife had wanted to visit the islandfor a long time, and, after she suggested that weought to visit soon, before it changed for ever, we flewto Havana for a 17 night trip in March 2010.

I consider myself a general naturalist, but for methis trip was all about seeing the smallest bird in theworld, the Cuban Bee Hummingbird. At just 5.5 cmlong and weighing less than 2g, this species isendemic to Cuba and is declining fast for a variety ofreasons including habitat loss. I was therefore verykeen to visit the few remaining places on the islandwhere it could be found.

However, this trip was to be about more than onebird species. There would be many other birds to seeand hopefully photograph, about 30 of which can onlybe found on Cuba. Add to that a wide variety of otherflora and fauna, the wonderful scenery and a veryinteresting history and culture, and we were bothlooking forward to the trip immensely.

We booked with Geodyssey and were met atHavana airport by our two guides, a naturalist (theCurator of Reptiles at Havana museum) and aculture guide. Both of these, together with a driver,would accompany us throughout our trip.

We visited many different parts of this largeisland in order to maximise the chance of thegreatest variety of wildlife and culture. Travel was veryeasy on mostly deserted roads. The people were,without exception, delightful, and we remarked thatCuba is among the safest places that we have everbeen to. There was no hassle when walking anywhere


while carrying a camera, not even through the streetsof Havana, where many of the buildings were in apoor state of repair.

As for photographic equipment, I took two Canon7D bodies together with a 100-400mm zoom, a 17-40 wide angle zoom and a 500mm f4 lens with a1.4x converter. I always shoot in RAW, and had twoportable storage devices for my images. I make twobackup copies of every image. There was a neardisaster on day 2 when a tripod leg gave way whilst Iwas looking in another direction taking a landscapeshot. Imagine my feeling as I turned to see my tripodfall over with a 7D and 500mm f4 plus converter and580 EXII flash gun attached to it! Why is it that atsuch times everything seems to take place in slowmotion? Examination of the wreckage revealed asmashed flash gun and converter, but the body andlens (thankfully) appeared to still function. The flashgun took the brunt of the damage.

After a trip to the west of Havana for a couple ofdays, we moved east. One of the best places to findour main target bird is the famous Zapata swamp.Here, after much searching, we eventually cameacross a female Cuban Bee Hummingbird sitting on anest about 40 feet up. Our guide pointed it out, but itis such a small species it took me 20 minutes to seeit! It was against the sky and the light was verystrong, so getting a good photograph proved difficult.However, later in the day, we found a male, hoveringwhilst taking nectar from some flowers at just abovehead height. It was the size of a large bee or moth(but seemingly smaller than a Privet Hawk Moth, forexample), and the buzzing from its rapid wing beatswas clearly audible. I managed to get off a few shotswith the 100-400mm lens before it disappeared. Ihoped the shutter speed that I used (1/800 sec)would be quick enough to freeze the action.

Then, amazingly, it reappeared much closer, andsettled on a low twig at knee height about 10 feetaway, in good light, where it began preening.However, by now I had my 500mm f4 lens on the 7Dand was too close to focus! Panic on again. Itherefore had to quickly move backwards in order toget the bird in focus. (I decided it would be temptingfate to change to a lens with a shorter focal lengthas I might miss the photo opportunity altogether.)Luckily, the bird remained preening for two or threeminutes, and I got my images.

I have often been asked what is the best bird Ihave seen on my travels. Up until this trip, I wouldrespond by saying that I didn’t really have a favourite.I have been lucky enough to see ResplendentQuetzals in Costa Rica, Wandering Albatross in South

Georgia and Lilac-breasted Rollers in Kenya. Indeed,I have seen over 2,500 species of birds in the wildover the last 40 odd years. However, for me, thesight of the male Cuban Bee Hummingbird was thebest moment’s birdwatching in all that time. It trulyis a spectacularly beautiful bird and I don’t believe Icould have asked for more.

We ended up seeing over 150 species of birdsincluding most of the endemic ones, and I managedto photograph many of them. I also learned a greatdeal about the history and culture of the island. Forexample, as a doctor it was interesting to learn thatthe infant mortality rate in the island is superior tothat of Washington, in spite of the Americandominated embargo which prevents trade betweenCuba and most other countries.

There were also several species of lizards(mostly endemic) on the island, and we saw a goodnumber of these, including the gaudy Blue andGreen Lizard. Our guides were excellent and wellchosen for their roles.

Cuba is very much recommended as anexcellent holiday destination for the naturalist andpartner with a camera and we would happily travelwith Geodyssey again.

Finally, more images from Cuba, as well asother wildlife, can be seen on my website:-http://www.widlifeontheweb.co.uk

Images:

Page 9: Cuban Bee Hummingbird feedingPage 10: Cuban Bee Hummingbird feeding

Cuban Bee Hummingbird perchedCuban Emerald HummingbirdCuban Gnatcatcher

Page 11: Yellow WarblerCuban TodyFernandinas FlickerBlue & Green Lizard



The Ngorongoro Craterby John Bulpitt FRPS

The Ngorongoro Conservation area (NCA) is locatedin Northern Tanzania. It lies at the western edge ofthe Great Rift Valley, with Mount Kilimanjaro to theeast and the Serengeti to the north- west. TheNCA covers 3200 sq miles and the Ngorongorocrater lies towards the southern end.

About 2.5 million years ago, Ngorongoro was avolcano that may have rivalled Kilimanjaro in size.The nearby Olduvai Gorge has yielded aremarkable record of human evolution with itsfossil footprints of animals and ancestral humans.After the last eruption about 2 million years ago,the top of the Ngorongoro collapsed inwardsforming a huge caldera, covering about 100square miles.

The Ngorongoro is a World Heritage Site and is theworld’s largest unflooded caldera. This meansthat the entire rim of the old volcano is intact. Itoffers 7 distinct habitats: acacia forest, swamp,short grass, long grass, riverine, soda lake andwoodland. The picture of the Hippo opposite showsa number of these habitats. Each habitat attractsa wide variety of birds and animals. The rim of thecrater sits at 7,800 feet above sea level, and thefloor descends to about 5,000 feet.

Hippo

The crater is home to about 30,000 large mammalsin an area naturally enclosed by the slopes of thevolcano. It is the best location in Africa for BlackRhino and huge bull Elephants. There is insufficientvegetation to support breeding herds of elephant,but old males come to the crater to feed on swampgrass when their teeth can no longer cope with theirtraditional diet. The only large mammal that you willnot see is the Giraffe, as they are unable to descendthe steep slopes without lowering their heads, whichraises their blood pressure to dangerous levels. Thereis also a huge variety of birds, some of which arevariants or even distinct sub-species of those youfind elsewhere in the region.

Ngorongoro has a number of advantages forphotographers. Because of the altitude the air tendsto be fairly clear. The backdrops are stunning andthe wildlife is habituated to people and vehicles. The drawbacks are that one cannot drive off-roadand there is a slight sense, perhaps, of being in asafari park. However, I have spent 12 days in theNgorongoro during 5 separate trips to East Africa,and a disproportionate number of my mostsuccessful African images have been taken withinthe crater. The best time for a visit is probably mid-January to mid-March because a trip to the NCAcombines well with the Serengeti to observe theWildebeest migration - the largest single movementof wildlife on earth. I find it is best to go with aphotographic group such as Mike Wilkes FRPS hasorganised for February 2011. At the time of writingMike still has some vacancies. Mike can becontacted at: [email protected]


Rufous-naped Lark

Flamingoes

Old Bull Elephant

Black-bellied Bustard calling


Coming soon….

focus4natureStunning new wildlife photography tours to some of the best places in the world -

Falklands, High Arctic, Far East, Russia,Komodo, Borneo and more…..

Designed and led by some of the UK’s top wildlife photographers: Mike Lane FRPS, Bill Coster, Nick Martin, Brian Matthews, Mike Read.

Our fully inclusive tour programme will be published before December 2010 and tours will run from Spring 2011

Updates on www.focus4nature.co.uk

Contact: [email protected]

focus4nature LimitedRegistered in England (7362853)

Wildlife Photo-tours 2011organised and led by Wildlife Photographer

David Osborn FRPS EFIAPTwenty years experience organising & leading wildlife tours.

Small groups guaranteed and thereforeavailability is limited on all tours.

Birds of Florida* - March 2011Canadian Rockies* - September 2011

Fungi Workshop, Norfolk - October 2011

Now accepting reservations for 2012Falkland Islands

Yellowstone Florida

For more information or a brochure contact David at Tel: 01263 511221 Email: [email protected]

Web: www.davidosbornphotography.co.uk

* One or two places still available.

Iceland - Land of Ice and Fireby Colin Smith FRPS

It was with some trepidation that we followed thenews of the volcanic ash cloud which played havocwith flights all around Europe this summer. We weredue to visit the very heart of where the problembegan! It was also with some relief and slightdisappointment that the volcano stopped spewingash and fire about two weeks before we were due toleave. The disappointment was that I would haveliked to have seen a volcanic eruption as it wouldhave been a new experience for me, but at least thetravel restrictions were lifted and so the trip was on!

The trip was run by Ribble Bird Tours, a smallorganisation based in Blackpool which normally onlycaters for bird watching groups. On this occasion Ipersuaded Stuart, the leader, to run this trip forphotographers. The party consisted of 12 people,mostly experienced photographers and many alsomembers of the RPS with four of us belonging to theNature Group. We left Manchester on June 25th to flyto Keflavik which is the airport for Reykjavik. Onarrival we were met by our Icelandic guide and mini

bus driver, a charming lady called Holmfridur, whotook us to our first hotel about an hours drive from theairport and where we stayed for three nights. This wasmy first experience of nights without darkness. The sunset for about half an hour before reappearing to startthe new day. Quite weird and not conducive to easysleeping in spite of the windows being fitted withblinds. This was also to be our introduction to the highprices we were promised in Iceland. A glass of beer atthe bar was about £4.00 and we were told a bottle of‘ordinary’ wine would have set us back some £30.00.Needless to say we all went to bed sober!

The next morning we spent along the southcoast around the Gulfoss and Geyser areas. Wevisited Gulfoss waterfall, a popular tourist site, butwell worth a visit. Nearby we came across a pair ofnesting Whimbrel affording us a chance tophotograph them both on the ground and in the air.En-route we visited cliff sites for Razorbills, Puffins,Common Guillemots and more interestingly,Brunnich’s Guillemots, a new bird for me.

The landscape was quite awesome. Everywherethere was evidence of seismic activity stretchingback thousands of years and, as we know, up to thepresent day. The lunar like landscape covered largeareas with its tortured dominant lava shapes givingrise to spectacular scenery as well as the thermalareas with impressive geysers, steaming pools ofboiling water and bubbling mud coupled withdeposits of stinking yellow sulphur, all of whichcame through vents from far below the earth’ssurface. The Icelanders have harnessed this massivepower by drilling bore holes, some as deep as 3000metres, from which they tap into the super heatedsteam to drive generators which provide cheapelectricity for the population and industry.

Generally we were very unlucky with the qualityof light as we experienced a lot of cloud during ourstay. Consequently we struggled to take the imageswe all wanted; landscapes were ‘flat’ and birdphotography was difficult due to low level lightingconditions with many pictures being spoiled bysubject movement and/or camera shake.Nevertheless we did the best we could.

We discovered some interesting plants growingon the lava fields, especially orchids, one of whichwe hadn’t seen before. It’s common name isNorthern Butterfly Orchid but it is a plant foundparticularly in North America. It was abundant inplaces and grew alongside Heath Spotted orchidsand Frog Orchids, both of which were sub-speciespeculiar to Iceland.

Butterflies were not seen and we were told thatonly a few migrant insects, like the Painted Lady,were found when conditions were favourable.

One of the first things that struck me was thesheer size of the country. Iceland is in fact biggerthan Ireland and yet has a population of only30,000 people, most of whom live in and aroundReykjavik or near the coast where fishing is the mainoccupation. Where the land is suitable, there arescattered farms, sheep farming and the rearing ofmagnificent horses seem to be the main activities.

On day four we travelled to the Snaefellsnespeninsula, along dirt roads for much of the way. Westopped to see a fault line in the earth’s crustwhere an earthquake had pushed up a line of rocka hundred feet high consisting of columns of basaltrivalling both the Giants Causeway and Fingal’s cavefor sheer impact. We encountered large numbers oforchids growing amongst the lava which provided anunusual background for these beautiful plants. Wealso saw large swathes of wild lupin turning thehillsides a purplish blue with the density and



intensity of the plants. These were Alaskan lupinoriginating in the USA, as the name suggests, andwe saw them everywhere we went.

Great Northern Divers with their young wereseen quite a way out on a lake and we saw lots ofwading birds like Redshank and Snipe - if weapproached too closely their aggressive behavioursuggested that they were defending their offspring.

Days five and six were spent on the Snaefellnespeninsula visiting various sites including the smallisland of Flatey. In spite of the dull but dry weatheronce again, we found Flatey to be an excellentplace for birds and were able to get close to BlackGuillemots on the coastal rocks and very close tothe wonderful and common Red-necked Phalaropeswhich completely ignored our presence and carriedon with their normal activities as though we weren’tthere. Both Snipe and Redshank were veryapproachable and gave us lots of opportunities tophotograph them - but oh for a bit of better light!

We had a boat trip the next day, supposedly tophotograph the White-tailed Eagle at a nesting siteon a small rocky island. As it turned out the boatstopped about 100metres from the bird perched ona rock making meaningful photography impossible.

The next day we travelled north and made a fewstops where we had fairly close views of Red-throated Divers, Great Northern Divers, SlavonianGrebes and both Harlequin and Barrows Golden-eyeducks, but once again we suffered the frustration ofhaving poor light to contend with.

We stayed at Guesthouse Ongulsstadir for thenext three nights and on day eight visited LakeMyvatn which is an oustanding lake for wildfowlincluding a wide variety of exciting birds likeSlavonian Grebes and Divers. Lake Myvatn is alsorenowned for the immense number of black flieswhich are to be found there. Fortunately they don’tbite but their sheer numbers can drive a person todespair. However on our visit there were hardly anyflies to be seen, probably they didn’t like theweather either! So our frustration continued with thelack of light. Sometimes it would be quite brightand even occasionally sunny while we weretravelling but as soon as the bus stopped the sundisappeared and Sod’s law prevailed once again.

We also had a boat trip to see whales. A fewpeople on board had a very brief sighting of aMinke Whale but otherwise we saw nothing - thesea trip was good though. On the way back to ourguesthouse we took a long diversion to anotherwaterfall to see the elusive Gyr Falcon whichregularly nested on the steep rocky cliffs alongside


the waterfall. At this point the heavens opened andthe quarter mile walk to the waterfall was less thanenjoyable as our waterproof clothing was put to thetest. However eagle-eyed Stuart, our leader, foundthe Gyr Falcon perched on a rock across the otherside of the fall. It was all we could do to see it at allbut it was a magnificent bird and was in the endwell worth the soaking we got. I took a surprisinglygood record shot of the bird (but not good enoughto include here).

Day ten found us travelling about 150 milesacross the interior mostly along dirt roads. For mileafter mile there was nothing except for the twistedvolcanic landscape as far as the eye could see inevery direction. For those who think the Americanmoon landings were a hoax then surely this was theplace to film the whole event. I swear I caught sightof the moon buggy just disappearing behind a large‘moonrock’! We suddenly came across anotherthermal spot with the usual impressive featureswhere we spent an hour or so photographingemerging steam and slurping mud whilst someintrepid visitors took a plunge into a steaming pool.It really was fascinating. It was also on this leg ofthe journey that we came closest to the icecap andthe associated glaciers as we were by now quitehigh up. In common with most glacial areas, theice is retreating at quite an alarming rate,Holmfridur could remember the glacier extendingmuch further down the valley not so very long ago.

We spent our final night in Iceland back at thehotel we first stayed in on our arrival ten dayspreviously and travelled to the airport the nextmorning for our flight back to Manchester. Everyonehad enjoyed the experience and I for one would liketo go back again sometime in the future.

Pictures:Page 19: Whimbrel: Alaskan lupin

Extinct volcanic craterBasault columns, Gerduberg

Page 21: Frog OrchidNorthern Butterfly Orchid

Page 22: Golden PloverRedshankRed-throated DiverRed-necked Phalarope (female)

Back cover: Geyser at GeyserWaterfall Hot Springs, Hveravellir


My first safari was to Etosha in Namibia duringSeptember 2008. The National Park skirts theEtosha Pan, a vast dry lake bed which forms part ofthe Namib desert. The park terrain is a mixture ofthorn scrub, mopane woodland and grassy plains.

A three and a half hour drive north fromWindhoek airport on an excellent tarmac road tookus to the Africat Foundation at Okonjima. Here, thereserve is dedicated to the conservation ofNamibia’s large carnivores, particularly leopardsand cheetahs. We were able to see andphotograph orphaned or injured cats in theirprotected enclosures. Game drives also took us tothe surrounding vast reserve.

Another three hours driving got us toOkaukuejo Rest Camp in Etosha, the first of thethree lodges that we stayed at inside the park.Facilities were excellent and we had a round chaletclose to the waterhole. Every morning at dawn thelodge gates would open and we would be off for

the first expedition of the day. In Etosha wildlifephotography in the dry season is mainly confinedto the waterholes. Early morning and lateafternoon are the best times to find animalsdrinking, though we always had to keep an eye onthe clock in the afternoon as the lodge gateslocked at 7 pm sharp.

Maps of the waterholes, and leaflets on theanimals we were likely to see, were readily availableat all the lodge shops, so drives were easy to planeach day. At first our party of 6 in three vehiclesstayed together but gradually we began to go ourseparate ways.

Our arrival at a waterhole might meanimmediate action with the camera, as a herd ofZebra, springbok or elephants or a mixture ofanimals gave us plenty to photograph. On otheroccasions, there might be absolutely nothing there.Then, the dilemma: do we drive to the nextwaterhole 10 miles away or do we sit and wait?

Etosha National Parkby David Cantrille FRPS

On one occasion, waiting really paid off as a Hyenawalked straight past us to drink at the waterholeand then returned the same way, giving us ampleopportunity to shoot portraits that included its yellowteeth! On another occasion, waiting was rewardedwith a herd of thirsty Elephants who appeared out ofthe scrub and broke into a run as they saw thewater. There followed much splashing and frolickinguntil the whole waterhole was churned into mud. Atanother waterhole we were lucky enough to seesome Eland, the largest and most retiring of theantelopes in Namibia. Eland are now farmed fortheir meat, as are Oryx and Kudu.

Perhaps our greatest excitement was turning acorner of the road and finding a Leopard sitting onthe verge. After a few minutes posing for ourcameras, he sauntered across the road and off intothe bush. We were also notified by a passing driverof a Cheetah with Springbok kill, though by the timewe arrived there, a crowd of other vehicles and thornbushes prevented us from seeing much.

Whilst the idea of waterhole watching mightseem monotonous, in fact we found a great varietyof wildlife at each one. On one day, a pride of Lionshad taken up residence and herds of drooping Zebrawaited at a distance for many hours hoping the lionswould go away. On another, Giraffe tried for ages toapproach the water but were always spooked byOryx fighting or Warthog running nearby. Our lastafternoon in Etosha, near the rest camp ofNamutoni, looked as if it was going to be ananticlimax as we drove away from an emptywaterhole. On the road, we suddenly saw three Lioncubs and then two males appeared out of the bush.Where were they going? We guessed it would be thenext waterhole a mile away, so drove there as fast aswe could and waited. Sure enough, lions began toappear in ones and twos, until a pride of about adozen, including the three young cubs, had gatheredbeside the water. We sat, watched andphotographed them until the sun went down and wewere forced to leave.

Camera equipment was a Canon EOS 1D MarkII with a 500mm F4L IS lens plus a 300mm F4L ISlens on a smaller body for wider angle shots. It isadvisable not to change lenses in the field becauseof the dusty conditions. My wife’s main lens was a400mm DO F4L IS. As our vehicle was our hide,beanbags were essential, as was hiring a vehiclethat gave us both access to both side windows.Tripods were used only within the rest camps or inhides at Okonjima.; it was absolutely forbidden toget out of the vehicle once in the park.


Etosha in September was hot and dusty, but theend of the dry season is a good time to photographanimals; they have to use the waterholes and aretherefore easier to find. The accommodation wasexcellent, particularly at the newly renovatedNamutoni Rest Camp, and so was the food. The dirtroads inside the park were generally good. Thepeople were very friendly and helpful. It is, however,a long six-hour drive from the Park to the airport, soa stop at Okonjima is a welcome break. Bitten by thesafari bug, our next trip was to the Kruger.

Images:Page 17: LeopardPage 18: Hyena

Young Elephants playing after bathingLions watching stilts flying overheadBurchells' Zebra drinking

Page 19 Black-faced ImpalaSpringbok with Cape Dove flying pastEland


It must be tragic if a pet cat or dog goes blind, butwith a great deal of love and patience from a caringowner, I am sure the animal’s life can still befulfilling. Yet imagine what it must be like for a wildanimal to go blind? Surely, it can be nothing short ofa death sentence. This is why, when I found ahedgehog bumbling around in my garden one sunnyafternoon in April, I couldn’t imagine it was blind.Nevertheless, there was definitely something wrongwith the animal; usually if a hedgehog is about inthe daylight it is more than likely ill. I went to fetch abox and when I returned, noticed a neighbour’s catslowly stalking through the grass, followed by asudden rush, all claws and teeth, at the hedgehog.The poor animal hardly reacted; it seemed confusedand uncertain as to what the threat was, but in time-honoured fashion, rolled up into a spiny ball. I shooedthe cat away, gingerly picked up the hedgehog, gentlyput it in the box and off we went to my localveterinary surgery. According to the vet ‘it’ was a ‘he’whose eyesight was so weak he would be unable tofend for himself in the wild; consequently I acquireda large, blind male hedgehog, who at the suggestionof a friend I called ‘Bunter’.

Seemingly it is not uncommon for hedgehogs toloose their eyesight; nonetheless it must be verytraumatic for them. Although they can eat up to 20%of their body weight in a single night, Bunter couldeasily surpass this. His stomach seemed to be abottomless pit, matched only by his huge appetite,but as his eating became less frantic, he becamemore and more fussy over his food. Indeed, Buntereventually would only eat one brand of dog foodwhich just so happened to be one of the mostexpensive available.

Over the next few days his nightly whimperingbouts stopped, as did the panic attacks whenever heheard any loud noises and as he seemed to havesettled, I took him outside to get some exercise in asmall boarded-off area I constructed on my patio. Hetook to it like a robin to mealworms and each day Iincreased the size of the run, so that little by little hebecame familiar with his new world.

In due course, Bunter would wake up each after-non around two o’clock and expectantly wait to becarried into the garden, where he went for a wander.Once released Bunter behaved like a small, yet verydetermined rugby player as he pushed and shoved

A Hedgehog named Bunterby Gunars Ulmanis



aside the opposition, which in his case was not burly,square-jawed, broken-nosed players, but my poorplants. When he came across one blocking his path,Bunter would simply try and force his way through,finding a gap between the stems or clambering overany low growth, reducing thick ground cover to a mazeof hedgehog-sized tracks. Of course being awakeduring the day made it a lot easier for me to keep aneye on him and you might have thought photograph,however there was a hitch: for no matter how manytimes I tried to make my garden ‘blind-hedgehog-friendly’, checking he could not get stuck in netting,impaled on spiny plants or fall into the pond, Bunterhad a knack of finding all the weaknesses in mydesign. He invariably climbed over every obstacle inhis path, squeezed through the tightest gaps and dugthrough loose gravel like a determined tunnellerattempting to escape from Colditz. This meant that toensure his walks around the garden did not end indisaster, where he went I inevitably followed, albeittrying not to cause terminal damage to my plants andthe occasional startled frog with my size 10 shoes.

The years went by and Bunter started showing hisage. Unfortunately, despite the vet’s best efforts, someof his spines fell out leaving bald patches, one footwas stiff with arthritis and according to the vet: ‘he hadthe worst tartar-covered teeth she had ever seen’.Nevertheless when the weather was fine, Bunter stillenjoyed being outside but would spend much of thetime curled up beneath a favoured plant in a sunnyspot dozing. Yet whenever his route led him to theramsons’ patch, he would still enthusiastically self-anoint, contorting himself into bizarre shapes so hecould cover his spines in sticky gloop.

Following him became less difficult as he aged,as did photographing his antics. Bunter would nolonger jump every time he heard the click of mycamera’s shutter, though I rarely could use a flash ashe reacted to the ‘pop’ of the gun going off bycurling up and erecting his spines till he resembled a large, brown and annoyed sea urchin.

Following Bunter on his daily rambles I learned alot about the trouble hedgehogs could get into in anaverage garden, but to be honest, I learned very littleabout how to photograph Bunter’s wild relatives.Bunter was simply too trusting. On the other hand, youcan’t say the same about my current charge, ‘Lucky’.She has three-legs and one paw-less stump, and eventhree years after Lucky was given into my care by avet, isn’t as docile as Bunter was, almost from the firstday he blundered into my life. There are two furtherimportant differences: she is almost entirely nocturnaland reacts to any camera/flash) sound much morethan Bunter ever did. To take any pictures I have hadto rely on using a quiet digital camera set on itsavailable light setting, or if she is awake in daylight,grab a shot from a distance with a long lens as if Iwas a paparazzi photographer.

Lucky isn’t allowed outside for fear of damaging herdelicately-fleshed stump, so instead exercises in my halland kitchen. This means my pictures of her are bestviewed simply as records of her life. Even so, heractivities at times have given me wonderful glimpsesinto hedgehog behaviour. On warm mornings aroundmidsummer I like to sit on my front doorstep, watch thebats make their last circles in the brightening sky andlisten to the dawn chorus rising in volume. Lucky oftenjoins me, teetering on the edge of the step, looking thisway and that, her snuffling sounding like a steam trainchugging its way slowly up a steep incline. If a wildhedgehog is nearby, snatching a last meal from one ofthe food bowls near the door, her snuffling intensifies.Occasionally, the wild hedgehog on hearing Lucky willcome and stand at the bottom of the step, looking upat her. Both animals then sniff at one another, theirnoses as animated as a shrew’s, until the wild hoglooses interest and wanders off. Any attempt tophotograph the scene usually comes to nothing asLucky, with an amazing turn of speed for a disabledanimal, will try and bite one of my toes before she toogoes off to her nest. There must be a moral in thatsomewhere...


MidwinterMadness!A Field MeetingAnnouncementfrom Tony Bond FRPS

Those of you seeking an antidote toChristmas (and West Brom supporters) areinvited to join me on a midwinter fungal foray.Before you question my state of mind, allowme to explain that the target species, the veryattractive Velvet Shank, is only found at thistime of year. There may be a few otherspecies, such as the Earth Star, Geastrumtriplex, but as I write this (July 2010), fromthe arid wastes of Greater Manchester with ahosepipe ban, the prospects for autumn lookgrim.

Date: Sunday 23rd January, 10am.Place: Pennington Flash Country Park,

Leigh, Lancs.O.S. 109 , SJ 644986

Directions: Follow Brown signs from A580, A572 or A579

Parking: Park in the free car park approx40m on the left after entering thepark.

Other: Wear sensible winter clothing andfootwear. Paths are good but can beslippery in winter. Little walking involved. It is envisaged that the foray willbe over by lunchtime. You will be able to explore otherparts of the park in the afternoonif you wish. The park is best known for birds. There is a pub and restaurant justacross the main road.

Contact: If you are interested inattending, ring me on 01942674773 a few days beforehand.

ApologySincere apologies to member William E.Middleton whose accepted images from theProjected Image section of this years NatureGroup Exhibition were incorrectly accreditedto another member with the same surname.

A corrected acceptance list, in pdf format, willbe available for download from the naturegroup website: www.rpsnaturegroup.com

William’s accepted images were:Song Thrush with beakfull of worms andMale Yellowhammer on gorse bush

CongratulationsThe following members have achieved theirAssociateship in the Nature category:

Shaun Boycott-Taylor Bristol, AvonHeather Elizabeth Cutting Ipswich, SuffolkGeoffrey Spencer Einon Milton Keynes, BedsPhilip Geoffrey Gill Newton Abbot, DevonGraham Goddard Hornchurch, EssexIan Gould Atherstone, WarksGordon Mills Lymm. Cheshire

NG ResidentialWeekend 2011The NG weekend will be held at the Kingcombe Centre Friday 27th to Monday 30th May 2011. Cost £225 per head, members use own cars.

For full details please contact: James Foad Email: [email protected] Tel: 07850 368797

PrologueAs 2009 turned over into 2010 there remained four ofus, friends, active photographers; two of us had alreadythought seriously that the New Year would bring achange in our working medium; a third had alreadybought a digital camera but it remained unpacked inits box; the fourth, perhaps the purest of us, remainedadamant, he would be constant and true to film.

Journey The seeds of photography were sown in my breastduring 1946, when, as a new boy at Derby School anUncle decided that such an event should be markedby the gift of a camera, a folding Kodak 620 datingfrom just before the outbreak of the Second World War.My Uncle also initiated me into the mysteries ofdeveloping and printing, see-sawing the film throughthe developer, washing in water and then through thefixer, finally washing it for a goodly time in runningwater. Contact printing of course produced the‘positive’ and the seemingly magical appearance ofthe image on the paper in the developer hooked meas surely as it has others before and since. Of coursethe young shoots of photography had to compete withother interests, a newly acquired bicycle, which tookme into the lanes of South Derbyshire, fishing, whichbecame a wonderful window into the natural world andof course new subjects at school such as Chemistryand Biology. I was also a Chorister and so music wasimportant, then the School Combined Cadet Force inwhich I eventually learned to fly. How prep ever gotfitted in remains a mystery to me, but it did! Whenyou are a young teenager your brain is like a spongesoaking up everything before it. I enjoyed Art and wasmortified when I had to drop it in order to takeChemistry, but colour remained important to me and Ichose my course at Leeds University, Colour Chemistry,for the simple and very good reason that it soundedexciting! It was at University that I scrimped andsaved to buy my first 35mm camera, an Iloca, withwhich I won my first competition with a flight shot of aCommon Gull overhead on the ferry to Dunoon, moreby good luck then good management I think. It waswhilst I was at University that I found I needed to wearspectacles, so any career in flying with the RAF was anon starter; I had also met Barbara and felt that my

future must involve her. Taking these and other factorsinto consideration I decided I would become aSchoolmaster.

The next twelve years or so were taken up withmaking my way professionally, getting married, settingup home, starting a family; in fact the normal busy lifeof people in their twenties and thirties. PhotographicallyI had moved on to an Exacta, it carried a Tessar lensand was quite a decent performer. More importantly Ihad moved on to transparency film, usuallyKodachrome with some Agfachrome. Later on ofcourse I became a convert to Fuji Velvia.

I was still based in Nottingham and by 1972 Ihad moved into the upper echelons of my profession;that fact coupled with a back dated pay awardprompted Barbara, bless her, to suggest that I shouldbuy myself a good camera. At that time Pentax wererunning an advert which ran “Just pick up a Pentax”and it worked for me. I found the Spotmatic F to be asplendid camera and it became a good and reliableperformer over many years to come. I slowly added afew lenses including a Vivitar 50mm macro, which didwell for me; however a long telephoto was not reallywithin my remit. At that time such a lens was aboutthe same price as a small car and not reallysomething I could contemplate. As a young family wejoined the Trent Valley Birdwatchers (later to becomeNottinghamshire Birdwatchers) and I also became afounder member of Wollaton Natural History Society.My photographic work was expanding; I was collectinga good array of wild flower pictures, as well as fungi,and some aquatic life, courtesy of a newly constructedgarden pond. I also purchased a projector and wassoon invited to give a few talks, which as a teacher Ifound relatively easy to do. My reputation spread andI soon found I was getting more invitations than I couldeasily cope with. This meant a fairly long waiting list,but better to be in demand than otherwise.

Two members of the Natural History Society werealso members of a local Camera Club and they invitedme to go along to a meeting. I subsequently joinedthe club which brought me into contact with RPSmembers and I joined the Society. It wasn’t longbefore I decided to go for my Distinctions. As aNatural History Photographer most club judges didn’treally seem to have much experience in that area, so

2010 A Digital OdysseyRobert Hawkesworth FRPS



in order to measure myself I thought that the ‘L’, ‘A’ and‘F’ would give me more idea of where I stood. The Lproved to be straightforward and I succeededstraightaway. However the ‘A’ and ‘F’ provided more of achallenge, and quite rightly. All my submissions werepanels of transparencies, it was my medium. I enjoyed the building of the short slide shows, the flowand interplay of the colours, the sizes of the images,the way they related to one another, I was totally athome with it. Eventually I was of course successful,but I did take good advice on the way.

Whilst all this was going on our family had grownup and become independent. Barbara, artistic and awonderful embroiderer now decided to join thephotographic journey and very welcome she was. Ihad also made changes to my equipment; Pentax hadceased manufacturing screw fit cameras some timepreviously so I had moved to Minolta. Their 100mmmacro lens was possibly the sharpest lens I have everused, it was wonderful.

Technology never stands still however and one dayour younger son came to visit us bearing a Canonautofocus camera; it was lovely, the handling felt justright. Oh dear, another decision to make!

At about this time I was offered early retirement byNottinghamshire Education Authority with an offer toenhance my pension. In modern parlance it was a ‘nobrainer’ and I accepted the offer immediately. I soldthe Minolta equipment privately to a friend andBarbara and I re-equipped with Canon.

I was doing well with my speaking and judginginvitations, as many as I could comfortably cope with.Barbara and I were also doing well with ourPhotographic Natural History Holidays; we never had toadvertise, we had a clientele which had built up fromrecommendations. Barbara also succeeded with an ‘A’submission. Later I was invited onto the RPS NatureDistinctions Panel and so we were kept comfortablybusy. Digital cameras arrived on the scene and thefirst prints began to appear in Club Competitions.Some were awful with colour casts, banding and noise,but some were beautiful. The rest is history; some ofthe prints which I am now privileged to see are trulybeautiful; the standard is rising all the time. Howeverdigital projection has lagged behind this print progressand it seems only recently that I have noticed asignificant improvement. It was beginning to look asthough Barbara and I should finally give up our belovedVelvia, perhaps in late 2010? Neither of us had evercriticised digital photography in any way, indeed wecould see the great advantages it offered, but with ourstyle of natural history photography film continued togive us everything we wanted.

In the autumn of 2009 we had planned a trip toLesvos, for the second two weeks of May 2010, witha few of our friends including Martin and SallyWithers and John and Shelagh Tinning. Both Martinand my wife Barbara were due to have replacementknee surgery in 2010, Martin at the beginning ofJanuary and Barbara at the end. One day towardsthe end of February when visiting Barbara, Martinturned up with a Canon 20D. “Here, you had betteruse this in Lesvos”, he said. “It’s doing nothing at myhome, just sitting on a shelf”. Shortly after that JohnTinning presented us with another 20D. “You’d betterboth have one”, he announced. The die was cast. Asthe eldest chap on the holiday I was excused drivingduties, it was all about insurance really, so I couldrelax, sit back and enjoy the trip. Because of herknee it was more convenient for Barbara to sit on theleft hand side of the car, behind the driver, this meantthat she got the best of the photographicopportunities and I was pleased for her, I knew shewas apprehensive about the new equipment. We hadfitted a 20D with a Canon 300mm f4 IS lens plus a1.4 converter, which coupled with the 1.6x increase infocal length, gave us an impressive 672mm. She gotalong famously and became in her own words, “quitean expert in deleting”. In fact though, we did get afew quite passable pictures and Barbara gainedconsiderable confidence with the camera. It is worthmentioning that we continued to use Velvia on plantsand insects.

In July we were invited by Dawn Osborn to visit herin Norfolk for a few days and we enjoyed a quitedelightful time visiting a number of good sites as wellas running her moth trap. Lesser Butterfly Orchid wasone of the flowers we photographed, now a rarity inEngland but still doing well in Scotland. The mothsincluded a few which we had not trapped so far in ourNottinghamshire garden, Ghost Moth (female), PrivetHawk and Golden Y. We were still using up our stock ofVelvia, but whilst in Norfolk we took the opportunity tovisit Warehouse Express and purchased ourselves acouple of digital Canon camera bodies.

Epilogue We sit at our computer looking at an image of a WhiteSatin Moth on the monitor. It is sharp and the wingsshow no hint of over-exposure, the background ismuted and accurate. We are confident we shall learnto love it as we did film, with rich colours glowing onthe light box. Will our friend’s camera remainunpacked in its box? Will the fourth be constant tofilm? Who knows; but on his request I’ve forwarded acontact for film storage sheets!


New Committee Members requiredto perform a variety of tasks for theNature Group.

Every two years at our AGM we electthe committee for the following twoyears. The Nature Group committeewelcomes nominations from anymember who feels they could assist inthe running of the group by performinga role or because they have a specialskill to offer.

What is involvedBeing a Committee Member requires awillingness to assist with a variety ofevents and or tasks plus attendanceat Committee Meetings - these areheld two or three times a year, usuallybut not exclusively at Smethwick PSClubrooms, nr Junction 2 of the M5.

If you feel that you would like to bemore involved in the running of yourgroup, or if you would like to nominatesomeone, please complete thenomination form opposite and returnto Nature Group Secretary, MargaretJohnson LRPS by the end ofNovember.

This form is also available at:www.rpsnaturegroup.comgo to the ‘Who We Are’ page.

Elections 2011 Nomination Formfor Elections 2011Please complete and return before 30th November 2010-2011

I wish to propose

for the Office of

or - as a Committee Member (Please delete as appropriate)

Name of Proposer (Capitals)

Proposer's signature

Name of Seconder (Capitals)

Seconder’s signature

I agree to accept this nomination (Signed)

After completion by all three parties please postto:

Nature Group SecretaryMargaret Johnson LRPS53 Mapperley Orchard,Arnold, Nottingham, NG5 8AH

�


Volunteers neededto hostField Meetings“Why aren’t there more field meetings in my region?”A question frequently asked by Nature Groupmembers to the committee.

Committee Members’ time is often fully occupiedwith other Nature Group work and therefore it isjust not possible for all of us to host field meetings,although several do host such events and they arealways well attended. It is not practical to expectanyone to host a field meeting at a site which is farfrom their home and involves a great deal oftravelling. Consequently, every year, we askmembers to volunteer to host a field meeting intheir region of the country.

Hosting a field meeting requires no specialknowledge. All that is required is a familiarity ofthe area and what subjects of interest are likely tobe found there. Volunteers are not expected toinstruct in photography, be experts at identificationor be experienced naturalists. A genuine interest innature and a desire to meet and share ideas withlike minded individuals are the only criteriarequired for hosting a meeting.

If you are familiar with a wildlife park, naturereserve or woodland near to you, please considervolunteering. The meeting does not have to beheld on a weekend - many of our meetings areheld during the week and are very popular withretired Nature Group members.

If you are unsure about the suitability of yourchoice of venue, please contact the Programme Co-ordinator, Colin Smith FRPS - address and phonenumber opposite - who will be pleased to discussyour idea with you.

So, the answer to the question “Why aren’t theremore field meetings in my region?” is down to you.Do something about it and volunteer. You won’tregret it!

RPS Nature Group - Field Meetings 2011

Location

Meeting Place

Grid Reference

Leader(s)

Day & date

Cost (eg car parking)

Main subjects of interest :-

Items to bring (tick as applicable and add any othernecessary items below).

Stout Shoes � Wellingtons �

Waterproofs � Packed Lunch �

Additional information:-

Name

Address

Tel No:

E mail:

Please return this form as soon as possible/ or toarrive not later than 31st January 2011

Colin Smith FRPS3 St Hilda’s Close, Chorley, Lancs, PR7 3NU

Tel: 01257 271981 E-mail: csmith3@ blueyonder.co.uk

Pictures by John Bulpitt FRPS

Above: Heron on HippoBelow: Kori Bustard displayingBelow right: Crowned Crane

Pictures by Colin Smith FRPS

Left: Geyser at GeyserAbove: Waterfall Below: Hot springs at Hveravellir

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