It’s taken a while to write up July's shenanigans ... A lot happened ...

A trip up North for Puffins at Flamborough Head and Bempton Cliffs, providing time off in the local area and time with family. Having never seen a Puffin in the wild this was a first for me. With these birds you are not as close as the Islands around the UK, therefore it is more challenging, they are not right in front of you from a handful of feet. The in flight shots were the trickiest, but managed to get a few decent images of them flying directly at me! Rescued a Puffin from the surf, Whitby Wildlife Rescue came to take it off my hands, sadly it passed away from its injuries a few days later. I also captured some Skylarks, Barn Owl, Gannets and Razorbills. I shall return!

Next up, I attended a wildlife photography trip led by Marc Humphrey in the middle of Kent for Beavers. This was a first time seeing a Beaver, so it was all quite exciting, travelling on the river by Canoe provides the perfect opportunity to get close, what could go wrong… thankfully no sinking, but it was the hottest day of the year and too many locals were out and about enjoying the weather. Predictably it impacted on sightings, 2 sightings totalling around 10 seconds. I shall return!

Next up, Ospreys near Rutland Water for a workshop with Mike Dunlevy. A spotter was in place throughout the session from a high vantage point. We had two opportunities for a diving Osprey, a young male sat in the tree providing a still shot, his first attempt was a fail, and so was my attempt at trying to photograph it. It was about to try again when the resident male T7 swooped in and chased it off. Finally, with the sun setting and only 10 minutes left on the clock, T7 finally decided to return and was hungry. He didn't make any mistakes, flying down silently and providing a huge splash, struggling to get out of the water the wings beat furiously making a swooshing sound, when he succeeded, the prey was in his talons, success at the first attempt, again, not ideal for me, there is definitely a knack to getting the shot. That's a wrap as they say, two opportunities, one kind of taken, need more practice. At least I have some nice photos of the Herons and the Kingfisher whilst we waited. I shall return!