April 2016: Photo of the Month

"Little Owl" by Helen Haden

It seems the nicer weather we are finally getting is bringing many of you photographers back out. The number of photographs we have seen shared this past month seem to have increased, or maybe we are just noticing more, who knows. Out of all these though we have seen many that were taken in among our bluebells. All beautiful photographs, difficult to pick just one out, but I went for this one above by Helen Haden. 

This photograph of Tyrion our little owl, taken by Helen Haden, really stood out of the many I looked at. It is a picture perfect portrait. Beautiful composition, stunning detail, and really showing off his personality to a tee... even in among the bluebells he keeps his grumpy expression that these owls are known for! Talking of the bluebells, what a lovely splash of colour they add to this picture. The way Helen has taken it allows the blue to add to the image, without detracting from the owl, but making clear what season we are in. Brilliant!

"Marsh Frog" by Rebecca South

Another photo that really caught my eye, and I particularly like, is this one above by Rebecca. Often forgotten about while trying to photograph our water voles, our frogs make excellent subjects especially with their beautiful eyes! The heavy reflection of light on the water adds a mystical feel to it really letting the frog stand out. 

"Otter" by Stuart Scott

A lot more of you are now beginning to email in your photos, and it is always nice to see the pictures you have taken here either on an open day... or on one of our dedicated photographic days, such as this otter taken by Stuart. You can still see all the water droplets on the otters whiskers, and the slicked fur having just come out of the water.

"Polecat" by Bob Howell

Bob managed to get a lovely shot of one of our polecats up the tree! Not renowned for their climbing ability, ours... and in particular our female Oriel, does seem to enjoy an arboreal adventure from time to time

"Roe Deer" by Susan Addicott

What was really nice to see this past month was a few pictures of one of our roe deer, Chestnut. It is always good to see photographs of the lesser photographed animals at the Centre.

Look forward to seeing more of you pictures over the coming month.