June 2016: Photo of the Month

"Adder" by Cathryn (redcat09)

June has been a busy month... polecat kits galore, wildcat kittens getting bolder and more playful by the day, young Leo not so young anymore, squirrel kittens in the Copse... I could go on, but what has been a bit of a surprise attraction these past few weeks are our adders.

The adders!? I hear you cry... Well, yes. No babies around, long past their dancing, in fact all they have been doing is laying there, but a couple of them have got in to a habit of laying there at the top of the gorse bush... beautifully in the light, and perfectly eye level for you budding photographers.

There has been some great photos shared on Instagram under #britishwildlifecentre and on our twitter feed recently, but flickr and email still seems to be the most popular way of us seeing your pics. And on looking through these, one in particular grabbed my attention and I fell in love with.

I am a sucker for a good portrait, and Cathryn (redcat009 on flickr), has taken a great portrait shot of this adder basking in the sun! The clarity is amazing, almost allowing you to reach in and touch the animal. Beautiful blurred background makes this snake stand out, and the green haze in the foreground adds extra depth to the image. The detail Cathryn has managed to capture in the eye, and the scales in particular, is remarkable offering another insight to the allure and elegance of this most miss-understood animal. Well done Cathryn.

Cathryn's photo will be part of our coffee shop gallery next year, and she will be in with the chance of winning a photo day here at the Centre.

"Oriel and Kit" by Cathryn (redcat09)

Not only photographing our adders, but Cathryn also managed to get some lovely pictures of our polecat kits on display. Follow the link in her name to see some more of her photos on flickr.

"Cuddly Toy" by Natasha Jefferies

And you remember I asked you last time to check our Natasha Jefferies page on flickr? Well did you?..

If not, you're missing out. She has a fantastic collection of photos of our wildcat kittens emerging from the den and playing with each other, nicely documenting their growth. Some stunning pics of the kittens jumping on mum and causing trouble, but my favourite had to be this one of a kitten playing with mum's tail.