Heather Angel, Digital Photography Day.

On Wednesday the 7th of October, 9.30am - 4.30pm, we are hosting a photographic workshop with tuition from award winning professional wildlife photographer Heather Angel. To see some stunning wildlife photographs follow this link to see Heather's website:

Heather Angel Wildlife Photographer 

The day is limited to 12 places, and so placement must be booked and secured in advance. The cost of the day is £149 per person, including lunch and refreshments, and we require a £50 deposit to hold your place. If you are interested in more information, or to book a place, call the office on 01342 834658 or email info@britishwildlifecentre.co.uk

More details are on our website, but I will lift the description here for you to save clicking...

"After a two year absence we are pleased to welcome Heather Angel who will be hosting her popular workshop this autumn. Heather Angel is an award winning, professional wildlife photographer with sixty published books to her name. 

This photo day combines tuition and photography, with wonderful opportunities to get images of the Centre's animals. The day starts with a presentation and expert advice on composition and lighting. This is followed by practical photographic sessions, with access inside some of the enclosures with a keeper, providing a combination of good vantage points and natural surroundings. 

You will need to bring plenty of memory cards and battery power! It promises to be a packed and varied day which adds up to a great package for anyone interested in improving their photography skills, particularly of Britain't wonderful native wildlife. (Do come prepared to work in light rain)."

So there you go... book a place now to get some great tuition from one of our best wildlife photographers, and to go home with some fantastic photos of our animals!

Polecats Playing

Would you like to see some pictures of our polecat kits playing?.. Oh who am I kidding, of course you would! Well here you go...

Oriel has five healthy polecat kits, all in the main polecat enclosure, and they have been bundle of fun over the past few weeks. Polecats are very playful at a few months old, and are often seen here chasing each other around and jumping on top of one another. They even try and get mum involved sometimes, much to her annoyance.

We have yet to find out if they are males or females, but from looking at them from a distance we suspect it may be just the one female and the rest boys!

We will have the youngsters here for a few more weeks before they are collected as part of a release programme. If you get the chance, do come and have a look at them playing. It really is great fun to watch!

Once the youngsters have moved on, we will re-introduce Whitstable back in to the pen with Oriel. This will then give them plenty of time to settle before hopefully mating again next year.

August's Photo of the Month

"Badger" by Benn McIntyre

So, the only month of the year where we are open to the public every day has come to an end. August always sees a lot of visitors to the Centre, and despite the damp and rain, this year was no exception.

Lots of good photos have been uploaded and shared, and most popular for the past month seems to have been our otters and once again... our new little weasel, Neve. However it was this photograph above, taken by Benn McIntyre, of one of our badgers "Honey" that caught my eye.

I know how tricky it can be to take a good photograph of our badgers, but Benn has managed to do that here. He has found an angle that doesn't show any of the enclosure in the background, and beautifully managed to give the impression of being far more eye level than he would have been, allowing more intimacy. The depth of field is great, with the background thrown out allowing Honeys head to jump out, and an area of the foreground softly blurred adding even more depth to the image. Well done Benn, a lovely portrait in a tricky setting.

Benn's photo will be on display in our coffee shop gallery next year, with the other eleven chosen photographs from this year. He will also be in with a chance to win a photographic day here at the Centre.

To see more of Benn McIntyre's photos follow the link in his name to see his facebook page, and a few more photos of our animals.