WonderfulWildlifeUK

I been sitting on some pretty exciting news for a few months now. I am delighted to ‘don the orange’ (makes a change from green!) as one of the new 2020 Ordnance Survey Champions ! I feel very  proud honoured and privileged to be one of just 100 champions, ambassadors for the outdoors, chosen from all across the UK  to help Ordnance Survey to promote the benefits of being in the great British Countryside. Ordinarily, this would be a fantastic opportunity and I was SO looking forward to the big launch and to meet all the other amazing outdoorsy folk who are part of this new team. Of course, the current situation soon put that on hold, so we have had to get to know each other via social media groups, over the last month, instead. We are all SO passionate about the outdoors and we are going to have to be very creative over the coming months, as our outside time becomes more and more restricted. I am blessed to have my garden of course and lots of walks that I do on a daily b...

Well, it’s been a rather surreal few weeks, since I wrote my last blog. Ironically, I have been busier than I have ever been… but that is because what I do and love has suddenly become even more relevant to everyone; appreciating what is right on our doorsteps. The way that we all interact with the world has changed. For some, this  will have completely turned their world upside down in so many ways. It is a frightening time, when everything around us seems to be changing and our lives feel like they will never be the quite the same again. Many now feel like they are not in control and, as restrictions bite harder, people are forced into smaller and smaller spaces, often with very limited access to the outside world. Suddenly, that freedom to be outside and to interact directly is fast disappearing. I am lucky. I live in a rural location. I have a lovely garden and my house is surrounded by fields. Perhaps, most significantly for me, I am used to spending quite a lot of my time ...

This is the fourth year that the tawnies were to nest in our box at YewView. The custom built box, with three cameras, has been adapted and improved over the years and , this year, I had installed the best camera to date inside. Normally, I have to spend a lot of time getting the camera pre-focused for the interior of the box, which is difficult. You have to predict where the bird is going to sit and, if you get it wrong, then you can’t do anything about it once they are inside. Technology is moving on a pace and, when Hikvision said they’d loan me a few cameras for this season, I was keen to see how some of the new dome CCTV cameras would cope inside. Close focus is critical and this box is only 50cm wide. This camera will focus really close and, yet was still able to show the full interior of the box. What is different about this camera is that I can log into it from the PC and then focus and zoom it from the browser! As you can imagine, this makes a massive difference regarding set-...

This week, I was delighted to hear that my image of a rolling Mountain Hare had achieved the runner-up position in the Mammal Society’s Mammal Photographer of the Year competition. The email had actually gone in my junk folder, so I only discovered on the day that the announcement was made! I took the shot on a trip to the Cairngorms, in amazing snowy conditions. I had been really lucky with this shot; one in a sequence of four that I took. I had been tracking this hare across the snowy landscape, when it paused and then rolled. It was over in a fraction of a second! Sometimes, you are just in the right place at the right time! They often roll in this way and it is thought it may be to help clean their coat and keep it in tip-top condition, which is essential in these harsh conditions. Chuffed that Zeb Soames, Broadcaster and Mammal Society patron, who was on the judging panel, said  “ Kate’s Rolling Mountain Hare has everything: photographic skill, terrific composition and a se...

I have been following Emma Mitchell on Twitter for a while. Her wonderful representations of the natural world were the pull for me … I have a fascination with all natural forms. Her website is well worth a visit, especially if you like what I am about to write about! Click on the image below: Emma describes herself as a ‘designer-maker, naturalist, illustrator, mum and author.’ and ‘an ardent fan of cake, yarn and hedgerows.’ Sounded like a perfect combination! When I saw Emma release dates for another workshop last year, I thought I would treat myself! I knew it was ‘right up my street’ and I wanted to get back into creative stuff in 2020 as my artistic streak needs outlets and I have done very little in the way of art for so long. February 29th seemed a very long way away, but suddenly, an email from Emma reminded me that it was just a few weeks away! So, today, I drove all the way to Cambridgeshire… an early start and a long drive but SO worth it! I have spent, what feels l...