Before We Had Brains 1 – The Worm That Turned.

As a child I spent many happy hours watching animals, especially the odd ones that other people mostly avoided... and it wasn't long before it all made perfect sense to me. When I was old enough, I would train as a zoologist. "What will you do with that?" people would ask. "Work in a zoo?" Well, not exactly. Rather stupidly, it had never occurred to me to ask how zoologists make a living - I'd never met one, but I was certain it wouldn't be a total waste of time; and when I finally managed to get qualified I was determined…

The New Forest’s Overgrazed Stream Sides and Woodlands.

The banks of New Forest streams have changed significantly over the years. Long before I started photographing the New Forest in the 1970s streamsides were steadily being opened up by livestock as they grazed and trampled these fragile areas into blandness, and it is a problem that continues to the present day. If managing the open Forest continues to prioritise traditional practices, then maybe it's not such a bad idea to refer to photographs taken earlier in the 20th Century to gain a better understanding of the changes that have occurred. Many stream banks were grazed out long before I began taking…

The New Forest’s Overgrazed Heathlands.

Overgrazing the New Forest - a major contribution to species decline. I wrote recently about ‘The New Forest’ and the obvious truth that it has a litter problem, but there is something more consequential going on that has been bothering me for years - the fabric of the Forest is being eaten away by herbivores more quickly than it can regenerate, and rather like the litter - there is no sign of a change for the better. The New Forest, for those who don't already know, is a patchwork of habitats ranging from lawns, through open heathlands to forests and…

Elephants: Out of Africa and Out of Luck.

As a teenager I played cricket - that was in the 1960s. For generations during an English summer it was impossible to avoid the game, especially at school where it was considered character building to have a hard ball hit or thrown at you with sometimes lethal force. Way back then, on a sunny sports enforced schoolday afternoon, I was fielding in one of those 'dangerous' too close to the batsman positions that intelligent people avoid, and perhaps realising this, my sports master shouted, 'Wake up Bolwell... pay attention!' which was a surprise... because I thought that I was. Then…

Hummingbirds – They’re Almost as ‘Big’ as Africa!

I was out in the garden yesterday trying to convince plants to grow when I was buzzed by a drone - an exceedingly stealthy one. I didn’t see it, but certainly I heard it, hovering behind my head before making off at speed. My wife sitting in a nearby lounger was able to make a more realistic observation - I was standing on the flight path of a rufous hummingbird, a creature weighing no more than a spoonful of sugar... it was attempting to visit a bee balm flower. Not quite a drone then, but even the most technically advanced…

Wildlife Photography in 20 Cubic Metres of Mexico.

The patch of forest I'm about to take pictures in is about an hours drive south of Puerto Vallarta on the west coast of Mexico in the Bay of Banderas. Selecting a site to take nature pictures isn't always easy, especially in tropical and sub-tropical forests where lush plant growth limits the chances of a clear view; there is nothing quite so infuriating as hearing a bird close by and not being able to see it. The second problem with dense leaf cover is the limitation on light, which can inhibit making good exposures adding yet another layer of complexity…

The New Forest – Living in the Past With Lots of Litter.

For most of my life I lived close by the New Forest in Hampshire and have always considered it special, because although busy with visitors during summer, it has remained an important haven for wildlife as the surrounding countryside has steadily urbanised. The New Forest looks natural, but in reality it is heavily managed, and with increasing pressures from both inside and out, some say that it is no longer the place that it once was - but people have been saying that for generations. A more considered analysis suggests, that it is just a question of how far back…

On the Verge of Something Interesting.

I recently left the West Coast of Canada to visit my father in the U.K. and was surprised at how beautiful 'the old country' still is, despite over the last ten years, having Europe's most rapidly growing population, essentially because more people are arriving than are leaving. I left in 2002 and if I thought the roads were busy then, it is nothing to the way they are now - driving anywhere during rush hour is inadvisable, because more often than not, it takes ages to move only a short distance - but the biggest surprise is what is growing…

There’s More to a Raccoon Than a Davey Crockett Hat.

A Scottish wildlife organisation recently took a picture that might help save the planet - well, the Highlands of Scotland at least. It was on one of those automatic cameras used to monitor animals - and triggered on 17th March 2016 by a Procyon lotor - that's a raccoon for those of us who don't have the Latin - standing on it's hind feet it looked as if it was feeding on some form of bait attached to a post: www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-35942952 The image is technically limited and in contrasty black and white, but there is no doubting this is a…

As Dismissed As a Newt.

There was a man on the Radio today talking about great crested newts, and that got me listening carefully, because for many years I had an eventful relationship with these fascinating creatures; which might sound odd, but not entirely ridiculous considering that this was the first animal I filmed for prime time television, and the fact that I was suddenly earning a living from what most regarded as a pointless childhood interest at least impressed my father. My parents were tolerant of my preoccupation with all things amphibian, even allowing me to keep a tank of salamanders in their bedroom…