Although I have been practising nature photography for the last 18 months, and owned some sort of tripod for that entire time, this Xmas was the first time that I tried to use one in anger.

As with the most of the UK we have been very short on sunshine, especially on the days I have available for photography. Imagine my delight when the weather app predicted a sunny Saturday, and my absolute amazement when they turned out to be correct!

In the month of November I discovered the Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts Staveley Nature Reserve located between Harrogate and Ripon. It is easily accessible and looks stunning in the rare Yorkshire sunlight, both at dawn and dusk.

One of the few disadvantages of photography in North Yorkshire is that you are often operating under steel grey skies just after dawn. In my case I am also usually under a canopy of trees. Although not ideal, this does bring the low light capabilities of the Canon R6 Mk2 come to the fore.

Now that the leaves are starting to fall it is time for one of my favourite games, searching for some of JRR Tolkiens "Ents".

One of the shocks of buying a 150-600mm Sigma zoom lens is how the heck do you carry it when scrambling around the countryside. After nearly falling 20ft into the river Nidd at Nidd gorge, I decided that a camera harness which allows both hands to be free was an essential safety item!

Another upgrade to the website and hopefully the last for a while 😆. The main changes are behind the scenes but allow for much quicker updates and a more diverse page layout.

A big first for me, whilst sitting in a hide at the High Batts Nature Reserve, was seeing a stationary Kingfisher.

The weekend just gone was a glorious weekend in terms of weather and I used it to scout out a nature reserve that is new to me.