After a stressful couple of weeks at work this weekend I took the opportunity to get out and explore my local nature reserve for an explore and to see what I could see. Getting out more here was a goal I set my self at the end of 2012.  The idea was to get a better feel for the land and try spot where the wildlife was gathering and their routes.

Saturday didn’t start off too well, a full lap of the reserve hadn’t shown much.  The fields where heavily waterlogged which lead to a fairly large discovery: my boots leak. I was okay in wet grass, but the standing water got in eventually.

As I was getting ready to leave I decided to take a 2nd look into the first field I pass again.  There where 3 roe deer right in front of me. I spent some time trying to get some images of these deer, not very successfully, when some thing caught the corner of my eye.

I bought this to use in place of a my much larger Vanguard backpack which was far too large and kept getting in the way, there’s only so many people you can knock over before it gets frustrating. The idea being a smaller more manageable bag gets taken with you.

This seemed ideal based on the specs. Room for a pro body, I used a gripped Nikon D7000, with a 70-200 on it (which I don’t have, yet), a spare lens or two and a few pockets for the other required odds and ends you need for a days shooting.

Lowepro product page link

The end of a year is a good time to not only reflect on the past 12 months but to also to look forward to the next.

The last year has proved to be somewhat mixed as proven by the fact I’m sat posting this in the famous St George’s hospital waiting to see a neurosurgeon.

I had the opportunity to visit Marwell Wildlife in Hampshire this week.  As this was primarily a family trip I didn’t come home with a huge number of images but there was one I am very happy with.  A Snow Leopard!

Yesterday as a special treat a close friend of mine took me out Mercedes Benz world to go to a Piston Heads Sunday Service event.  This is where members of the Piston Heads forum just show up in their cars.  This covers everything from basic VW golfs all the way up to top end Lamborghinis, Ferraris and a McLaren.

Yesterday I took the day off to take the girls to ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. Of all the exotics that are on show the one that really took my interest was the Slivery Marmoset.

These small monkeys from Brazil are allowed to run free in the day so can be seen really well sat on top of their enclosure.

Also on 500px, please have a look.

As this has been the first nice evening in weeks I took the opportunity to walk round to the Surrey Wildlife Trust reserve manor farm.

There have been reports of some great wildlife in the evenings here so I wanted to see it for my self, and tonight I got to!

Another Damselfly at SWT Manor Farm.  There was a few of these flying around in the tall grass around the hide.

A damselfly taken from the hide at Surrey Wildlife Trust Manor Farm.  A lovey hide with a great view of the river.  This sight looks to have great potential should it ever stop raining.  The log book shows everything from deer to cormorants to owls and buzzards.

This is ‘Fudge’, a captive Ferruginous Hawk taken at a display by Xtreme Falconry at RHS Wisley Gardens. This was taken prior to the display when the birds where resting under capture.