This time of year they’re moulting. So lots of scratching and furs flying. Luckily for me, there are still a couple of them where they’ve retained their winter ear tufts and have not lost all the lovely thick coat.

I’ve often seen people feed these guys with monkey nuts. Nothing wrong with that, if it’s an occasional treat. But for long term well-being, native nuts like hazel is more suited to meet their nutritional needs. However, at about £90 for 20kg, they aren’t exactly cheap. So perhaps I shouldn’t be so envious of having red squirrels in one’s back garden!

Photography is originally a Greek word. The exact form in greek is φωτογραφία (pronounced fotografia). It consists of two words put together – ‘photo’ which derives from the word ‘phos’ means ‘light’, while ‘graphi’ in Greek is write or drawing. In other words, ‘photography’ is drawing with light. This is why understanding light is key to producing compelling images.

Through great conservation efforts, there is now a thriving population of these beautiful birds. The RSPB (the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) estimates that we have nearly 9,500 breeding pairs that reside in the UK. They can often be seen in many public ponds and lakes. One of a few real wildlife success stories.

From February onwards, you can see them performing their elaborate courtship ritual. It’s difficult to describe the whole ‘dance’ sequence but it’s something that I recommend seeing, if you have access to ponds with these birds. Most activities take place during the early hours of the morning so set the alarm clock and wrap up warm!

It is always a good thing to have your photos appreciated, but I did feel a little embarrassed that I am now a professional and it is really intended for amateurs. There are no rules to say that a professional cannot submit images for this section of the magazine, but somehow I just feel a little uncomfortable about the whole thing.

To be fair, I submitted my images over a year ago and they were all taken some time before that, when I still had a ‘proper’ day-job. Anyway, I’ve contacted the magazine to inform them of the matter and offered to turn down the prize, if they feel that it is not appropriate.

Slowly though, it was obvious that there was only so much that I can do with it. So last September, I decided to employ WordPress, an open-source blogging and content management software, to incorporate some useful functionality to this site. It enabled me to put on slideshows, provide e-commerce services, and blog with the greatest of ease, wherever I am.

I’ve had to change my web host in order to facilitate this upgrade. It was a royal pain in the rear if I was to be honest, from installing the software on the server to migrating email accounts and managing new contents. Perhaps I should have gone to a proper web-designer instead!

It’s not all bad. The changeover enabled me to monitor the site traffic with greater accuracy. In the last four months, this site has had nearly 11,000 page views through 2,500 visitors, per month! Though by no means the busiest site on the world wide web, I was pleasantly surprised at the level of interest.

Amidst all this, the goal however, remained the same – to share relevant nature/wildlife content that interests my readers, you.

So tell me how I can make this site better for you – what would you like to see, know, or what fascinates you? You’re welcome to drop me an email, or simply use the ‘leave a comment‘ feature, located at the beginning of every entry, or at the bottom of an individual blog page.

It was windy up on the higher grounds, and there was a light scatter of snow from the night before. The clear sky spelled a beautiful sunrise. For a brief moment, everything was lit in orange and gold.

However, a cloudless day does have its downside – the light gets pretty harsh very quickly. This is where one needs to take care with exposure, working angles and knowing the limitations/abilities of the equipment you use. Understanding the different characteristics of light will also go in some way towards processing your final image.

Thankfully though, this location is never short of Red Grouse, which was what I ended up photographing in the end. I’ve worked with this upland game bird before, so approaching them didn’t present a great deal of trouble. This, and through working with the available light, snow, and the beautiful moorland, I didn’t walk away totally empty handed.