Britain's Big 5 Project

[monkeyleader]

Good morning all - hope everyone is well and enjoying (at least here in the UK) what seems to be the onset of Spring. Thought I'd update a little on a project I started late last year, but had been in the making for just under a year before that - #BritainsBig5.

While you can read more about it here I thought I'd give a quick summary / update on the Forums.

For quite some time I found myself suffering from location envy - you know where you admire another person's photograph but deep down are insanely jealous of the opportunity that person has had to shoot in such circumstances. I found this wasn't just limited to the plains of Africa or the Wilds of Russia ... no, I'd even get my jealous hat on for the lack of iconic species here on my local patch. All this really served up was continued frustration which, at times, was significantly impacting my creativity behind the lens.

Early last year I happened upon a family of foxes and was transfixed. It may have only been a brief encounter but as I travelled home I realised how excited / privileged I'd been to see them (even without taking any photos). It was at that point that I made a vow to stop wasting my hours getting jealous over the other opportunities afforded to others, instead focusing on the opportunities afforded to me - and specifically the wildlife here on this beautiful land we call Britain. The choosing (as you will read in the above blog post) of the 5 was, at times, quite traumatic ... several species which were nailed on certainties at the start were now struggling to even make the Euro League places (sorry if you don't follow football ) Anyway as per my promise 1st October I had my 5, each special to me in one way or another. (Roe Deer, Kingfisher, Water Vole, Red Squirrel, Otter)

And so, almost 6 months since the start of this project, how are things going? Well the project itself is going well - it's tough, I knew it would be. There is a ton (and I mean a ton) of field craft that I am learning on a day by day basis. This was part of the project goals - not just to take photographs, but to understand the species in question, field craft, ecosystem it lives in, threats, helping hands from humans etc ....

One thing, and with this I'll end this rather long post, that has surprised me no end is how many other species I've ended up observing and shooting - simply because I'm spending much more time in the field. For example just the other day my first ever view of the Courtship Dance of the Great Crested Grebe .... I don't know how long I've waited on that but there it was - just because I was out there. It was magical !

I guess two important lessons learned;

- be not only satisfied with your own opportunities, but embrace them and work them hard
- make photos not procrastination

Hope you have enjoyed my little update - I'll do another one later in the year (I also update from time to time in my monthly newsletter) ..

Cheers all, and have a great day.

regards,

Nigel

 

[maninsuitcase]

Sounds like a fantastic project, and I am envious!

Perhaps once time is more on my side I can begin something similar. We have fox and roe locally for certain and allegedly badger and kingfisher but time has never been on my side to tackle them. Maybe I could add red squirrel with a visit to brownsea island or the Isle of white.

I have had success with the roe in the past, I've found they often tolerate your presence so long as you move slow, but the foxes are a bit jumpy about people.

 

[rob-nikon]

That's a great idea to concentrate on five species and learn about them. By visiting one species on several occasions does, well it seems to me, help your photography.

Thinking about it I also do a similiar thing as a concentrate on certain species as the seasons change. My big 5 this year would be barn owls, water voles, hares, red deer and grey seals, I should add red squirrels and puffins to that list too as I have some trips planned. I'm trying to decide on local species as most of the above mean travelling and I want to photograph local wildlife more this year too.

Good luck with your project, you will have to keep us updated. Will Nichols red squirrels book is a great read to learn more about them, and he's a member on here too.