Wildlife

James Lowen

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13 February 2014

Sneakily, stealthily and unhealthily, I appear to be rediscovering an interest in seeing rare birds in Britain. Perhaps this is because my world list is effectively static now that we are based back in Blighty. Perhaps it is simply due to winter making other wildlife less obvious (although I was cheered by finding some Bee Orchid rosettes last weekend. Whatever the reason, a quick trip down the M20 to Hythe was in order to get soaked in a Kent monsoon while seeing the rather interesting heron that has taken up residence there. It appears to be a first-winter Chinese Pond Heron (although the bird information services have not yet stuck their necks out to this effect). Initial assumptions of a captive origin appear to be undermined by a failure any avian collections in Europe with this species. That, in turn, has led to conjecture that this long-distance migrant could actually be a wild bird. In which case it could become a first for Britain. So here is a terrible record shot of a sodden Ardeola...

Wild Travel are offering a reader discount on the book - so if you haven't yet bought a copy, here is a bargain-priced opportunity to do so!

14 February 2014

The March issue of Wild Travel - published today - contains one of my articles in the new 'WildUK' section of the magazine. The article is about a weekend in the Suffolk sandlings, looking for Adders, Dartford warblers and the like. If this sounds familiar, that's because the suggestion also features in my book 52 wildlife weekends.

8 February 2014

I have a new articlepublished today in the March issue of BBC Wildlifemagazine.

As part of the 'wild weekend' series (not dissimilar to 52 wildlife weekends!), I investigate claims that herds of Chinese water deer, a normally solitary cervid, graze the Great Fen of Cambridgeshire.

6 February 2014

I love Mediterranean Gulls. In my Yorkshire youth, they were not far off a red-letter bird: I spent many an afternoon scanning the local gull roost trying to find one. Now they are a frequent sight in much of England.

Not that frequency devalues them, in my book. That combination - on an adult - of piratic mask, bill dripping blood and icy wings means I cannot get enough of them.

This adult flew past me on Great Yarmouth beach a few days ago, while I was forlornly walking past concealed Shore Larks. For a wider selection of images of this and other 'Meds' I have photographed, visit my photographic website.

1 February 2014 One of the the joys of being a freelance photographer is having unexpected requests to publish your images. Today saw two such purchases, both of nationally threatened invertebrates.

First, another book credit: Fen Raft Spider in a new member of Bradt Travel Guides' Go Slow series. Second, a Shrill Carder Bee for... well, I don't know. This uncertainty is part and parcel of selling through an agent (in my case, FLPA). You know you've sold, but you don't know where...

30 January 2014

The February issue of Bird Watching magazine, containing my monthly column 'James Lowen's British Wildlife' is now on sale. This column features one of my photos (the curious Water Vole, taken at RSPB Rainham Marshes in August 2012).

26 January 2014 52 wildlife weekends is being serialised in the Independent on Sunday (starting today)! The Indy will publish extracts from one weekend per month throughout 2014. This is my first broadsheet byline. Perhaps it will be the start of something?

21 January 2014

Great news! 52 wildlife weekends is being reprinted urgently due to rapid sales. The publishers (Bradt Travel Guides) can't keep up with demand - and expect this to rise further following the glowing review in the RSPB members' magazine (see review below, in the 6 January blog). Hot cakes...?

Although I have enjoyed plenty of Grey Phalaropes previously, never have I been within 50 metres of one. This individual reduced that distance to 50... centimetres! More images are on my photographic website, starting here.

14 January 2014 A fabulous morning photographing a ridiculously confiding Grey Phalarope in Sussex. I spent fully five hours lying on my stomach by the edge of a seafront children's paddling pool that this Arctic-born, normally ocean-wintering wader had adopted as home.

6 January 2014

52 wildlife weekends has been awarded 'Book of the issue' in Nature's Home (the RSPB members' magazine)!

The review describes the book as "beautifully written... packed with enticing images... both inspiring and practical... perfect for families, novice and even expert naturalists".

I am stoked. Should be good for sales too...

Blog

2 January 2014

A lovely afternoon enjoying the pre-roost gathering of Rooks and Jackdaws at Buckenham Carrs in the Norfolk Broads. In part due to loving Mark Cocker's book Crow Country, I have long yearned to photograph this black assemblage, which gathers as the skies darken.

Although I didn't quite get the result I was after, it was still good fun. Even more so given the supporting cast of a dozen Taiga Bean Geese, a furtive Chinese Water Deer and thousands of dabbling ducks and Eurasian Golden Plovers. I shall be back!