African Adventures...

Various images from my African trip that haven't seen the light of day since 2007 and so they've been lurking in my archives. I'm glad that I took the time to look back at them. What do you think..?

Click on the images to enlarge. 

Blink and you'll miss it...!

Spent a wonderful day today on the top of the cliffs near Dover photographing the resident Peregrine Falcons in the good company of my friend and fellow wildlife photographer Tony Flashman. As soon as we arrived at the local spot we could see the falcons riding the thermals into the prevailing winds.

After shooting a couple of frames handheld the birds quickly dived into the lee of the cliffs out of our view, allowing time to set up the tripod whilst dodging the many tourists who were trying to get photos of the recent landslide. Soon the falcons were back on the wing..!

Despite having considerable focal length (500+ mm) the birds still seemed quite distant, however, it made for some great 'environmental' type of shots, including the many occasions when the falcons were mobbed by the resident gulls. (Click on the images to see slightly larger versions)

The Dog Fight - the Falcon showing prowess in flight against a gull.

Aerobatic masters of display.. 

You can't help but be mesmerised by their agility...

And then for something different... 

Having watched two falcons flying elegantly between the various cliff faces and in and out of the many crags and crevices, eventually the female landed on an outcrop and displayed to her mate who was calling in the air nearby. Within seconds, the male swooped in and mounted the female into a mating embrace, I had a huge smile on my face having just captured the moment in the camera! Below are a couple of images from the sequence..

Steady as it goes...

Got to admire the skill of performing this whilst balancing precariously 

150 feet up on a cliff edge with the male balancing on her back, almost still in flight..! 

A day with a Water vole

I spent a very enjoyable day today in the presence of a couple of Water voles and as well as obtaining a couple of nice images for the library I managed to bag a couple of short movies of these endearing little critters. Here are a couple of examples for you to enjoy!

All the best.

I am a Walrus..! 

You can't help but love these little mammals.. :-) 

All images and video were taken using a Canon 5D MKII

All Content © Brett Lewis Photography 2012