Sharing wildlife and a beer or two with a fellow enthusiast!

Neil in action!

Occasionally, it is really great to leave behind the pressures of work and everyday chores, to indulge in something you really enjoy - although it may appear to be a bit of a "busman's holiday"! A good friend of mine, who is an excellent photographer and has a similar passion for wildlife as I do, came to stay for the weekend. We visited some wonderful sites to see what we could find and potentially photograph, anything really from a plant to a butterfly.

I enjoy his company because he is the opposite of a “twitcher” - happy to pootle around a site, spending time observing both the common and occasionally, the less common in equal measure. We chat about what we find, learning from each other’s knowledge, but we often don’t speak for long periods too. This silence is usually broken by an expletive as one of us, having spent a number of minutes getting into a good position to photograph a butterfly or such like, has it speeding off just as we were about to press the shutter!!

What is also most enjoyable is retiring to the pub or back home to discuss the day’s findings and to put the world to right over a bottle of wine or two. What is less agreeable is seeing the quality of his photographs over mine – I really must book onto a photographic course this coming winter!!