Hoopoes must be amongst most people’s favorite birds. Their quirky but beautiful design is special, especially amongst any birds you’re likely to see in the UK.

The last time I saw one was in the Gwydyr forest. The report came out and nothing in this world was going to stop me seeing it the next day. I was there on site before it was light to see the poor bird in sleet, driven by a freezing gale.

This time I’ve been playing it cool.Or maybe it was just seasonal apathy. I’ll say “cool”.

This Hoopoe has been at Abergele for 3 weeks and I’ve only got around to seeing it today. There was no sign at first but our patience was rewarded after half an hour when the bird flopped into view and settled on the beach. I was even lucky that the pale winter light chose that moment to improve slightly for a few minutes before the sun disappeared for the day behind the hillside. I managed to rattle off some half-decent shots.

Brief moments like this give me the boost I need to make it through the dull winter months.

I’ve been up to all sorts of things recently but I’ve never had the time to post about them here.

I’ve been “messing with the universe” for one thing. This involves pointing the camera at the night sky and seeing what happens. The simple answer is much as expected. If you don’t take it too seriously (I haven’t) then you end up with fairly mediocre results like I have.

The Orion Nebula

The Moon

and Jupiter – you can just see the weather bands.

Since then I’ve been to the Spinnies nature reserve.

…. and I’ve even been doing a bit of Still Life work for the first time – this was fun but it took me nearly and hour to set up and get the lighting right. Very seasonal!