Rtas' wildlife pics

Species : Red fox

Spot : Corrèze, France
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That's the only fox I ever managed to photograph in France where they are much less domestic than in the UK. I was on holidays with my grandparents and we found it on the road side, a bit disoriented. On this picture, he looks like he is hesitating over exploring the humans' world or not and this road represents the frontier and the point of no return. This picture is about urbanisation and how wildlife is forced to adapt to it. It's also about habitat fragmentation since this road is a deadly barrier this fox has to cross in order to look for food or a mate. With only one foot on the asphalt, this fox has to make a choice : staying in his countryside and disappear with it or reaching a new tarred world and survive as a scavenger among men.

Very beautiful specimen

Species : Great spotted woodpecker

Spot : Whiteknights lake, Reading, Berkshire, UK


When I was in Reading, one of our favourite activities with my friend the "robin whisperer" was to look for great spotted woodpecker holes. They were very common in Reading, even much more than they are in France. Once we had found one, we stayed hidden in the tall grass in front of the hole, waiting for the adult to come back to feed the chicks. Unfortunately, most of these holes were too high in the trees for us to take decent pictures. One day however, my friend told me he had found a very low one. Indeed, the hole was at eye level and it was possible to get very close to it. So close that we would disturb the woodpeckers and prevent the parents to get back to the nest... So, we did not wait in front of it as we used to and just took quick pictures before leaving. Fortunately I got one of the chick putting its head outside the hole. Indeed, this woodpecker is a young one, you can tell it from its all-red cap. Adult males only have a half-red cap while adult females have a totally black one.

Love the pictures of the wood and mandarin ducks! That's again a picture that shows your special feeling to this hobby. They are indeed the most beautiful duck species. So nice we can find both with beautiful representatives in toy shape. Love the story about the fox, gives a new dimmension to your picture. Glad also to know that in your hobby you respect as much as you can the wildlife but it was what I expected from you.

Thank you Roger !

Roger wrote:

They are indeed the most beautiful duck species.

The smew is also very nice.

We have many woodpeckers in our local woods and I never hear them drumming but I can hear the little "chip" calls from a mile off due to them being so distinct.

The species of tree you photographed this individual in is very similar to what our woodpeckers reside on.

I don't know what tree species it is, I have a very poor knowledge as far as plants are concerned.

Don't take it for the truth, but the horizontal stripes make me think it could be a kind of cherry tree.

Yeah it could be, it's a wild cherry if anything

Species : Alpine marmot

Spot : Pralognan-la-Vanoise, Savoie, France
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Many years ago, I went on holidays with my grandparents in the Massif Central, a highland region of low mountains and plateaus in the middle of Southern France. It was my very first time in the mountain. Despite the rather low altitude (especially compared to the Alps), several mountain dwelling animals can be watched there as they were introduced by men. From the car park of our self-catering property, I could see the chamois climbing on the slopes. But my grandfather wanted to show me marmots more than anything. We learnt from locals that marmots had been introduced in the Massif Central too but were rare and only lived quite high in the mountain. So we climbed until we got to the spot and, after quite a long time waiting without moving, a whole family of those adorable rodents emerged from its den.

A few years later, we came back to same exact place. I now owned a camera and had started wildlife photography so my goal was to get at least one decent picture of marmot. We climbed and got to the place but there seem to be no living soul... until I saw a very fat specimen a few dozen metres higher, on a big rock at the summit. I climbed again and tried to get closer carefully and discreetly but the beast flew as I was approaching and took shelter in its den, under the rock. So I hid behind another rock and waited, waited and waited again... I think I may have waited one hour and a half or two in the same uncomfortable position, aiming at the den's entry with my camera. In the end, I was just tired and bored. And that's precisely when I dropped my guard that the tricky rodent decided to get out ! It stood two or three seconds on the rock, with the sky as a background, the perfect photo I dreamt about ! But I missed it, because I was not ready...
I was litteraly desperate and extremely angry against myself. I thought I was a complete loser as I was not even able to succeed in my hobby. I even thought about stopping wildlife photography. But once down back in the village, I got more oxygen to think better and decided not to give up so easily. So, I bought a postcard with a marmot on it in order to never forget my failure and I swore to take my revenge !

You can easily suppose that photographing a marmot was one of the main goals of my recent journey to the Alps ! Before leaving, my grandfather told me : "You'll see Ben, it won't be as in the Massif Central. In the Alps, marmots are as numerous as chickens in a henhouse !" However, there was a big problem... Snow had fallen earlier than ever in the Alps this year. As a consequence, we would be unable to climb very high and there was a high chance marmots would hide in their dens. Moreover, it was supposed to start raining a lot as soon as the second day (the storm Alex was coming). However, I did not get discouraged and kept hope alive. During the first day we saw one or two marmots but I did not try to photograph them as I had just arrived and wanted to discover the place and not lose too much time (I intended to climb as high as and as fast as possible, hoping to find some ibexes). On the second day, the weather was already starting to get bad but we still decided to do a short and easier walk in the pastures. We saw a few marmots here and there but they were always too far so I did not even try to get a picture. And then, suddenly, my father saw one, larger and fatter than any other one we had seen until now, walking less than ten metres from us and even crossing the path before us. We litteraly snapped away at it and I manage to take one decent picture in full motion. The marmot carried on walking until large rock under which its den was located and met up with its little family. We stayed a few time near this rock and I took several more pictures. Most of them are sharper than this one but it still remains my favourite because it was the first one I took and it was shot in the heart of the action ! And also because the marmot is in the snow, of course
In the afternoon, it started to rain so we drove to the closest "big city" (3000 inhabitants is already a large town in the Alps !) to develop this photo in order to use it as a postcard I intended to send to my grandparents. I was proudly able to write them that, finally, I had taken my revenge !

So cool

I may have a beautiful house in the Alps but I have never (but really want to) see a marmot

Watching your pictures it is evident you are a serious wildlife photographer. However, reading your stories, I have a better perception of how seriously you take this hobby. You surely deserved this wonderful picture of this rodent. I think the fact that it is not in its traditionally photographed stance, turns your photo even more interesting. It is also really fat as you pointed, It looks almost as it is a different species.

Thank you Roger. Indeed, I have sharper and better exposed photos (you'll see them on my holidays topic) but this one remains my favourite because of its unconventional pose, the movement, the specimen's corpulence (a guy in the photo shop where I develop my pics thought it was a beaver) and because of the snow.

Splendid images and I love the story that goes with congratulations