My favourite 20 shots from 2021

2021 has been an 'interesting' year for me........in fact 2021, gave me my best wildlife shot ever!

The extremely elusive and nocturnal 'Genet' with prey.......a once in a lifetime shot!

The year started well and continued to develop into summer, but then spiralled downwards, as first, I needed to have a 'total knee replacement' in September, which ended my photographic year and then the tragic loss of my beloved 'soul mate' and best friend 'Gizmo', just a few weeks later.

The loss of Gizmo is still very raw and I make no apologies for starting this blog with my favourite picture of him.......I'm not sure when the pain will subside, but our hearts and souls, will forever be entwined.

'Gizmo' -  2007-2021 - who accompanied me on many of my shoots

I take many thousands of wildlife images every year, so it is realistically impossible to pick out just twenty of my favourite images from 2021. These are in no particular order, but simply reflect my 'targets' for the year, alongside some opportunistic shots that came my way. Many of them were taken from my hides and reflect days, weeks and even months of work, whilst others were a case of simply being in the right place, at the right time!

Anyway, each of them gave me immense satisfaction and I hope that you enjoy them.

Getting up close with a Hornet.....our 'macro' world is often overlooked.

Young Roe Buck venturing out of the woods.

Iberian Water Frog.......reflecting on a sunny day.

Definitely, my most powerful image of the year............the poor Sparrow and the Sparrowhawk portraying the difference between life and death in the wild.

Capturing a Butterfly 'in flight' was one of my most challenging pictures of the year.

My main target this year, was to photograph Kingfishers, so it is no surprise that they should feature heavily in my top 20 shots. With over 2 thousand images to choose from, it is an impossible task, so here are just 6, which show the personality of these stunningly beautiful birds.

Photographing these birds was a 3 month project.

Buzzard coming in to land.........I placed this tree stump in the middle of a field, in the hope that it would use it as a perch.

I have been photographing this 'Little Owl' for 5 years now!

Damselflies increasing the gene pool.

Fox on the prowl at 03.30 am

Common Wall Lizard not quite sure of the camera!

Bush Cricket......fancy meeting you up here!

Robber Fly invites Cranefly for lunch.

A very majestic Buzzard.....a regular visitor to one of my hides.

So there we are, my favourite twenty shots from 2021.

I am hoping that my ongoing physio, will allow me to get back 'out & about' in the woods, forests and lakes early in 2022..........I have lots of 'targets' on my list!

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