Cromford Canal Water Voles

Today saw me going after something cute and cuddly for change the water vole, the fastest declining mammal in the UK. Cromford Canal is a excellent site to see them and also holds a good population of rather friendly little grebes (above). I've never been to the canal and not seen a vole so the pressure was on not the break my record!

In some of the thicker areas of weeds i could hear a deep croaking sounds and found some common frogs which is unusual for the middle of the day but made for some up close images.

The canal is mostly unused so this means the water is very clear and you can see the pike swimming in the all the vegetation, i filmed this pike with my Underwater Camera (this is screen grab from the film). Theirs
 a good number of pike in the canal but you hardly see any other species of fish so its mystery what they eat! (though i did see one grab a frog)

In the end i was lucky enough to see four water voles along a 5 mile stretch of the canal but this one showed itself the best. They can draw quite a crowd and you often see groups of wildlife photographers on the banks after them so i try to go on weekdays when its less busy.

BBC Wildlife Local Patch Reporter
Jack Perks

@JackPerksPhoto
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Website: www.jackperksphotography.com

Grayling & Pike in the Peak District

Grayling other wise known as the lady of the stream are a truly beautiful fish and a member of the trout family. One of the things I've started doing is trying to capture fish behaviour in this case males competing for the prime position and females.

This grayling bumped into the camera a few times! normally they can be quite a shy fish

This male had chased all others away and stayed in this area for a while

Grayling Fighting Video

Not to far away in Cromford Canal there are good numbers of pike

I was a bit unsure what they eat as the only other fish i saw was a brown trout which was actually bigger then the pike and attacked them!

The pike seemed to be gathering for breeding and the pike in the canal also seemed a bit smaller then there river cousins likely because of habitat size and food availability.

Hints -

- Take it slowly the fish are very spooky!
- Visibility is everything and you need it to get the clear shots
- Make sure you wash off after as there are plenty of nasty diseases in rivers like weils disease



www.jackperksphotography.com

Travelling to London for a Urban Photography Workshop organised by ideastap i really wasn't sure what to expect but turned out to be a fantastic day trip.

Led by wildlife photographer Ian Green who I'd highly recommend if you ever get the chance to do one of his workshops! as well as myself several other ideastap members came along.

 Starting of at Camley street natural park right next to st pancras this chiff chaff was hoping around after insects and posed nicely on this post.

One of the themes i got from the workshop was to include wildlife and the urban environment so trying this out here with the buildings in the background and swan in foreground.

One of the things about camely that attracted me to it was the terrapins present as i have a deep interest in all things scaly!

a unexpected find but a pike came in to investigate along regents canal.

finishing the day off at regents park lots of grey herons present and other water fowl.

Hints -

• Although I'd say i have a fairly good understanding of photography its always good to meet other people who do similar things and share ideas and tips.
• London has all manner of tame wildlife and well worth a shoot!
• get onto websites that have prises, competitions and give aways as you never know if your gonna win!

www.jackperksphotography.com

Wollaton Park, Nottingham

Meeting up with a past photography tutor of mine we decided to go to Wollaton park a large deer park about 20 minutes bus ride from the city centre, its also the scene of wayne manor in the new batman film.

The building around were home to some swallows nesting and feeding their young.

Following on from the swallows we walked around the lake where using polarising sun glasses spotted a pike in the water so used the gopro to get a 'rough' shot but can always come back with more equipment.

finally one of the dogs we were walking with spotted something so i rushed to to find a female red deer in the clearing presenting a great opportunity.

Hints -

- Although dogs aren't always the best idea for wildlife shoots (especially deer) in this case it spotted the deer well before me so do have uses.

-  Getting rough or recca shots give me a idea of whats there and better prepare me for next time.

- today the conditions were rainy and very overcast but don't let this put you off as the light is very even and animals dont have the blearing sun in the eyes making them more aware of there surrounds.

Website : www.jackperksphotography.co.uk