NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

In 1986 I spent two weeks driving around Israel with my good friend Sean McMinn. We spent most of the time in the very south of the country at Eilat. On such a winter's evening - dark and damp if not chilly - it is a boost to look back on warmer and bird-filled times... March 25 th 1986   The heavy rain that fell in the early hours had stopped by dawn. Thankfully the tent had proven its claim to be waterproof. We awoke to a cloudy and cool dawn with a northerly breeze. After a brief and modest breakfast, Sean and I drove out towards the fabled km32. Km32 literally referred to a kilometre distance marker that was to be found along the roadside that led northwards out of Eilat. There was, no doubt, also a km31 and a km33 post in existence, but for some reason lost in time, birders kept driving the 15 minutes from Eilat to km32 and km32 only, parking their cars and walking out into the desert towards the Jordanian border. It was consistently good for desert species. Nearby...

Had enough of me banging on about Priest Hill and Wheatears? Thought so. Here's a taster from a trip to Israel that I made in 1986 with my good friend Sean McMinn. Hula Swamp is a small remnant of a once great wetland that was systematically drained for use as agricultural land. However, what is left is set in a green, verdant world that seemed out of place in my pre-conceived idea of what Israel would be like. In fact most of northern Israel is lushly vegetated and beautiful in the same way as English countryside can be. The reserve at Hula was not dissimilar to an RSPB reserve back home – car park, visitor centre, wooden hides. The difference here was that there wasn’t anyone around and we had the place to ourselves. Although the reserve was not open as such, we still had access to the hides. The view from the first hide we entered was simply stunning. A flock of 154 White Pelicans were sitting on the water against a backdrop of sunlit hills. They were restless and soon...

I've never been one for 'having my picture taken'. It's not out of shyness, just an assumption that nobody would really want me in the way and spoiling their photograph. So, there are very few pictures of me in the field. I do know some people who do nothing but pose for the camera, and then post the images all over the place - each to their own, but not for me. I do, however, like taking photographs of wildlife. My family complain that I will happily snap away at a plant or a moth, but steadfastly ignore them. Guilty as charged... A rarity - a picture of me in the field! High Pines, Fraser's Hill, Malaysia, April 1994 It's not that I don't like people, it's just that somebody else always seems to be taking care of the photographic 'people' element in my life. My wife and daughter's have tens of thousands of images stored on the computer and backed-up elsewhere. We have a pile of photographic albums, full of old-fashioned prints. These...