Red squirrel reflections

Please view it in large!

As an early birthday present, my grandparents (through mum) arranged a wildlife photography workshop with a young photographer, Will Nicholls, this morning. It was all kept secret until we were driving there and mum couldn't keep it in any longer. He's known for his wildlife photography, but mainly for his photographs of squirrels. We spent 4 and a half hours in the hide, photographing the wildlife there which included a (very persistent) pheasant, woodpeckers, chaffinches, robins, blue tits and the such. After 3 hours of waiting, it was starting to get slightly frustrating that the squirrel still hadn't appeared, just luck of the draw I suppose...but then Will spotted one of the squirrels that frequents the woodland. After that, she came back to the area several times, eating hazelnuts and taking some away to bury before coming back again. This was (amazingly) over an hour period that I was able to see and photograph the squirrel. Quite a substantial learning curve but with some helpful guidance on camera settings, I was able to get what I consider a great shot.

It's very addictive, I can understand how he manages to spend hours on end waiting for the small moments of activity and it's all worthwhile when you come away with shots that you are happy with!