Small Heath butterflies never bask with their wings open and when they are active they always have their forewings raised revealing a conspicuous black eyespot set in orange. This is a deflecting eyespot that will direct the first strike of any predator away from the vulnerable body of the butterfly. But when they are truly at rest, for example when the temperature drops, that eyespot would be a liability. This is because a predator may direct its first strike at the eye, but if the butterfly was too cold and torpid to escape, the predator would keep on pecking until it found the tasty bit.

Because Small Heaths are usually on high alert, they are often skittish, and fly off if you try to approach them. So getting a shot like this required stealth. He's perched among heather on the moors of the Peak District in South Yorkshire. This species has declined massively in Britain but seemingly the declines have been less severe in the uplands.

Tags:   Coenonympha pamphilus Small Heath butterfly South Yorkshire Peak District Tim Melling

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I usually find Redwings much easier to photograph than Fieldfares but this winter the opposite has been true as this is my only photograph of a Redwing so far. Both species are wary and difficult but Redwing seems to throw in the towel sooner than Fieldfare. According to the BTO, Fieldfare is slightly the more numerous in Britain with 720,000 against Redwing's 690,000 wintering birds. They are classic night time migrants and if you go out at night in late October and early November you can hear the thin flight calls of Redwings flying over having just arrived from their Fennoscandian breeding grounds. Here is the call on Xeno-canto if you want to listen: xeno-canto.org/597995 . Some Redwings also arrive from Iceland but these are rarer with noticeably darker plumage and a thinner pale moustache. This bird is a European iliacus but here's a dark coburni in Iceland: www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/7171482499/in/photolist The scientific name Turdus is the Latin word for a thrush, whereas iliacus refers to the flanks. You can clearly see the orange flanks here that give rise to the common name Redwing. John Ray used the name Redwing in 1678 in the first British bird book in English (as opposed to Latin). He also used the names Swinepipe and Wind Thrush. Ninety years later Thomas Pennant singled out Redwing and the name has been with us ever since.

Tags:   Redwing Turdus iliacus South Yorkshire Tim Melling

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Here's a Long-eared Owl out hunting in the evening sunshine over the Peak District Moors. They are typically highly nocturnal but when they are feeding young they often start hunting before sunset.

Tags:   Asio otus Long-eared Owl Peak District moors west Yorkshire Tim Melling

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Crested Kingfisher (Megaceryle lugubris) ranges from northern India, across China to Japan. They seem to occur at pretty low density on large, fast flowing, clean rivers. They perch on wires, branches and rocks but they do not hover. Like most Kingfishers they excavate nesting tunnels in river banks. I photographed this one with its tail and crest raised at Tangjiahe in Sichuan, China.

There are just four Kingfishers in the genus Megaceryle, which are well distributed across the planet. There is the Belted Kingfisher of North America, Ringed Kingfisher of South America, Giant Kingfisher of Africa, and Crested Kingfisher of eastern Asia. There is overlap in size between these four huge Kingfishers but Crested at 41-43cm averages second largest after Giant Kingfisher, and the smallest is the Belted Kingfisher, which still looks huge.

Tags:   Megaceryle lugubris guttulata Crested Kingfisher China Tim Melling

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I have been lucky to have encountered quite a number of Blue Whales, but most views are of the back, or the tail flukes if you are lucky. But on my recent trip to the Sea of Cortez we came across a loose gathering of eight Blue Whales, and at least three were feeding. In the evenings the krill on which they feed migrate to the surface. This brings the Blue Whales to the surface to feed. They repeatedly lunged at the surface with their enormous mouths while their huge ridged throats inflated like a beach ball. The pectoral fin and one side of the tail were both visible above the surface when they lunged. The only trouble is that they were so close to the boat they were too big for my 500mm lens so I couldn't get the whole animal in. This shows the inside of the whale's mouth with the left side of its lower jaw high in the water with the erect left pectoral fin to the left. The upper jaw is also visible with the closed eye to the left near to the corner of the mouth. Blue Whale is the largest animal on the planet, moreover it is the largest animal that has ever existed, much bigger than any dinosaur. I know that this isn't an appealing photograph but it is interesting, and a rare sight.

Tags:   Balaenoptera musculus Blue Whale lunge feeding Sea Cortez Mexico Tim Melling

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