PotM Calendar
The Photo of the Month (see gallery) is a year-round calendar of wildlife and nature images with story contributions from visitors, friends and fellow photographers.
When it comes to nature photography, it's not only those exciting tales of high adventure that often accompany talent and skill for a fabulous result. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a well-timed shot or well-framed one can say as much about you as a photographer. So, if you'd like to showcase one of your pictures here, free, for one calendar month with a bio or personal account, then this page is for you.
The Big Cat Sanctuary, Smarden, Kent
Unfamiliar to most is Africa’s largest small cat, the caracal, also known as the desert lynx. Although lynx-like, down to its size and ear tufts, genetic differences have placed this sandy brown evolutionary copycat into a family of its own. Still, they’ve more in common with true lynxes than their DNA suggests, but with one remarkable distinction – when it comes to catching birds, they seldom miss.
Cats have some of the best night vision and hearing amongst mammals, and caracals have capitalised on those features with a 260-degree field of vision and ears that can pivot in any direction. A stealth superpower that eliminates the need to turn their heads whilst remaining totally focused on their prey. With enhanced reflexes, extraordinary agility and coordination, long, powerful hind legs enable it to jump as high as three meters from the ground to catch birds in the air so fast that most “never knew what ate them!” Add sharp incisors and claws to their prowess, and you've a formidable feline, well-equipped for more than just fast food on the fly.
For aeons, their natural aggression and solitary wanderings have led to numerous territorial conquests across southern Africa and the steppes of Asia, resulting in a widely divided genus of nine distinct subspecies ranging from the Barbary Coast to Dagestan. But it’s in sub-Saharan Africa that this 15kg seldom-seen cat is well-known throughout the savannahs and deserts as one of the most skilful and effective predators on the plains.
Special announcements or simple hellos. Place your message or link here as part of your PotM agreement. With nine places left for 2026, the PotM Calendar is closed until March 18th. To learn more about posting news, comments and events under a PotM agreement, please visit our Terms of Use page, where you can submit your photo (along with your story) during the last two weeks of every month.