PotM Calendar
The Photo of the Month (see gallery) is a year-round calendar of selected nature images and stories with 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 more than a thousand words, then a well-timed shot, or a well-framed one, can say as much about you as a photographer too. So if you'd like to showcase one of your pictures here, free, for one calendar month with a short story or personal account, then this page is for you.
March 2023
Wildwood Trust, Canterbury, Kent
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Every picture tells a story, and every photographer has a story to tell. Care to share?
Special annoucements or simple hellos. Place your message, link, advert or invitation here as part of your PotM agreement. With nine places left for 2023, the PotM Calendar is now closed until March 18th.
To learn more about posting news, comments and events here under a PotM agreement, see our Terms of Use page, where you can submit your photo (with your story) during the last two weeks of every month.
I was walking alongside one of the ponds in Lea Valley Park
Special annoucements or simple hellos. Place your message, link, advert or invitation here as part of your PotM agreement. With nine places left for 2023, the PotM Calendar is now closed until March 18th.
To learn more about posting news, comments and events here under a PotM agreement, see our Terms of Use page, where you can submit your photo (with your story) during the last two weeks of every month.
Well-Spotted by Peter Fletcher
As I was walking to some local shops near the Galliards Estate, I heard a chick calling from one of the lime trees by Jubilee Parl. At first, I looked and looked...
Special annoucements or simple hellos. Place your message, link, advert or invitation here as part of your PotM agreement. With nine places left for 2023, the PotM Calendar is now closed until March 18th.
Six centuries ago, Scandinavians spoke of a large white roof-dwelling bird that delivered newborn babies. Back then, it was customary for Nordic people to marry during the summer solstice when storks began their annual migration from Europe to Africa and returned nine months later to raise their young. Their arrival would herald the springtime baby boom, giving rise to the notion that their presence was somehow connected to a safe delivery during childbirth. So began the myth of the winged white stork successfully bringing a child to its jubilant parents.
They're still considered a sign of fertility, new life, good fortune and prosperity. Hence, on returning to Europe’s towns and villages, many are encouraged to nest on purpose-built platforms on rooftops and poles. First, the males, followed by the females a week or so later. Yet despite a preference for the highest and flattest surfaces, they're not so adept at nest building; construction consists of a circular bed of twigs filled with soil, leaves and grasses. Something they add to every season that can gradually weigh as much as a ton as the years go by.
It was once believed they paired for life, but research has shown that storks are more faithful to a nest than a mate – nests that are vehemently contested whenever a former partner, or a pair, return later than expected. Indeed, disputes with owners who rule the roof can be so violent that those evicted by them know to stay clear of the storks of the town.