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 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.
December 2023
Brownsea Island, Dorset
First brought to Europe from Asia by the Romans and then to Britain by the Normans, the common pheasant has been bred as a game bird since the 1600s, yet despite an annual release of over 40 million of them for shooting, relatively few live to reach maturity.
Between October and January, birds that manage to escape the beaters and guns come poorly equipped for life in the wild. Being caged from birth and then suddenly thrust out into the countryside, many lack the intelligence to fly far away. Else need time to orientate themselves towards places of food and safety, as well as identify dangers they must learn to avoid. Yet, time is a luxury they can scarcely afford. Threats and perils abound, and from our widespread use of cars, their introduction to the pace of modern life is typically the end of the road for many a gormless pheasant thirteen times more likely to be run over than any other British bird.
As bird-brained as she may be, no such outcome awaited this half-witted hen in the safety of Brownsea Island, where the threat responses of pheasants there are as thick or as sparse as the cover they shelter in – a striking contrast to the fate of millions of them now facing that perilous flush towards freedom, only to gamble their lives in a most dangerous game by crossing a road someday, perhaps in front of my car, or possibly yours.
Post your news and messages here!
Special annoucements or simple hellos. Place your message, link, advert or invitation here as part of your PotM agreement. With no places left for 2023, the PotM Calendar is now closed until December 18th.
Your Event Space
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 no places left for 2023, the PotM Calendar is now closed until December 18th.
Your Event Space
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 no places left for 2023, the PotM Calendar is now closed until December 18th.
Your Event Space
