Badger Groom

I have been watching my badger sett of late, but so far no sign of any new cubs. I have to conclude that this year their just won't be any. I think this can only be because of the extreme drought of last autumn and this spring, coupled with an extremely harsh winter. These conditions will have put such a lot of pressure on the badgers to survive that nature will have decided it wouldn't be a good time to put further strain on the clan.

However, the clan does seem to be at its most relaxed that I have ever seen. It seems without cubs there is much more time for simply enjoying the late evening sun and grooming!

So as I won't be posting any new cubs photos, I thought you might like to see a few sketches of last year's cubs from my current exhibition.

I've got another wildlife group coming for an Introduction to Wildlife Watching safari tomorrow before the exhibition opens and I've got a few sightings planned that will hopefully come off!

Camoflague

Isn't this chick well camoflagued? I photographed it down the road from my gallery. Tawny owl chicks are very vulnerable to predators after they fledge, so they use camoflague to keep them safe.

The gallery has been really busy over the weekend, although it did go quiet at 3pm when the England v Germany match started!

The weather has been glorious, which has certainly helped.

I led an owl safari around this area with fellow naturalist Michael Flowers which went really well. There were 14 of us in total and we saw a male little owl hunting, a barn owl being mobbed by two kestrels, a roe deer, badger and then plenty of tawny owl feeding action from my kitchen window. Even I was amazed we saw so much!

The gallery is about to open again for another day, so I'd best get busy. We've also got Driffield Photographic Society coming for a visit this evening, so I've got my work cut out!

Not camera shy

A visitor to my exhibition just told me my exhibition managed to make it into the Daily Express today click here to see it!

All set! Exhibition starts today

The originals have been hung, the flowers cut and in their vases, the worktops polished, the floors swept and the sun is shining - I'm all set and ready to go. The doors open in an hour so fingers crossed I get lots of visitors!

For more on all the wildlife events taking place and for a sneak look at all my latest paintings click here to link to my website.

We've Got Brown Signs!

My gallery is now officially an accredited visitor attraction! Nine brown signs went up on all the roads surrounding the gallery this morning - just in time for the exhibition.

This is fantastic news as the gallery is very isolated and visitors are often getting lost on the Wolds trying to find us.

If you have any problems locating it click here for directions.

Last of the Originals

Here are the last of the new originals for the exhibition, which opens tomorrow:

Roe Deer with Fawns

Oil Painting 26" x 17 1/3"

£8,550

Fox Cub

Oil Painting 13 1/2" x 9 1/2"

£3,650

More new originals

Managed to get all the new originals framed and up on the walls now. Here are a few more, for those of you who enjoy this sneak preview of the exhibition.

Grebes
Oil Painting 9 1/4" x 11 3/4"
£3,650

Barn Owl with Rope
Oil Painting
13 1/2" x 9 1/2"
£3,650

Now I need to tidy up my studio, only two more days to go before the exhibition opens!