Just stumbled upon this article on the net! As we are all photography lovers, I’m delighted to share it with you

The winners in twelve categories of the 2011 British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPAs) have been announced.

Aiming at honoring talented wildlife photographers, this year’s competition attracted thousands of photographers across the country and was considered as “a special opportunity to give the natural world that surrounds us the recognition, and reverence, it deserves.”

Jellyfish in the Blue Sea of Sula Sgeir, Scotland by Richard Shucksmith

Richard Shucksmith is the 2011 BWPAs overall winner with his photos of a jellyfish entitled “Jellyfish in the Blue Sea of Sula Sgeir, Scotland”. He captured the image at Sula Sgeir, a small uninhabited Scottish island, 41 miles north of Lewis.

This photo also wins the Coast and Marine category

“Mystical Deer” taken by Mark Smith in Richmond, Surrey, England, wins Animal Portraits category

“Champagne Starling” captured by David Biggs in Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, wins Urban Wildlife category

“Grey Heron Walking on Water” photographed by Andrew Parkinson in Derbyshire, England, wins Animal Behaviour category

“Busy Wasp on Blackberries” taken by Rana Dias in Horley, Surrey, England, wins Wildlife in My Backyard category

“Hare in Morning Light with Hoar Frost” posed by Ian Paul Haskell in Norfolk, wins Habitat category

“Scorpion Fly on a Leaf” captured by Leslie Holburn in County Durham, England, wins Hidden Britain category

“Thick-legged Flower Beetle on Corn Marigold” posed by Ross Hoddinott in Pentire Point, near Newquay, Cornwall, England, wins British Seasons category

“It’s Only a Game” photographed by Neil Aldridge in Hertfordshire, England, wins Documentary Series category

The winner of Young British Wildlife Photographers, Up to 11 Years category, is Walter Lovell, 8, with “Frog Checking Its Frogspawn”

The winner of Young British Wildlife Photographers, 12 to 18 Years category, is Oliver Wilks, 16, with “Red Fox Yawning After His Afternoon Nap”

“Ladybird on Rose” taken by William Richardson in London, England, is highly commended in Hidden Britain category

Summer Wildlife 2011

Source of the article: Ezimark.com

Enjoy!

Janice

Source: Journal Vert - Edition#97- Vol2 - Aout-Sept 2011

This spectacular shot was taken at the entrance of Katlian Bay, in Alaska. The whale came up to the surface to gather food from a bank of herrings. (They are visible around the kayak.)

The kayakist, a dentist from Sitka, has not been injured and survived this terrifying experience.

The shot was immortalized by someone that was inside the ferry terminal who couldn’t do much more than shouting encouragement words to the sporty kayakist enticing him to paddle faster, while keeping his fingers crossed.

OUF!

That’s what we call a close-up view of a whale!!

Whale Watching Tour in Zodiac Boat on St Lawrence River - Tadoussac, Quebec

It reminds me of some thoughts of fear that creeped to mind while whale watching on the  St-Lawrence River in the beautiful Province of Quebec, Canada, last year.

Departure from Tadoussac Harbor -Whale Watching- St Lawrence River, QC, Canada | Photo Scotiana.com 2011

We were 12 people + the captain, in a zodiac embarcation, and were not too assured that a whale could not lift us up in the air if it so wished!

Whale Watching on the St Lawrence River, near Tadoussac, QC, Canada | Photo: Scotiana.com 2011

Difficult to say what kind of whales we’ve seen here, given the fact that we can see so little of the beast. There were many “common rorquals” for sure and maybe a blue whale. There  seemed to be two distinct species swimming there.

Whale Watching on the St-Lawrence River, near Tadoussac, Quebec | Photo: Scotiana.com 2011

Just in front of us… a few yards only! It suddenly came to our mind that they might be swimming under the boat… Mightbe or maybe?!

Anyway, it’s magical time!  Everything is so quiet!  So luminous!

That’s really a great moment on our Blue Road adventure! We’ll never forget it!

Whale Watching on the St Lawrence River inside a Zodiac boat near Tadoussac, Quebec | Photo: Scotiana.com 2011

All went fine and we came back safe and sound with the most fondest memories of this very spectacular adventure.

Talk soon!

Have a great week.

Janice

PS: Don’t forget to bring your camera where ever you go

Update:

Surfing can lead you to BIG encounters! Watch this short video where surfer was almost swallowed by a whale!

Eastern Grey Squirrel-Photo Janice Dugas

I am happy to give a web presence to my little friend Peek-a-Boo.

Isn’t he cute ? I named this Eastern grey squirrel  Peek-a-Boo, because he makes multiple, very short appearances, in front of my office window from within the front lawn cedar bushes.

Poor him, he has fierce competition in finding food as we noticed lately that we have much more black squirrels in the neighborhood than previous years.

How come those little black squirrels seem to spread so fast?

Curious to know the answer, I googled on it and found the following information:

It was thought that British black squirrels, that appear to be more aggressive than the greys, were a mutant produced by two grey squirrels mating.

However scientists looking at the growing population in the eastern counties have found that the black squirrels are in fact an introduced subgroup that escaped from a menagerie of exotic animals in the east of England more than 100 years ago.

The first wild black squirrel was spotted in 1912 outside Letchworth in Hertfordshire and has been spreading throughout the area since.

The latest estimates show there could be as many as 25,000 in the east of England. Around Hitchin and Letchworth the black squirrels already outnumber greys and could be dominant throughout the eastern counties in the next 20 years.

Source:     By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent .    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/4298608/Origins-of-British-Black-squirrel-discovered.html

Black Squirrel-Photo Janice Dugas

Red Squirrel - Photo Marie-Agnes Leducq

with the help of little furry animals…