Ben Locke
I’ve removed the graph functionality from the species list. I vaguely remember stating at the time that I implemented it that it was kind of pointless and more of a learning experience for me than anything else. The site statistics back this up, with barely anyone looking at the graph page. For that functionality to … Read more
The problem I wrote about a day or two ago has now been resolved. In an effort to minimise server memory usage, I have a means of making sure code is only loaded as and when it is needed. As a basic example, there’s no need to load all the stuff related to displaying videos … Read more
Another three images have been added to the gallery. The characterful Red Squirrel was photographed at the northern end of the Cairngorms in Scotland. The Red-winged Starling was within the Olifants Rest Camp overlooking the spectacular Olifants River, while the Bateleur was photographed during a dash back to Skukuza to catch a flight to Johannesburg. … Read more
The species list hit a milestone today. I have now photographed 1500 species! Of course, such a figure is completely arbitrary and meaningless, but it’s a nice round number. So what was the 1500th species? It was this White Plume Moth (Pterophorus pentadactyla), seen here on the cover of my copy of ‘British Moths’! It’s … Read more
When I add a new image to the gallery, I have a semi-automatic process in place to create a product from that image. It’s worked really well up until now. For reasons that I’m yet to get to the bottom of, I’m no longer able to convert new images into products. This makes no difference … Read more
Just a quick note to say that I’ve added Vero to the links page. I don’t really know how many people use Vero, but it’s quite a nice platform, free of ads, and a timeline governed only by time. It wasn’t previously possible to view pages outside of the mobile apps, but now users have … Read more
I’ve made a very small tweak to the Species List. It’s so small it’s hardly worth mentioning, but this section of the website (thankfully!) needs updating less and less these days. Anyway, the tweak is just the addition of a line above the species list to give the headline total of species photographed. The figure … Read more
All the H’s have been added to the gallery today, but across three different continents. Firstly, the Pied Malabar Hornbill which was photographed at the northern end of Sri Lanka in the Wilpattu National Park. Next is the African Hunting Dog (Painted Wolf, African Wild Dog, etc) photographed in South Africa (more on that experience … Read more
It was a scorcher of a day yesterday, and I spent it trying to locate and photograph two of our rarest butterflies – the Heath Fritillary on Exmoor and the High Brown Fritillary on Dartmoor. Both species were found in abundance, but the heat meant that neither species was prepared to settle down for more … Read more
Three new photographs have been added to the gallery. Firstly, a Grey-headed Fish Eagle photographed in Udawalawe in Sri Lanka. Next is a Red Fox photographed in the Forest of Dean and finally the bird that occupies a huge amount of my time at this time of year, the European Nightjar. This photo shows a … Read more