On the 13th of February David led a one-to-one workshop where he concentrated on the beaches of Porthcurno and Pednvounder.  The winds had whipped up quite a rough sea which created a bit of drama in what must be one of the most beautiful locations in Cornwall.
David went on a rock pooling field trip on 11th of February.  This was led by Jasmine and Jo Clegg who found an amazing number of creatures to photograph.  Below are a few.  From top left: shanny; St Piran's crab (next to a common hermit crab); grey sea slug; sea spider with eggs; yellow-plumed sea slug; spiny starfish; snakelock's anemone; stalked jellyfish.  See Jasmine's instagram page: www.instagram.com/jazzysea
		On David and Sarah's smallholding there are a number of over-wintering chiffchaffs.  This one was spending some time picking off insects which were attracted to the blossom on this tree.
David has been photographing a starling roost in West Cornwall in recent weeks.  Tonight the conditions were ideal and the starlings were kept up for a long time by a few buzzards, a peregrine and a sparrowhawk.  The sparrowhawk features in one of the photos below.
You may have noticed that David's photo (right) of Godrevy appears on the cover of Cornwall Life this month (Feb 2020).  Clearly the cover is a crop from this image, but here you see it in its full splendour!  Another of David's photos appears on the Cornwall Life national edition of the magazine.  Not quite sure why they use a different photo for the two copies but there you go.
David has now processed the photos from his Falkland trip.  He has two Falkland talks planned: on the 13th of April David will present to Cornwall Wildlife Trust Photographic Group at The Trust's HQ at Allet, 7.30pm, charge for entry is £2 (proceeds go to CWT); David and Sarah will make a combined presentation at Townshend Village Hall on the evening of the 18th of April, again starting at 7.30pm, charge £3 (proceeds to village hall).  The photos below show: Falkland Skua; Blackish Oystercatcher with limpet; King Penguins; Elephant Seal flipper; Magellanic Oystercatchers displaying; Southern Rockhopper Penguin porpoising; Grass Wren in song; Cobb's Wren (an endemic sub species of the house wren).
There has been a significant gap in postings because David and Sarah have just had a holiday of a lifetime, visiting The Falklands and South America.  David has a lot of photos to process but below are a few images captured on The Falklands.  These show (from top left): Stanley; Gypsy Cove; Carcass Island; Black-browed Albatrosses displaying; Gentoo Penguin 'surfing'; Elephant Seals sparring. David will post more photos from this trip in the coming days but will have many more for putting into a talk that he is planning with Sarah.  There has been a great deal of interest in this trip from friends and other photographers who have an interest in The Falklands for a variety of reasons.  The islands truly are magical for wildlife.
Today David saw three roe deer in a field near Townshend.  He stalked one of them, a young buck, and took a few photos using the Canon 5D Mark IV and a 300mm lens with 2 x converter, hand held.  This was quite a confiding individual, hopefully it might frequent the same spot in coming days.
David hasn't been out doing much photography of late because of the relentless rain but here are a couple of photos that he has just processed from a backlog of files.  Daisy with dew: shows some beautiful details in the dew drops (actually rain drops!).  On the right is a snow bunting: there have been a few of these in Cornwall this autumn.
David has been awarded the Women's Institute shield for his contribution to speech, arts and photography in Cornwall for the year 2019.  This lovely shield will take pride of place on his mantlepiece for the year.
		After his talk at The Poly in Falmouth David has received many emails congratulating him on his new book.  One person wrote: "You’re truly an inspiration, and we are so very lucky to have you taking the time that you do to research and create such informative local pieces, which not only help to inspire us to get out and explore our surroundings more, but which crucially inspire us to care about these precious places and the nature which we are so fortunate to have living alongside us."
Yesterday (12th November) David had two talks but found time to visit Trebah Garden in the afternoon.  The light was lovely and there was still some autumnal colour despite all the strong winds of late.  These images will be put forward for use in Trebah calendars in future years.  If you want to buy one of David's calendars of Trebah Garden for 2020, it isn't too late, just pop into the garden shop (you could even buy some of his cards!)
David visited Pendeen Watch on 3rd of November.  There were a few moments of good light, looking along the coast towards Geevor.
David's long-awaited new book has now been printed.  'Where to Watch Wildlife in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly' is now available from the publishers (Tormark) so if you want a copy please order one from your local bookshop; price £8.95; ISBN 9780850252002 This book describes almost a hundred locations across the county that are good for wildlife of various sorts.  It gives all the details you need to visit and see some very special flowers, insects, birds and mammals.
Look out for two magazine covers this month (November 2019).  On the cover of the Caravan and Motorhome Club Magazine is David's photo of Greenburrow Engine House (below left) and on the cover of Cornwall Life is a shot that David took of Port Isaac at dusk (below right).
Below is a photo taken in Godolphin Woods on a misty October morning; to the right is a common stinkhorn fungus: this species attracts flies which spread its spores.
David has just spent some time on The Wirral, below are shots of: a flock of knot; a flock of oystercatchers (both taken on the Dee Estuary); a view of Little Eye (one of the two small islands on the way out to Hilbre Island) and a roost of redshank at West Kirby.
David's calendar for Cornwall Hospice Care, 2020 is now being sold in all Cornwall Hospice Care shops around the county.  Please support this important charity by purchasing one.
David and Sarah have just spent a fortnight on the Isles of Scilly.  David has been experimenting with an underwater housing for his DSLR, these are some of his first shots and show: a well-camouflaged common goby; grey seal; juvenile pollock and a shore crab.  The two photos on the left were taken with a 100mm macro lens; the two on the right were with a 16 to 35mm lens.  Thanks to Jo Clegg for her help in identifying some species, see more of her photos at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/abstractnature/
		David has had a busy few days.  Above and below are shots taken in St Ives.  Above right is Lanyon Quoit at night; left is Chun Quoit on a windy evening and below left are some hornets flying around their nest.
On the 3rd of September David went along to help Becky Curtis with her WI phone photography day, which was a great success.  He went for sunrise and stayed until the harbour went into the shade in the evening.  The picture on the right was taken early in the morning with a long exposure; the two below were taken in the early evening.
David took Cornwall Wildlife Trust Photo Group to Windmill Farm for a day of photographing dragonflies and other insects.  Here is a selection of four photos of common darters taken on the day.  From top left: a pair in mid-flight; a female photographed early in the morning with dew; a pair egg-laying and finally a newly-emerged individual.
A few weeks ago David's attention was taken by a swimming caterpillar in his pond.  On closer inspection there were a lot of them eating bogbean which looked quite devastated.  David reared some of these caterpillars to check their identity.  They were gold spot moths and very beautiful too.  You will be pleased to know that the bogbean is now recovering.
David's latest article for Nature TTL has been published, this one is on the rules of composition, follow this link to see his articles: https://www.naturettl.com/author/david-chapman/
David and Sarah had a week away in their van on The Roseland.  Here is a crop pattern near Portscatho and a hummingbird hawkmoth in Portscatho (their wings beat 85 times per second!)
Here are a couple of dragonfly photos taken this month.  A female keeled skimmer in dew and a male beautiful demoiselle (look closely and you will see another winged insect hitching a ride on the back of the demoiselle!)
Are you looking for inspiration for what to photograph in summer?  Then read David's article on the Nature TTL website here: https://www.naturettl.com/author/david-chapman/
Since David got back from Hungary he has spent some of his time photographing green woodpeckers in his meadow where he has also photographed the young rabbits.
David spent a week in Hungary with friends at the beginning of July.  He took many photos of which only a small selection is viewable below: bee-eater; crossbill; greenfinches; great crested grebe with young; hoopoe; little owl; otter with perch; squacco heron; red-backed shrike; tree sparrow.
David has been busy photographing spring flowers in various parts of Cornwall.  Here are four recent images showing gladioli (whistling jacks) with Logan Rock; bluebells at Wheal Owles (Poldark's mine); oxeye daisies at Kynance Cove; thrift at Bedruthan Steps.