Just Wild Images- by Will Bowell

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Just Wild Images- by Will Bowell

Wildlife photograph and more by William Bowell.

10/09/2026

The Freiston Shore Wryneck was an exceptionally confiding bird. On Tuesday, with just a few of us present, it would often fall asleep just a few feet away from us. Surely one of the most characterful birds on the British list?

Even more to follow!

📷 Canon UK R5 Mk II + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM

More on my blog justwildimages.blogspot.com

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08/09/2026

I can't believe I forgot to post these shots from back in June. This is one of my favourite images of the juvenile Long-eared Owls from this spring. On this particular evening three of us watched it quarter a field up and down, and the setting sun shining through the wings gave them a beautiful warm glow.

There are lots more of Long-eared Owl photos on my blog. justwildimages.blogspot.com

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📸 Canon UK R6 Mk2 + EF 500mm f/4 L IS II USM

07/09/2026

Wrynecks are a very special bird to me. My first was on 1st October 2000, when I was on a walk around Bourne with my late Grandfather. As we walked on the edge of town — now firmly in the middle of the Elsea housing estate! — a bird flew up off the path onto the fence beside it. I knew what it was but couldn't remember the name, though I knew I had seen it in the bird books. We walked back to the house, looked it up and there it was — Wryneck!

We went back and the bird was still there, hopping about on the short grass and showing down to just a few metres. I did a few sketches and went home to report it on Birdline. One of the last ones I saw before this was at Ferry Meadows, found by my friend Mike Weedon — whilst I was round at my grandparents' celebrating my Grandfather's birthday! We talked fondly of the time we had found one together some 22 years prior.

Sadly, my Grandfather is no longer with us, but he was very much in my thoughts when I went to see the recent Freiston bird last week. After a short wait it eventually showed well, and at times the crowd was just two of us — which made the encounter all the better. It fed and slept just metres away, completely fearless. A fantastic bird, just like my first all those years ago.

More to follow!

📷 Canon UK R5 Mk II + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM

More on my blog- justwildimages.blogspot.com

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06/09/2026

A few more from the windswept cliffs of my favourite islands. I particularly like the dark backgrounds that the cliff shade provided — it gives the images a really dramatic feel.

📷 Canon UK R5 Mk II + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM

More on my blog- justwildimages.blogspot.com.

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05/09/2026

At the end of August, a Death's Head Hawk-moth was found in Deeping St James. I'd never seen one before, so it was great to have the opportunity to see this beast up close.

They get their name from the skull-like pattern on their thorax, but they are so much more than that. As well as being a monster of a moth and genuinely rare in the UK, they also produce a remarkable squeaking noise — which this one did very briefly. Very cool indeed!

📷 Canon UK R5 Mk II + Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

More on justwildimages.blogspot.com

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04/09/2026

One of the diagnostic features of a Curlew Sandpiper is its white rump! White rumps are a great feature for the novice birder to look out for, with only a limited number of species showing this characteristic. This juvenile walked up to us to within just a few feet though, so seeing this important identification feature was very much a bonus rather than a necessity!

📷 Canon UK R5 Mk2 + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS R5 Mk2 + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM

📖 More wildlife photos on the blog — justwildimages.blogspot.com

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03/09/2026

Puffins were apparently late back to Shetland this spring, which meant our family holiday in mid to late August to Orkney and Shetland was blessed with plenty of them. We visited Sumburgh at sunset on a few evenings to watch them fly in, and even saw a Puffin pop out of a cave. One day we visited Eshaness — quite simply some of the most stunning cliffs in Shetland, and possibly the world.

I watched the Puffins hurl themselves into the cliffs at high speed at Eshaness. I waited above one geo where they flew into the shade of the cliffs, but would often miss their landing and have to go around again because of the wind — which gave me just enough time to track and grab a few shots. I barely got any keepers, such was their speed. But it was great fun to try, and a truly stunning setting.

Don't tell my wife I was on the edge of the cliff…

📷 Canon R5 Mk II + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM

More on justwildimages.blogspot.com

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31/08/2026

Last week I enjoyed a great evening with this Curlew Sandpiper on an old brick pit in the middle of a housing estate south of Peterborough. Quite a random site, but I can well imagine something rarer turning up here if anyone checks it regularly. Tame waders are always special, and this one walking right past us at just a few feet was pretty mega!

📷 Canon UK R5 Mk2 + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS R5 Mk2 + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS

📖 More wildlife photos on the blog —justwildimages.blogspot.com
Follow Just Wild Images- by Will Bowell for more British wildlife photography and birding stories. 📷🌿

29/08/2026

We had a wonderful couple of weeks in Orkney and Shetland. Orkney was a new set of islands for me and I really enjoyed exploring them. One of the big differences from Shetland was the number of butterflies — Painted Ladies and Small Tortoiseshells were present in big numbers, especially at Deerness.

Whilst out birding with my friend David Roche, who lives on Papa Westray, I came across this Hummingbird Hawk-moth — not exactly what I expected to find in Orkney! Whilst at Deerness we also had an American Golden Plover fly over our heads calling — a fantastic bonus. It seemed a great spot for migrant birds and is certainly somewhere I would revisit.

📸 Canon UK R6 Mk2 + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS U R6 Mk2 + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM!

📖 More from my local wildlife photography on the blog — link in bio!

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28/08/2026

There is something truly special about tame juvenile waders, fresh off the Arctic tundra. The first humans this Curlew Sandpiper had ever come across were probably standing at a Peterborough brick pit — which is completely bonkers when you think about it.

It didn't just show well, it actually walked up to Mike Weedon and me, coming to within less than two feet at times, feeding happily and completely unperturbed. This photo shows the rarely seen tongue — long like a woodpecker's!

📷 Canon UK R5 Mk2 + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM

📖 More wildlife photos on the blog — justwildimages.blogpost.com

Follow Just Wild Images- by Will Bowell for more British wildlife photography and birding stories. 📷🌿

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