Wildlife | marc de ridder photography

I am sorry that I have been neglecting my own website for several years, favouring the simplicity and reach of my Facebook page to share my photos with family, friends, Facebook groups and anyone interested

The wildlife highlight of our two week stay in kastellorizo was, without a doubt, the loggerhead turtles frequenting the harbour. It was just wonderful watching the loggerhead turtles swim in the harbour, both during the

This is the second year in a row that we have baby robins in the garden. Inquisitive and less shy than their parents, the baby robins sit around long enough to let me go inside,

A visit to my mum and dad’s alway provides great opportunities to shoot the great spotted woodpecker that frequents their garden. Two images of the woodpecker taken during a brief visit on a very dull

As promised in my last post with the little egret, here are some photos of the whimbrel (numenius phaeopus). Seeing the whimbrel scurry along the rocky shore was a daily delight. It was hard to

Wildlife and birdlife is fairly sparse on La Gomera, especially in the winter. But for those keeping their eyes peeled, there are still some special birds to be seen. While staying in La Puntilla, with

The elephant stampede through the little village of Pinnawala can be witnessed several times in a single day when the elephant orphans are moved from their grazing grounds to the river and back. We arrived

While on safari in Yala Nature Reserve in Sri Lanka, our tracker told the driver to stop and then pointed out some small crocodiles sunbathing in the mud on the other side of a fair

This photo of a baby elephant paddling in the river is a taster of our visit to the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage which was probably the highlight of our two weeks holiday in Sri Lanka. Watching

During our safari at Yala Nature Reserve in Sri Lanka, we encountered plety of water buffalos. May not the most exited spieces we encountered, but they made for some spectecular sights. This one enjoying a

The second highlight of our river safari up the Balapitiya River in South West Sri Lanka was seeing the water monitor. We spotted it swimming towards the middle of the river, but as soon as

In this third and final part of my leopard trilogy, we see a different leopard sleeping in a tree. As some people never get to see a leopard on their Yala safari, we counted ourselves

In this second part of my leopard trilogy from Sri Lanka, the big male leopard sleekly wanders down from the undergrowth past a non-caring squacko heron before turning towards the water. However he decides to

While on holiday in Sri Lanka we experienced our first ever safari at the Yala Nature Reserve. Although there were a few highlights our experience was very disappointing. The safari consisted effectively of a two

In this third and last post of my trilogy on wild elephants in the Yala Nature Reserve in Sri Lanka, we have a young elephant searching for food. We watched this you elephants for a

Once the two munching wild elephants had crossed the track as shown in my previous post Is it a tree?, these two mother elephants, each with a cute baby elephant followed and crossed the track

While driving along a rough track through the Yala Nature Reserve in Sri Lanka, our driver stopped the jeep beside these unusual tree trunks. Before we realised it, the tree trunk moved, grabbing a bunch

On the last day of our holiday, we went on a short river safari up the Balapitiya River in South West Sri Lanka. Not the best choice of river for watching birdlife, as the banks

Our swallows are back from their African sojourn. At least four pairs have returned the very lengthy journey and are, once again, swooping through the fields, round the cottages and over the loch catching insects.

At the weekend, we finally got a couple of lazy days at the cottage, with time to enjoy some sunshine on the deck with a book, watching the birds and a little photography. We had

The seed feeders in our garden attract a large variety of finches and tits. The chaffinches are, without a doubt, the most numerous, easily outnumbering the green finches, gold finches, blue tits, coal tits, great

The fabulous weather has brought out the butterflies en mass this week, resulting in the unusual combination of red peacock butterflies feasting on bright yellow daffodils. I just love the beautiful colours of the daffodils and

The weather has been absolutely fantastic this week, more like having a mid somer’s day in the middle of March, than the heavy snow we had two year’s ago at this time. We have been

While making a coffee in the kitchen, Dowanhill Bob, our local sparrowhawk, swooped into the tree adjacent to our kitchen window, perching on a branch about one metre from the window. He happily sat there

It still amazes me how many people always congregate at the weir in the River Kelvin to admire the heron fishing on the far side, and how few people actually notice this lovely loud and

Dowanhill Bob, our local sparrowhawk, has been ruling the roost in the West End this winter, terrorising our garden residents, including siskins, goldfinches, robins, chaffinches, great tits, coal tits, blue tits, tree sparrows and even

While walking along the River Kelvin, halfway between the Botanics and Kelvinbridge, I spotted a pair of Goosanders standing on the rocky shallows in the middle of the river. The drake had it’s head tucked

We have seen this Sparrowhawk swooping through our garden for some time now, but three times this week, I’ve actually walked into the kitchen seeing it perched on a branch less than a foot away

First, the facts. The squirrel cuckoo or ‘kip cho’ in Mayan or ‘cuco ardilla’ in Spanish is a largish bird measuring up to 50cm in length, has reddish plumage on the upper parts and grey

While taking Lola out for a walk along the River Kelvin in the West End of Glasgow, I spotted two cormorants sitting on a derelict railway pillar in the middle of the river. Even though

And you thought that swallows were hard to shoot? Well you can think again… I have been on a quest to shoot swallows in flight this summer, and my, they are much harder to shoot than

And you thought whippets at speed are hard to shoot? Well you can think again… I had thought that, after many years of practising my skills of action photography capturing super fast lurchers and super agile

It started with a small thistle seed feeder in the garden and a pair of very shy gold finches, occasionally visiting the feeder. Then there were seven regularly and now there are twelve daily stuffing

Our first walk along the River Kelvin after our two week holiday in the sun and Lola’s 18 day sleep over in Largs. Lola has lost a little weight (and is looking in good shape!),

Posts Category: Wildlife

I am back

Loggerhead turtles

Are you lookin’ at me punk?

Great spotted woodpecker

Whimbrel (Numenius Phaeopus)

Little Egret (Egretta Garzetta)

Pinnawala Stampede

Elephant’s Eye

Painted Stork

Paddling Baby Elephant

Fun in the mud

Water Monitor

Leopard sleeping in a tree

Leopard on a wander

Leopard emerging from the undergrowth

Searching for food

Hiding under mami

Is it a tree?

Kingfisher

Swallow singing it’s heart out

Freefall

Chaffinches Galore

Peacock on the Daffodils

The Wee Scurry Beastie

Hunting for prey or popping by for a coffee?

Dipping amongst the scrap

Dowanhill Bob

Goosander (Mergus Merganser)

Our ‘Urban’ Sparrowhawk

Is it a squirrel? Is it a cuckoo?

Urban Cormorant

The elusive little wren

Swallows in flight

Gold Finches in the Snow

Fun in the mud