David Ronaldson's Blog

Few New Updates

admin — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:44:19 +0000

Nias

I’ve updated a few of the gallerys including some pictures from a recent trip to Gigrin Farm (Red Kite feeding center).

Red Kites

admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:34:49 +0000

Took a trip to Gigrin Farm in Wales the other day, the farm is a feeding station and rehabilitation centre for Red Kites. Feeding time is quite a sight, the sky was full of Kites hovering, waiting for the farmer to put out the meat. As soon as it hits the ground the Kites start diving, the whole event lasts about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Red Kite

Diving Red Kite

Red Kite

Dave

Santago Rare Leopard Project

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:58:49 +0000

Last year I visited the Santago Rare Leopard Project, home to Harry, Sade and Tara. Not long ago I received the sad news that the project would be closing, so I decided to take one last trip to visit the gang.

Sade the Persian Leopard

Misty, Santago's female Black Leopard/Panther.

Tara the Snow Leopard

Tamar the Puma/Cougar/Mountain Lion.

Harry the Clouded Leopard

Till next time,
Dave

Back to the WHF

admin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:50:46 +0000

I took yet another trip down to the WHF last weekend, this time I was meeting a few people from Talk Photography.

As you can see Viktoria the Puma is still jumping over her pond for the cameras.

Viktoria

Pepo the Cheetah

Kahn the Pallas Cat

Argun the Amur Leopard Cub

Bruno is one of the hybrid tigers at the WHF. He shares his enclosure with Padmini (a Bengal tiger) and just like any “married” couple they have their ups and downs, normally ending up with Bruno a little beaten up. Bruno’s past time is spreading his scent by spraying his guests.

Bruno

Ranschan the Snow Leopard

Dave

Wildlife Heritage Foundation

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:48:27 +0000

I took another trip down to the WHF the other other day. It was great to see the cubs again, they have grown so much in the past two months!

The Amur Leopard cubs, Anuy and Argun, are about four and a half months old now and are a real handful for mum Xizi

Anuy

Argun

Anuy (front) and Argun (behind)

This is Artur, who is the farther of the Amur Leopard Cubs.

Artur

The Sumatran Tiger cubs, Asu and Bawa, have grown a huge amount since I last saw them and are starting to become very confident and striking tigers.

Asu

Bawa

This lovely girl is Indy, she’s a cross bred Bengal with Amur (Siberian) Tiger. Indy knows how to pose for the cameras, and is very affectionate when she comes up to the fence.

Indy

One of WHF’s smallest residents is Tula, she’s a Pallas Cats. Pallas Cat’s are small wild cats which live in Central Asia and are very shy.
Tula however decided to come out and say hello in exchange for some tip bits of meat.

Tula

Petra is the WHF’s European Lynx. I was very privileged to be allowed to go inside her enclosure, we were getting her to jump for tip bits of meat. She’s got a good 6ft jump and I was on the floor next to her! It was an experience I won’t soon forget.

Petra

This is Kafara, he is one of three male African Lion brothers at the WHF. He was a bit beaten up after a fight with his brother Manzi. Being the biggest of the three Kafara tends to rule the roost, however Manzi doesn’t like to think so.

Kafara

Next up are the Puma’s (also known as Cougars or Mountain Lions). Viktoria was showing us her new party trick, jumping over her pond.

Viktoria

Next is Pepo the Cheetah. Pepo is spending his ‘retirement’ posing for the cameras and chasing the train which runs near his enclosure.

Pepo

And last but not least, Ranschan the Snow Leopard.

Ranschan

Dave

Birnbeck Pier

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:27:45 +0000

Took a trip down to Weston-Super-Mare, decided to try out a long exposure using my 10x ND filter. The exposure was 35 seconds using a 10x ND Filter.
Would like to get out and use this filter a little more.

Birnbeck Pier

Dave

Gloucester Docks

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:24:36 +0000

This is one of the last warehouses in Gloucester docks which hasn’t been refurbished. This photo is made up of three difference exposures, processed in Photomatix Pro and Photoshop.

Gloucester Docks Warehouse

Dave

Big and Little Cats

admin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:59:19 +0000

Happy New Year! A few days ago I took a trip down to the rather cold WHF (Wildlife Heritage Foundation). They’ve recently had some arrivals in the form of Tiger and Leopard cubs.

These two little guys are Asu and Bawa, they are 4 month old Sumatran Tigers. Obviously mum (Puna) is very protective of them, so we had to be ready to jump back from the fence if she decided to run at us.

Bawa (left) and Asu (right)

Asu (left) and Bawa (right)

Bawa tucking in

Asu

Puna letting us know who's boss

Puna

These two little rascals are Argun and Anuy, they are 12 week old Amur Leopards. They didn’t stop running around and jumping on each other, which made it quite difficult to photograph them. We also had to be very careful of Xizi (the mother), as she could easily fit her arm through the fence and grab us. Amur Leopards are critically endangered, with an estimated 30 left in the wild. Even though it was at a conservation centre, I’ve been very lucky to see these cubs.

Argun and Anuy

Anuy

Cub and Xizi

Cub in Christmas Tree

Leopard cub stalking

Quickly saw Makari, a two year old Amur Tiger (also known as a Siberian tiger). Amur Tigers are not only the largest of the tiger subspecies but are the worlds largest cat.

Makari - Amur Tiger

Next up was Viktoria and Valentina, they are WHF’s new Pumas (also known as Mountain Lions or Cougars).

Viktoria

Lastly my personal favourite, Snow Leopards. The WHF has two Snow Leopards, Ranschan (Male) and Mizi (Female).

Mizi

Ranschan

Till next time,
Dave

Bidean nam Bian

admin — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:49:23 +0000

I took this one back in July on a trip to Scotland. It wasn’t a photo which immediately jumped out at me. The sky was over exposed and I didn’t think it could be rescued, however (probably due to the fact I shoot in Raw format) with a ‘little’ bit of Photoshop work I managed to produce this.

Bidean nam Bian

Dave

Falkirk Wheel

admin — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:47:41 +0000

Here’s one I took back in July on a trip up to Scotland.

Falkirk Wheel HDR

Dave