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Photographers rally to highlight wildlife loss

Vanessa PearceWest Midlands
News imageMarc Freebrey A European otter is captured in the water with a fish in its mouth. The sunlight on the water creates dazzling bursts of light. Marc Freebrey
The photographer said watching otters chase fish was like witnessing "a frantic, elegant dance"

Some of the UK's top wildlife photographers have come together to highlight the dwindling of habitats needed to support wildlife.

A book containing dozens of images has been produced as a "manifesto to what is at stake," said Irene Amiet, who heads the Wilder Britain project.

"We can only feel nature's losses if we know what we stand to lose," she added.

Photographers "continuously observe the changes in our local landscapes and how wildlife numbers keep diminishing," she said.

News imageIrene Amiet A barn owl is sitting on the wooden post of a wire fence at dusk. There are faded lights behind itIrene Amiet
Lancashire-based photographer Irene Amiet is behind the Wilder Britain project

The photographer, who lives in the Ribble Valley in Lancashire, said she had been focusing on her local owl population, which had "decreased rapidly" following last year's cold winter.

"You can't take anything for granted," she added, "one minute you think you have a healthy population but then everything can change".

More than 60 photographers had donated images for the book, with all profits going to the Rewilding Britain organisation, she explained.

News imageRob Read A great tit is shown with light showing through its wings in stark contrast to the shade behind it. Water droplets can also be seen which, the photographer, said were from his garden sprinkler. Rob Read
News imageMark Kirkland A common frog is swimming in a pond surrounded by weeks and frogspawn. The night time skyline of Glasgow can be seen in the background with lights on in high rise blocksMark Kirkland
Photographer Rob Read captured this image of a great tit in his Hampshire garden.
This common frog was spotted in a Glasgow pond by Mark Kirkland.

Across the country habitats are rapidly disappearing due to "expanding towns and construction," said Worcestershire photographer Sarah Drury.

"Each lost piece takes with it irreplaceable biodiversity and a little of our shared natural world," she added.

"Yet through local conservation efforts and community awareness, there remains hope to restore habitats before they're gone forever."

News imageSarah Drury An Exmoor pony is captured looking straight at the photographer with the Somerset moorland in the background. Sarah Drury
Sarah Drury spotted this Exmoor pony in Somerset
News imageAndrew Mason A black capercaillie bird with white markings on its fanned tail. It has a red ring around its eye.Andrew Mason
It is estimated that there are only just over 500 capercaillie left in the UK

Staffordshire-based Andrew Mason said he had witnessed a "worrying" decrease in wildlife in his local area.

"We're losing our butterflies, we're losing our bees, our insects," he explained.

"We've seen a reduction in the birds because the farmers are cutting the hedgerows, taking away their food source for the winter.

"It's really quite upsetting," he added.

There are some positive conservation efforts going on, he added, "but we really have to work at this if we stand a chance of saving what we've got left."

News imageMike Phelps An adder's head can be seen poking out of ferns and moss in the Staffordshire countrysideMike Phelps
Britain's only venomous snake, the adder, was captured on a still March morning in Staffordshire.

Shropshire photographer Andrew Fusek Peters said it took several years of searching to find and photograph black darter dragonflies

Their favourite spots to roost include the reed beds on the Long Mynd, in the county.

"Sadly, climate change and the drying up of the shallow bog pools they favour for breeding has seen a precipitous decline of this iconic species," he said.

"Dawn is a magical time and if you are lucky, you might find a male and a female drenched in dew, glittering like Faberge broaches in the early sunshine," he added.

"Determined conservation efforts are underway to reverse their fate."

News imageAndrew Fusek Peters A pair of dragonflies can be seen on a reed bed in Shropshire's Long Mynd. Early morning dew clings to their wings giving them a jewelled appearanceAndrew Fusek Peters
A pair of Black Darter dragonflies were snapped on the Long Mynd in Shropshire
News imageAlistair Marsh Two brown hares boxing on frozen ground with the pinkish hue of dawn and trees in the backgroundAlistair Marsh
An image of two brown hares boxing in the snow was the culmination of spending a week lying in freezing snow, said Alastair Marsh

Wilder Britain is published by Wilder World.

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