"Kay.... There is a whale, right there!"

What an incredible privilege it was to see mother and baby Southern Right Whales so close to the shore. These incredible mammals visit the shallow waters of the southern oceans. These area act like nurseries where many females gather with young in the safety of the shallows.

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We were lucky enough to be able to watch them from the shore in Victoria, Australia, where we witnessed mum and baby playing, cuddling, nursing and generally showing off a little bit. If you look closely at this photo, you can see that mum is on her back while baby suckles.

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This photo is of the baby playing in the bay, I realise the scale is difficult to judge, females can be up to 18m long and calves may by 5-6m long. It is thought that this one was only a couple of weeks old, based on size and the time the female arrived in the bay.

"Wow, How did you see it?"

Plated Leaf Chameleon (Brookesia stumpffi)

This little guy is a Plated Leaf Chameleon (Brookesia Stumpffi), I found him while doing a ground survey on the island of Nosy Komba off the coast of Madagascar. I’m not joking he is about 6cm in length and he isn’t even the smallest chameleon in the world. That honour goes to one from the same genus, the Leaf chameleon (Brookesia mirca) Which is…. honestly only 2.5cm long. How do its lungs and heart and leg bones and everything fit?

"Oh, Play Fair!"

Reunion Island Harrier (Circus Maillardi)

Sometimes nature just doesn’t play fair! Seeing rare wildlife is hard enough, but sometimes it wont sit still long enough to be able to get that magical photo. This is a slightly blurred photo of a Reunion Island Harrier (Circus maillardi). It is an endangered and extremely rare bird of prey with a restricted range, confined to the tiny island of Reunion, where it is thought to be only 500 individuals (ICUN). I was lucky enough to briefly see one on a visit into the mountains in 2017. I was able to get this single photo, before it disappeared behind the trees. I refer to these as 'ID shots'. One which allows me to look back and confirm it is what I was hoping my camera was pointing at.