UK Wildlife News: Stories and Photo Projects 14th September 2025
Three headlines, three field assignments: a road corridor at dusk, an upland browse line, and a nectar patch alive with wings. Each headline from the past week points to a place where decisions meet wildlife—and each offers a practical brief for photographers who want their images to inform as well as inspire.
1) Bat Corridors vs. Busy Roads — Photograph movement, not disturbance
The story.
Mitigation for rare barbastelle bats on Lincolnshire’s North Hykeham Relief Road has sparked a national debate. Beyond the noise is a simple ecology problem: low-flying woodland bats need continuous cover to commute between roost and feeding grounds. Vegetated “bat bridges,” hop-overs and underpasses are attempts to restitch those flight lines across a new road.
What to photograph.
Bats are strictly protected and easily disturbed, so the strongest pictures here are about place and people.
Commuting lines at dusk. From public land, frame hedgerows and treelines that lead towards the scheme. A 24–70 mm at f/2.8–4 (or a fast 35 mm) handles low light without flash.
The crossing as habitat portrait. Photograph the bridge or hop-over in soft twilight, showing how planting guides animals upward or funnels them to an underpass.
The human layer. Public meetings, plan drawings, ecologist briefings and road signage tell the social story. Ask permission for recognisable people; accurate captions matter.
Fieldcraft & ethics.
No flash, spotlights or bat-chasing. If you want to suggest risk and mitigation together, use a long exposure to streak traffic as light ribbons under a greened structure. Audio from a heterodyne bat detector can enrich slideshows without visual disturbance.
Micro-project: “Lines in the Dark.”
Four frames: (1) hedgerow corridor at civil twilight, (2) the crossing feature with planting detail, (3) long-exposure traffic beneath, (4) a community element (noticeboard or plan). One paragraph explaining why continuous cover matters for low-flying bats.
2) Scotland’s Deer Debate — Show the grazing footprint
The story.
With wild deer estimated above a million, ministers back lifting the annual cull by ~50,000 to let woods regenerate and peatlands recover. Opinions differ: deer are part of rural identity and income, yet high densities suppress woodland recruitment and damage carbon-rich habitats. Your subject isn’t conflict—it’s evidence: where browsing stops trees, and where recovery begins.
What to photograph.
Exclosure vs. outside. Find public sites with deer exclosures. A wide frame (16–35 mm at f/8–f/11) from a fence corner reveals the contrast: inside, layered understorey and saplings; outside, cropped vegetation and visible browse lines.
Recovery sequences. Low, wide perspectives of blocked grips, new pools and sphagnum hummocks; mid-tele details (70–200 mm) of unbrowsed leader growth on birch, rowan or pine.
People doing the work. With permission, respectful portraits of rangers, stalkers and restoration crews. Include tools—rangefinders, habitat maps, water-level gauges—to anchor the narrative in practice.
Technique notes.
Repeat your exclosure frame each season from the same tripod height and focal length. Polariser for wet surfaces; dawn and late light to calm contrast across open bog and moor.
Ethics & safety.
Stick to paths; peat edges can be treacherous. Respect stalking signage and seasons; no drones without explicit consent. When in doubt, speak to the land manager—many will explain objectives and safe access.
Micro-project: “The Browse Line.”
Three frames: (1) exclosure comparison, (2) close detail of fresh leader growth, (3) wider landscape showing young trees returning across a slope. Caption with simple context (plot age, target species).
3) Big Butterfly Count — Photograph winners, losers, and the plants between
The story.
This year’s Big Butterfly Count rebounded from 2024’s lows to “broadly average” overall. Large and small whites (and day-flying Jersey tiger) did well in many places; meadow brown, holly blue and common blue underperformed in others. The message for photographers: numbers rise and fall, but nectar and larval plants are the levers you can show clearly.
What to photograph.
Winner/loser diptychs. Pair a “winning” species (e.g., large white) on buddleia with a “losing” species (e.g., meadow brown) on knapweed or meadow grass. Keep angle and distance consistent so the story is ecological, not stylistic.
Larval links. Holly blue ties to holly/ivy; blues to bird’s-foot trefoil. Make a clean habitat frame of the plant, then a macro of eggs or feeding traces if found ethically.
People counting. Quiet portraits of volunteers during their 15-minute count—families, school groups, older recorders—connect data to community.
Macro technique.
A 90–105 mm macro at f/5.6–f/8 balances subject sharpness with soft backgrounds. 1/500 s+ for wing flicks; try backlighting to glow the wings, using a small reflector to lift shadows. No manipulation—wait for clean perches; step sideways to simplify backgrounds rather than “gardening.”
Micro-project: “Plant • Pollinator • Place.”
Triptychs from one patch: (1) nectar meadow or shrub bed wide, (2) a pollinator portrait, (3) the larval plant or caterpillar if present. Caption with plant names and one action (plant list, no-mow margin, pesticide-free).
One Cohesive Assignment:
Crossing Points
If you want a single body of work that threads these stories, build a month-long project called Crossing Points—about places where wildlife meets the things we build and the choices we make.
Road crossing (bats). A dusk sequence showing a hedgerow corridor, the crossing feature, and traffic flow—movement and mitigation in one set.
Forest edge (deer). An exclosure comparison plus a young tree making it past the browse line—how population decisions change a landscape’s future.
Garden/greenway (butterflies). Connectivity at hand scale—window boxes, pocket meadows, flowering hedges—plus the species that respond.
Edit with a consistent, natural treatment: modest contrast, honest colour, no heavy vignettes. Keep captions short and useful—who, where, when; what changed; how readers can help (report bat routes near roads, join local deer-management consultations, plant late-season nectar). Offer a small image set back to the groups you photograph; pictures travel further when they’re useful.
Kit, Access, and Ethics in Brief
Lenses: 16–35 mm for exclosures and road/landscape context; 24–70 mm for meetings and people; 70–200 mm for mid-distance portraits; 400–600 mm for distant wildlife; 90–105 mm macro for plants and insects.
Light control: Polariser for water and wet leaves; small diffuser/reflector for macro; absolutely no flash around bats and sensitive nocturnal fauna.
Notes & names: Log GPS, weather, species, and people’s names/roles—accurate captions build trust and reuse.
Permissions: Respect private land and operational zones; get consent for recognisable people; follow seasonal restrictions on estates and roads.
Welfare first: If behaviour changes, you’re too close. Step back and widen the frame.
Three assignments, one theme: keep nature connected. Whether you’re tracing a leafy bridge at dusk, squinting along a fence that proves regeneration is possible, or kneeling beside a patch of knapweed alive with wings, your pictures can show how the right choices open paths for wildlife—and how quickly the land answers when we do.