Welcome to David Element's Wildlife Web Pages...1
See animals
portrayed in their natural surroundings....
Please click here to search for Species using their
Common Names
Please click here to search for Species using their
Scientific Names
RED
FOXES Vulpes vulpes (f, f, m)
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
For reasons beyond my
control, and in common with other loyal customers, I was forced into finding a
new host for my web site, more than 17 years after it was originally
established. Following two takeovers of the original host company, all support
for existing web sites was essentially summarily dropped in August 2018 - with
little advance notice, consideration, or apparent concern about the enormous
amount of work that might have been required by its customers to create and
maintain the affected sites. It has taken some time for the pages to be
reloaded, and for the numerous hyperlinks to be altered, but there are a couple
of advantages to be gained, principally the availability of additional space
for site expansion (this has been liberating as there was a significant
constraint on the amount of content that could previously have been displayed)
and the opportunity to upgrade the existing pages and simplify the hyperlinks.
Patience will be required, both by myself and for users of the site. This is a
complex process that applies to every page, and it is a painstaking task as
even a single incorrect character will cause an erroneous hyperlink to fail. At
this point in time (27/8/2023) I have finished reconstructing and tabulating
the site indexes and retrospectively correcting any errors that I have
discovered when checking every hyperlink (and there were more than I would care
to admit!). The format of these indexes undeniably needed updating, but as they
were first set up over 20 years ago using contemporary software and raw html
data (things have since moved on!) it understandably took time to achieve this
modification. Hopefully, these links should now be operating correctly, but the
change of ISP has meant that all of the original searches were lost, and the
Google search engine seems to be less effective at finding them. As I work my
way through the pages, I am updating the photographs to include better quality
images, modifying the text, incorporating key words for internet searches, and
replacing non-functional hyperlinks or adding new ones. In consequence, the
pages for certain listed subjects may be temporarily unavailable, and if no
suitable good quality photographs can be located some could eventually be
removed. Each on-line web page can only be as up to date as the most recently
published version, so they are representative of the time that they were
written or updated, and it is recognised that classifications, terminologies,
species statuses, and indeed the climate may have altered in the interim,
perhaps contradicting the contents of older pages. I have also been adding hyperlinks to my videos of the same subjects on YouTube (see: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFfP_L5WKGGl4iVcf-srBdg?view_as=public) so that their subjects may be seen in action, although
these can be also viewed independently. Just to complicate matters further,
some scientific names have been altered since the site was first established,
so these may require amendment. Species have sometimes been reclassified or
split since the photographs were originally taken. DNA sequence analysis has
proven to be a remarkably useful tool, indicating that the examination of
morphological features alone may not always suffice when separating species. If
there are any suspected identification errors these are also being investigated
and corrected within the limitations of the existing reference material (which
may be limited or patchy). Feedback from experts in any field is always
welcomed if discrepancies are spotted, as no individual can realistically be
expected to have a comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of the natural world!
It
is worth noting that maps published in reference books may already be out of
date if a range has been extended or reduced in consequence of anthropogenic
global warming or artificial introductions – and their accuracy may be limited
by the intensity of recording by those with sufficient expertise able to
identify the species unequivocally. Having
never counted them I have also discovered that there were many more pages than
I thought! However, since 17th August 2018,
over 1,000 pages have already either been replaced or added to the site so
steady progress has been made and it has already been significantly expanded.
There is still a long way to go (as I have photographs of many more subjects
for future inclusion) and users will understand that I need to devote time to
other projects including taking, identifying, and labelling the many photographs
that are required to construct a web site like this one, or for producing
publications or films. In essence this is a never-ending task, and it wasn’t
helped by a recent external hard drive failure, although thankfully no data was
lost! Birds, pages (1
– 260) are now on-line, and more will be added in due course. It has
recently become possible to incorporate a higher number of images within a
single web page, so existing pages are also being expanded as new material
becomes available. Additional Beetles pages are
currently being added in a major effort to expand coverage of these not always
easy to identify insects, and there are now more than 70
on-line. Please be aware that hyperlinks may have been inserted for pages that
have yet to be written, and that warning messages will be received if they are
opened. Once these pages contain content these messages will disappear, and
there are no issues with site (in)security. Note that the BOU vernacular names
have been used to identify birds in the Common Names
Index so some of these species will be found with prefixes – for example
‘Eurasian’. Scientific names are unaffected unless they have been modified
recently, but Common Names Index searches will need to be performed using the
generic names. If a species lacks a vernacular name, then the generic name will
need to be used for searches. I have also separated the Amphibians and Reptiles pages into
separate categories. Most of the original invertebrate pages have been
rewritten, and in some cases the coverage of these subjects has been, or will
be, expanded significantly to allocate individual pages to each species. The
site contents may be accessed by using the Common
and Scientific (Generic) Name Indexes. At the time of writing many of the
revised URLs may now be found using Google searches and most of the picture or
web page searches that will come up are now relevant. Be warned that there may
be unscrupulous web sites offering illegally obtained
copies of my photographs or films!
The eventual net result of this upheaval has been a more up-to-date and
better illustrated site incorporating images of a wider range of subjects, but
this is still work in progress as the site is expanding at a previously
unprecedented rate.
Please note that
although the original URLs for this web site http://www.david.element.ukgateway.net and http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/davidelement/ are no longer
operational these links have been included in some publications and would-be
users of this site may still be trying to use them. Therefore, they have been
included on this page for detection by search engines as no redirection pages
have been provided by the previous ISP! If you have managed to find this page,
then you are in the right place!
Best regards to all,
David
HAIRY-FOOTED FLOWER BEE Anthophora plumipes
(m)
The
linked Railways, Aircraft
and Boats pages (essentially parallel web sites
with their own index pages that may be accessed by using this link: COPYRIGHT)
have now been fully updated and several new pages have recently been added.
RUDDY DARTER DRAGONFLY Sympetrum sanguineum (m)
YouTube
David has uploaded over 950 short films to YouTube (since
February 2013) on the 'DavidPElement' channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFfP_L5WKGGl4iVcf-srBdg?view_as=public.
These films may be located by searching for "david element" in the YouTube search engine': http://www.youtube.com/
. These videos have been edited to illustrate
authentic animal behaviour as you would expect to see it - i.e. you will be
able to observe wild creatures behaving naturally in their own habitats as
opposed to seeing artificially concentrated and dramatically edited bursts of
activity so typical of television wildlife films. The film clips have been made
using small digital video cameras, often positioned at very close range to the
subjects. Any background noises are incidental and often of human origin. There
is a short descriptive introduction for each film and they are presented
without any verbal commentary. Note that
some of David’s films are now being
exclusively marketed by Newsflare
(see company web site for details of terms and conditions).
New Books
David is in the process of publishing an ongoing series
of high quality full colour hardback books.
In order to cater for individual customer requirements some of these titles are
also available in smaller and/or softcover formats and as their contents may be
viewed in full on-line by using this hyperlink: https://www.bobbooks.co.uk/bookshop/search/1/15/45089
any potential purchasers are advised to take full advantage of this facility
prior to buying any books. Some of the published books are in the process of
being updated to improve their content and if potential customers are
interested to know about work ‘in progress’ then I can be contacted by e-mail.
COMMON
KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis (m)
Photographic Agency Galleries
A gallery of
David’s photographs available for purchase at high resolution from the
Avalon/NHPA Agencies may be viewed at: https://www.avalon.red/editorial?blob=at.DAVID+ELEMENT
(N.B. New link with effect from June 2021).
Photographs are also
being marketed via the AgeFotostock Agency at: https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Search.aspx?author=David+Element.
Social Media
David is a regular contributor to Twitter and many of his
most recent photographs are on display in his gallery at: https://twitter.com/davidelement1.
See: https://twitter.com/davidelement1/media.
Personal Profile
Please see
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-element-68b11129/. David’s LinkedIn profile contains photographic/video
galleries
and a list of
publications including books.
Illegal Copying!
It has become apparent that certain other web sites have been advertising illegally copied images from these pages and from other photography web sites as 'royalty-free' wallpaper. No permission has been sought for the use of these photographs and none has been granted (their use is therefore in breach of international copyright law and it may be considered to be an act of theft that could lead to possible prosecution). There are two legally acceptable processes whereby the photographs shown on these pages may be obtained at high enough resolution for reproduction, namely by contacting the photographer directly by e-mail or by purchasing them from a legitimate photographic agency (full details are available by using the hyperlinks provided). It is perfectly acceptable for the images to be printed at low resolution for non-profit-making personal or private educational use but they may not be reproduced on other web sites or in any other form of publication without the express permission of the photographer. There is also another ethical aspect regarding the reproduction of photographs of animals that have been taken in wild and free conditions, namely that they should be portrayed in an authentic and non-manipulated manner if they are reproduced in any format.
It
is hoped that these pictures will help to stimulate an interest in the Natural
World. Some of the images may also be useful for identification and certain
pages have been deliberately formulated with this purpose in mind. Other pages
simply present general illustrations of their subject matter.
Accurate
identification to species level is not always possible from photographs
(see below) and serious students of Natural History will be aware of the need
for academic reference material. Most of the illustrations are of
British species with some additional images from France, Northern Spain, Italy
and Switzerland. Comprehensive coverage should not be expected - for example
there are almost 24,000 species of insect in the UK alone and no individual
could reasonably be expected to find, identify, and photograph them all!
BLACK GUILLEMOT Cepphus grylle (m)
- The
photographer accepts full responsibility for any misidentifications and
would be grateful for any feedback via
e-mail at david.element@ukgateway.net
from authoritative sources if any
incorrect captions are noticed as this helps to improve the quality of the
data on this site.
- Please
note that unsolicited e-mails will be deleted without being opened
if the subject message is unclear or if the sender has not been fully
identified as the author does not wish to import computer viruses. Any
e-mail photograph attachments should be of low resolution only,
sent as individual messages for each photograph and the date (if known)
and location should be given.
- Correct
identification of such a wide range of subjects is very demanding and
although all of the included subjects have been carefully vetted some
errors will be inevitable. Classification of species is under constant
scrutiny and certain scientific names may have been modified since the
source reference works were written. Correspondents
should note that it is impossible to identify many invertebrates even with
the aid of a good quality reference photograph or a detailed description
unless they are particularly distinctive. There are many examples
on-line of erroneous identifications based on superficial resemblance to
entirely different species. Several of the linked websites provide much
more extensive and expert coverage of particular groups (see below).
- A short
bibliography has been given at the end of each title page. The listed
works are mainly British reference books which will provide an in-depth
analysis of their subjects. There are others that need to be added when
time allows and standards are improving all the time. Certain books may be
out of print but these may sometimes be available from libraries or the
second-hand book market. Recommended suppliers like
- Pembury
Books http://www.pembooks.demon.co.uk/
- E.
W. Classey http://www.classeybooks.com/
- NHBS
http://www.nhbs.com/
or
- Subbuteo
http://www.wildlifebooks.com/
will send free catalogues upon request although much of the information
contained should also be available on the suppliers' websites. Some areas
of Natural History are very demanding and they may therefore be less well
studied than the popular subjects and poorly represented in print with
very few good books currently available. The above suppliers also
advertise many top quality Continental publications and these are
often illustrated to a very high standard.
- There
are ever-increasing numbers of excellent websites covering a broad range
of Natural History subjects. Strongly recommended is the series of Flickr
pages provided by Steven Falk,
one of the UK’s most authoritative entomologists and natural historians: https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/albums.
The illustrations and interpretive notes are of enormous value to
entomologists. In many cases these sites contain links of their own and
these will open up access to a wealth of useful information. Hyperlinks to
this site are also being provided by an increasing number of other websites from
Britain and abroad. These links are welcomed although the content of these
sites is outside of the editorial control of the author and the accuracy
of the information given cannot therefore be guaranteed. External links
may become obsolete without the author's knowledge. The book and website
lists are updated periodically.
- The
names of specific locations have deliberately been omitted in order to
protect the more vulnerable species from disturbance or collection.
Please click here to search for Species using their
Common Names
Please click here to search for Species
using their Scientific Names
- One other important issue - please read the COPYRIGHT page for an explanation of the legal issues associated with the use of Internet website material.
None of the photographs or text
from this website may be reproduced in any form without the express permission
of the author.
This would constitute a breach of intellectual copyright law and legal action
may be taken.
© David Element: david.element@ukgateway.net
Site established December 2000, Relaunched August 2018