Paul Hobson Wildlife Photography

Paul Hobson Wildlife Photography I am a FT wildlife photographer based in Sheffield. my books- 'Wildlife Photography Field skills and Techniques' & ‘The Art of Fungi Photograply.

My latest book, Henry Seebohm, Ornithologist, Steelmaker and Traveller is now available from my website

When pairs of grebes meet up, there is sometimes great tension between the two. To alleviate this, occasionally one bird...
26/04/2026

When pairs of grebes meet up, there is sometimes great tension between the two. To alleviate this, occasionally one bird shoots across the water like a missile for about 15 metres. This is great to watch, very dramatic, but when you can photograph this in gorgeous dawn backlit mist, the resulting image is elevated. I love the splashes behind the bird and how they are picked out by the early morning light.

Whilst I spent quite a few weeks concentrating on behavioural and display images, my creative juices really wanted exerc...
23/04/2026

Whilst I spent quite a few weeks concentrating on behavioural and display images, my creative juices really wanted exercising. I have always loved dawn backlit images, especially if I can add a delightful splash of mist. However, these conditions rarely appear in the area I live in. The best chance is a very cold night, clear sky and then hopefully, the lake will create its own moody mist. Knowing your site is key and I knew that if the conditions were good, I had the right spot to try to exploit them. Luckily, a week or so ago all came together. I love the effect of the glowing mist, and particularly enjoy the out of focus ducks behind the displaying grebes.

The same pair as the last w**d dance, but with flatter light and a different pose. It’s fascinating to speculate why som...
22/04/2026

The same pair as the last w**d dance, but with flatter light and a different pose. It’s fascinating to speculate why some pairs will indulge in this spectacular dance, and this pair repeated it 5 times over a 3 hour period, whilst others never seem to be stimulated.

For me, the ultimate great crested grebe behaviour is the penguin or w**d dance. I have only witnessed this a handful of...
21/04/2026

For me, the ultimate great crested grebe behaviour is the penguin or w**d dance. I have only witnessed this a handful of times in all my years of photography. Therefore it was an incredibly special morning when one pair performed the dance at a photographically respectable distance. I was awestruck, it is an amazing spectacle.

One form of behaviour that is very attractive is when a grebe rears up out of the water, has a thorough shake, then flap...
20/04/2026

One form of behaviour that is very attractive is when a grebe rears up out of the water, has a thorough shake, then flaps its wings. I particularly like this image because of the angle of the bird, the curve of the neck and the open wings showing the lovely markings.

Another image from the fight sequence. The two birds really had a good go at each other, and I’m assuming they were two ...
19/04/2026

Another image from the fight sequence. The two birds really had a good go at each other, and I’m assuming they were two males, but I don’t actually know.

On the reservoir I am working on there are 6 pairs of great crested grebes. Conflict between them is rare, though they i...
17/04/2026

On the reservoir I am working on there are 6 pairs of great crested grebes. Conflict between them is rare, though they interact and posture with each other regularly. If an individual wants to threaten another bird, they tend to torpedo towards them, and in 90+% of times the other bird retreats. Most of the pairs that haven’t started nesting yet tend to hangout in the middle of the res, and don’t seem to be antagonistic towards each other. Therefore a no holds barred scrap between two birds, which happened last week is something I have only witnessed once. Luckily I managed to capture the duo with my camera. I have no idea why these two birds decided to ignore the social customs of conflict and went at each other hammer and tongs.

A great crested grebe starting a surreptitious dive. This dive, which creates no splash, is very much a stealth manoeuvr...
16/04/2026

A great crested grebe starting a surreptitious dive. This dive, which creates no splash, is very much a stealth manoeuvre. It’s usually employed when one grebe is approaching another with violence in mind. The dive, when fishing, is more pronounced, almost up and down.

In this image the female is soliciting the male, she adopts this arch backed posture before lying prostrate across the n...
15/04/2026

In this image the female is soliciting the male, she adopts this arch backed posture before lying prostrate across the nest platform. Lakes can be great places for photography, but also extremely frustrating. Unless you want to get in and cause wildlife havoc, you are often restricted to one position only if you are viewing a fixed structure like this nest. In this case the morning light was only on it for about hour before it had shifted round the corner. This then created harsh shadows across the birds.

Watching the grebes every morning allowed me to get a basic understanding of relationships and behaviour. This image is ...
14/04/2026

Watching the grebes every morning allowed me to get a basic understanding of relationships and behaviour. This image is of a male mounting the female on a crude nest platform. What is interesting is that this platform did not develop into a nest, at least not until today, and that at least two pairs used it.

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