Paul Parsons - Sussex wildlife selection, on land & sea

We are very grateful to Paul Parsons for allowing us to use his terrific photos of Sussex wildlife on land and sea. We asked him to share some of his favourites for an illustrated blog.

"I have been photographing our Sussex marine life since the 1990s. Hundreds of dives, just swimming out from the beach with my camera to see what I could find and capture. But as time moved on, I became involved with other projects, and diving took a back seat. The lockdown period led me to explore new camera technology, and I became interested in learning more about photography. 

Telephoto lenses and new techniques have inspired me over the last few years. And now, this year, I find myself back in the sea, photographing once again. Oh the light! It is glorious! (when the weather allows).

Whilst I have had some wonderful encounters, filming large shoals of fish, I can't help but notice a huge absence of what were the common intertidal creatures. I have more areas to explore and I hope to eventually find these little lives to photograph and film.

Recently, from my travels, I have been lucky enough to have had close encounters with White-tailed Eagles, Barrel Jellyfish, Cuttles, Humpback Whales, Otters, Orcas, Blue Sharks, seahorses, Hares, owls.. And closer to home, watching our garden pond mature, brimming with exciting new inhabitants. Every experience, big or small, just inspires me to capture the next image..

This Blue Damselfly was a visitor to our garden pond this year. The pond is fairly new and it amazes us how many lifeforms have now made it their home. The Damselfly is feeding on Blackflies.

This image was taken at low level, close to the surface of the water."

See more of Paul's work by following him on Facebook