Simon Allen

Simon Allen

This evening (21st January) we had as our ‘Zoom’ guest speaker Simon Allen LRPS EFIAP.  Simon is Program Secretary of Stokesley PS and lives in Hutton Rudby, North Yorkshire.

Simon describes himself as a keen amateur photographer who enjoys both landscape and wildlife photography.  Simon has travelled to many parts of the world to indulge in his passion.

Tonight Simon’s presentation entitled ‘Close Encounters’ was his recollections and photographs from his trip taken in 2019 to Brazil, the North and South Pantanal district to be exact.  Simon explained that the North Pantanal  is home to the worlds largest numbers of wild jaguars. This being one of the main reasons for Simon’s visit.  This was to be followed by his trip to Madagascar.

The South Pantana in Brazil though is where we started and we were shown some beautiful images of the very diverse wildlife that calls this region home.  Hyacinth Macaws, Red & Green Macaws, Green Parrots the huge Rhea and the large beaked Toucan are just some of the birdlife captured in stunning detail by Simon.  And not just birds either. Giant Anteaters, Cayman, Giant River Otters and even the shy and rarely seen Ocelot.

Moving to the North Pantana, the more wooded area with many rivers Simon stayed on a Floatel  on the river with daily up to 5 hour boat trips to try and catch glimpses of the wildlife along the banks, including of course the Jaguar.  Simon managed to capture some absolutely stunning images of this supposedly shy and retiring big cat strolling along the river bank or resting on the bough of a tree. Jabiru Storks and Howler Monkeys also featured in Simon’s presentation.

Madagascar followed. Simon explained that Madagascar was a very poor country with poor infrastructure so travelling on the poorly maintained roads was a challenge.  Madagascar is famous for its large populations of Lemurs, though many Simon tells us are under threat from heavy deforestation for farming.  Once again we were treated to some lovely images of Brown Lemurs, Indri Lemurs (the largest species) and beautiful brightly coloured Geckos and Chameleons.

Many thanks to Simon for a beautiful selection of images beautifully presented.

Bob Finlay (President)