Amateur wildlife photographer from Bucks visits 83 sites in one year

Jon Mason from Bledlow, Buckinghamshire, travelled to 83 sites across the three Berkshire, Bucks and Oxfordshire counties to show how easy it is for local people to see incredible wildlife on their doorstep.

Having shared stunning photographs and videos from his challenge on Instagram all year, he is now planning a series of talks about his year of wild encounters with BBOWT.

Mr Mason, who lives with his wife and daughter, said: “There is no doubt that immersing yourself in nature is enormously healing in so many ways and an antidote to the hurtle of everyday life.

"As a teacher I live my life by bells and timetables and it’s always a tonic to slow down - or even stop and stand still - and just let the world of nature revolve around you.

“Although it’s difficult to escape the sound of overhead aircraft completely, there is a lovely sense of solitude and isolation where you can be alone with just your thoughts for company. Stress and tension just drain away. It would have been an interesting experiment to measure my blood pressure before and after each visit.”

The geography teacher, who works at a large secondary school in London, started his challenge on New Year’s Day 2023 by climbing up Chinnor Hill and watching the first winter sunset of the year.

After that he timed visits to coincide with seasonal highlights, traveling to the Trust’s Inkpen Crocus Field at the start of spring to see the famous carpet of purple flowers, going to Iffley Meadows in Oxford in April to catch the popular snake’s-head fritillaries, and in the autumn exploring the golden beech leaves at Hog and Hollowhill Woods near Marlow.

Asked what his favourite reserves had been, Mr Mason said: “It was thrilling to see a Dartford warbler fly up and sing from the top of a gorse bush at Greenham Common and I loved that reserve’s sense of space and the history associated with it.

"The various species of orchid were also a real highlight - the fields of green-winged orchids at Bernwood Meadows or the vigour of the hybrid monkey-lady orchids at Hartslock.

"Although the walk along the Thames Path from Goring was quite a long one, the view across the Thames Valley from Hartslock was simply stunning and well worth all the effort.

“I loved Gomm Valley on the edge of High Wycombe that was alive with butterflies and singing warblers such as whitethroats and chiffchaffs.

"I also thought that Thatcham Reedbeds was an outstanding reserve with amazing facilities that really demonstrated what can be done to bring people and nature together.

"I loved the Narnia stories as a child and it therefore had considerable personal resonance when I visited CS Lewis Nature Reserve in Oxford next to his old house.”

Where possible, Mr Mason walked or used public transport to get to each reserve. For sites that were only accessible by car, he built visits into journeys to see family or friends that he was making anyway in order to keep his carbon footprint to a minimum.

After 36 years in teaching he said he was now considering the idea of retiring to photograph and write about nature full-time.

Estelle Bailey, Chief Executive of BBOWT, said: “We are so grateful to Jon for taking on this fantastic challenge and documenting it with his beautiful photos. He has highlighted the healing power of spending time in nature, which we know can help reduce blood pressure, stress hormones and anxiety, and we hope he inspires many more people to visit the dozens of magical nature reserves on their doorstep.

“Sadly, we are currently facing a nature and climate crisis, with one in six species in the UK at risk of extinction from these isles.

"However, the staff and hundreds of volunteers at BBOWT do an extraordinary job maintaining fantastic habitats at our reserves across these three counties which are helping wonderful species survive, and Jon’s challenge has brilliantly shown the results of that work for wildlife.”