As the quarantine rules continued to relax in July, I came across a novel social distancing idea in Bristol where hundreds of hearts were spray painted onto the grass by the guys behind Upfest for people to sit within and therefore conform to the quarantine rules. I saw this as an opportunity to get some drone images of queens square where some of the hearts had been made. The symmetry of the square, which I have droned over before, plus the hearts made for a striking image that I think I will look back of in years to come as a great example of how the corona virus affected all our lives in 2020.

Queen Square Social Distancing Hearts - DJI Mavic Pro II

Before bringing the drone back I took it over the centre of Bristol to capture some familiar sights to me from another perspective.

The tower formally known as Colston Tower - DJI Mavic Pro II

I took my first public post lock-down trip out this month with a visit to The Wild Place Project. It has been on my radar for a little while being so close to where I live that I was amazed it had passed me by for so long. So as soon as it was showing as reopening it was time to check it out.

First stop were the Gelada Baboons which were making things difficult for me right off the bat by sitting behind rocks or with their backs to me. Luckily there was some movement on my second pass around the park which gave me the opportunity to grab the images below.

Moving on to ‘bear woods’, I was also lucky enough to get a shot of one of the the new Eurasian Lynx Kittens to be born at the zoo as it played around in the thick undergrowth of its enclosure. Like all Zoo’s, I had to patiently wait my turn while maintaining social distancing rules to get into a position to have a chance of seeing the kitten. The forest habitat that had been made for the animals also made this difficult, as only some dappled light was getting through the trees, making where the kittens were very dark and gloomy. I kept my ISO as low as possible in order to keep grain from creeping into the image, while at the same time keeping the shutter speed up high enough to stop any motion blur as the kitten moved around. I focused my camera on one spot that was in the light and waited for the kitten to come into it. luckily this happened for a fleeting moment, giving me the chance to capture the image below.

Mum then also poked her head out to bring the kitten back to her and away from the light.

Next I moved onto the Wolverine Enclosure where I was able to capture one very sleepy inhabitants stretching out in the sun.

I was also lucky enough to see one of the four European brown bears enjoying himself in the water with his ball.

There was much more light where he was playing so I was able to bump the shutter-speed up to capture him enjoying the muddy water below my position on the walkway.

European Brown Bear Playing in the water - 400mm F/5.6

Following on from Bear wood, I investigated the rest of the park which had some fantastic open space enclosures for animals such as Cheetahs to roam in. Finishing the trip off with Meerkats as is required of all zoo’s.

I had a great overall experience of the Wild Place Project, with some fantastic enclosures that looked far more natural than other zoo’s I have encountered. It did help that the zoo was very quiet due to the pandemic, but the layout of the place meant that even on a ‘normal’ day it would not feel overly crowded. The Bear woods needs a particular mention as it was a fantastic way to view the animals in the forest as naturally as possible from the elevated walkway.

I was back on the beach too this month with a trip to Brean down. Cars here can park along the beach so made for an interesting drone image from above, while large para-foil kites also gave me a drone challenge.

Finally back in Bristol with the statue of slave trader Edward Colston being replaced – with a sculpture of one of the protesters whose anger brought him down.

The figure of Jen Reid, who was photographed standing on the plinth with her fist raised after the 17th-century merchant was toppled by Black Lives Matter demonstrators last month, was erected at dawn by a team directed by the artist Marc Quinn.

The ambush sculpture is likely to reignite the debate over public statuary in the UK that began with the toppling of the Colston figure several weeks previously. Police said they had had no complaints and it was “a matter for Bristol city council”.

Marvin Rees, the city’s mayor, issued a statement saying that “the future of the plinth and what is installed on it must be decided by the people of Bristol”. He said the sculpture was “the work and decision of a London-based artist,” and added: “It was not requested and permission was not given for it to be installed.”

The statue was removed the following morning…