Guest photographer John Dobson has had a lifetime’s interest in natural history. This started with the discovery of small mammals under corrugated tin sheets near where he was born in Rayleigh. His interest in bats was triggered while living in Gloucestershire from 1974-1980, the catalyst of a hobby that is still enthusiastically pursued.
A brief tenure as county Mammal Recorder for Gloucestershire has been followed by a far longer spell as recorder for Essex. In 1984, John launched the Essex Bat Group, which is now a thriving organisation. In 1999, ‘The Mammals of Essex’ was published. This was followed in 2007 (with the considerable help of a leading expert) by ‘The Dragonflies of Essex’.
White storks on their nest 
Robin waiting for the gardener to finish 
“the kiss” two brown hares on Foulness 
Sunbathing – brown hare style 
Fast asleep in France – a mouse eared bat 
A wood mouse 
A blackbird sunbathing 
A Greater horseshoe bat in hibernation 
Droplets of condensation formed on a sleeping Whiskered Bat 
A group of Greater Horsehoe Bats
In 2014, ‘Mammals of Essex’ by John Dobson and Darren Tansley was well received. The book received the David Bellamy Award by the British Naturalists’ Association. John is an active member of the Essex Bat Group. You can access the Essex Bat Group’s website from here
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