Well, 2014 started off about as dark and dingy as you could possibly imagine. I looked outside this morning and  that was that, no camera! It doesn't look great the next few days, at least not here in the UK. However....

...in Marrakech it looks rather nice! I said I'd be attempting to use the camera as much as possible this year, and this may be the solution to get me through the dark winter months - abandon the UK altogether. Morocco was probably the best place I went to last year for bird photography, and seeing as I have worked right through Christmas and New Year, I felt that a short trip away was merited. The flights are really cheap, everything when you get there is really cheap, and the weather and birds are excellent. Are you sold yet? Let's see if I can get some contenders for my "January" image under my belt early on, before work becomes rather hectic. You can actually do Morocco in a weekend, an early morning Saturday flight gets you there for about ten in the morning, and the return flight is on Sunday evening. That's only one morning and two afternoons, but there are a load of great places within striking distance of Marrakech, and by lunchtime on Saturday you could be photographing Atlas Shore Lark in the mountains. I'm actually going for a slightly longer weekend than that, but you get the picture. And I hope I do too!