Wexford’s wild life through a lens
IN these days of self isolation, there is a lot to be said for taking the time to stop, look and listen, to take in the wonders of nature all around us.
For wildlife photographer Edward ‘Edno’ Delaney these wonders are there to be found around every corner, all people need to do is hop to it and go for a walk.
The 77-year-old award winning photographer has been addicted to the hobby since he was a youth and bought a camera off his brother.
His father Eddie used to take the boys out on long walks in nature and needless to say the habit stuck.
Edno became fascinated with barn owls and nocturnal wildlife which he captured on slide film which had to be sent to Kodak in England to be developed – taking three weeks. ‘I always had an interest in nature, as did my father, and my grandfather William Kielthy was a photographer. I started to photograph wildlife and nature just to let people know what was out there.’
He has continued this habit, winning numerous Irish Photographic Federation and ESB Environmental national awards, along with placing in world photography competitions. Both of Edward’s image ‘Barn Owls’ and ‘Frog’ were featured on billboards all over the country as advertising for the tour of the ESB Environmental Awards.
A self taught photographer, with a keen interest in the flora, fauna and nocturnal wildlife that surrounds us, despite Edno’s proximity to the wildlife and the intimacy with which he infuses in his photographs, he does not interfere with their natural habits and environments, and his presence is not felt. He has captured many unique images using remote cameras and an abundance of patience.
Currently a member of Enniscorthy Camera Club, after previously being a founding member of the now defunct New Ross Camera Club, Edno said the quiet joys of observing nature are all the more to be appreciated in these days of social isolation.
‘I have a photograph of a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis in my garden which took five weeks to get. It was just pure luck. The butterfly laid the eggs in nettles and they hatched into caterpillars and from there to the chrysalis. I recorded the whole sequence from start to finish. Another five minutes and I would have missed it!’
Among the animals he has spent days, if not weeks tracking, are pine martens, which he used bait to attract and infra red beams to be able to capture on his trusty camera.
Joined by his brother Willie he perched himself in a tree in a woods to ensure a badger wouldn’t pick up his scent on ground level and got his shot.
After two years of searching with Willie he found a woodpecker in Lacken Woods outside New Ross, complete with a nest of eggs. He also found a red squirrel in a nearby woods. ‘It’s all there but you need to go out, sit down and listen and watch. People are always hurrying. I can’t understand why people go for a walk in nature with headphones on.’
He travelled to Ballywilliam most evenings up until recently to watch murmurations of around 20,000 starlings.
‘ The season is over now, but it’s one of nature’s great shows. It can last up to 15 minutes.
‘I will continue doing this as long as I can. You forget about all your worries when you are out in the open. All you have to worry about is keeping away from other walkers. It brings you into a different world, away from all the news on TV and into the fresh air.’