GALLERY: A Laois farmer takes amazing photos of wildlife on his doorstep
A Laois farmer has made his land a haven for native Irish wildlife and takes amazing photos of them.
Richard Duff lives in Ballyfin at the foot of the Slieve Blooms, right beside Ballyfin House hotel which has hundreds of acres of nature reserve.
His interest in nature is so strong that he has started making hides to observe the nature that abounds on his doorstep, with a month long waiting list now by photographers to visit.
Many rare and threatened Irish wild creatures live in the area, including barn owls, long-eared owls, red squirrel, pine marten, badgers, cuckoos and birds of prey.
"I've always been interested in wildlife, I let the hedges grow and i have two acres of wild bird cover, which is oats and linseed that I leave for the winter for them.
"The red squirrels came from the Coillte forest, now the trees are felled they come in more to be fed so I put up feeders and nestboxes for them," he said.
Scroll through Richard's amazing shots in our gallery.
Read more about him in our interview about a winning Irish photo taken from his hide, by wildlife photographer Dan Heap.