I've spent 2 weeks with my friends from the UK in Ladakh, north-west India. This was not a birding trip, but to fulfil our dream. To see the ultimate cat, the Snow Leopard.
As usual, I'm late with my commissions, so didn't have time to complete a proper trip report. I'll try to make it in a few weeks. As a taster I attatch here a photo of the Snow Leopard we watched for 45 mins (good luck to finding it):

Here's the happy team at the observation point (our local expert, Smanla is in the front):


I've spent the long flight back home practicing the difficult character of the Snow Leopard (these sketches were done from photos):

I've finished the shark work, what a releaf! Here are all of the illustrations done for this book:

Slowly arriving to the end of my shark work. Here's a somewhat different theme, illustrating a polinesian legend, a White-tipped Reef Shark (Triaenodon obesus) changing into a human:

Here's an example from the shark series, a Hammerhead with cleaner fishes around its mouth (Johnrandallia nigrirostris and Labroides dimidiatus):

Menue for Sharks (watercolour on paper).
Skate, Mackerel, Octopus, Cod, Dogfish, Sealion, Lobster, Sea Turtle, Bottlenose Dolphin, Squid and Crab:

I've spent 2 days on Hortobágy with my friend, Márton Zsoldos (his report is here). We helped the staff of the Salamandre Swiss nature magazine (their webpage). They will have an issue on the steppes in Europe, this was a study trip.
On Thursday we were watching birds in the western parts of the national park. There's an extremely strong migration of Pallid Harriers in the country, we were lucky to see 2 males together. One of them joined in a seemingly organized attack on shorebirds with a Marsh Harrier and a Peregrine Falcon. Undoubtly one of the best action I've ever seen.


In the afternoon we've visited the Przewalski-horse enclosure with some 130 individuals living in semi-wild conditions. The few hours visit was not enough to get more deeply involved in this theme:


Friday was spent with Dotterels in the south-eastern steppes of Hortobágy. Here are some of my sketches:






The illustrator of the magazine, Laurent Willenegger in work:

A great white shark attacks an elephant seal (watercolour and titanium white gouache on paper):