Our trip to Slievenacloy Nature Reserve in Northern Ireland (owned by Ulster Wildlife Trust) was without doubt exceptional. It was the 20th reserve visited as part of The Wildlife Trusts Project and we were escorted by Katy and Ronald, two absolutely fantastic members of the Ulster Wildlife Trust team. Whose knowledge, expertise, joy and enthusiasm were absolutely inspirational.  We were there for many hours, as the sun set, exploring this large grassland reserve and watching out for any nature that happened to be around. The cotton grass and the jaw dropping moment a long-eared owl flew over us formed the inspiration for this piece. I wanted to capture the night-time feel as the long-eared owl passed over us and, as a result, this is much darker than my usual work, making it a bit of a unique piece.