I tried to pick my top 10 of my photos of 2011 but ended up with a few more than 10! Back in January and February I spent many mornings in a Lidl car park hoping the sun would come out and the waxwings would pose before I had to get to work before 9.…
When at thursley common back in June I tried some pond dipping off one of the board walks. When filling the tray with water before using the ent I scooped up a water spider, which is rather excellent considering Ive only ever seen 2 before. I caught quite a few in the end, they seeme…
Back In July, on the same day as I took the photos in the last post, I photographed this pyramidal orchid in Wat Tyler Country Park. I got some close ups. And tried a top down shot. On the reed bed walk was this sedge warbler. In the trees opposite this pair of crows were…
Back in July I was in one of the reed bed bird hides looking for the nest I had been told about. There were at least 2, perhaps 3 pairs of adults taking food to their young. After watching the adults and moving up to the upper floor and looking down I spotted the nest.…
Some more from the pond photography session. I found for the first time the larva of a giant horsefly (Tabanus sp.). It had a weird habit of retracting its head!
I’ve been catching up with some editing including some pond creatures and I came across probably my best diving beetle images. I photographed 2 species that day, the black belly diving beetle Dytiscus semisulcatus. And the wasp diving beetle Dytiscus curcumflexus, named after the striped underside.
A few months I had a nice encounter with a tame fox, and the weather was kind too. I started taking shots with the 300mm. Then switched to the 100mm for full body shots.
Yesterday in the poor weather there was little about in Wat Tyler CP apart from a couple of crows. So I camped out at the bird feeders and got probably my best shots of goldfinches (though that says more about the low quality of the photos I’ve taken before). I had to shoot at ISO800…
Some more photos from Wales now, with photos of a green hairstreak butterfly I found at Dinas Head. I had only seen one green hairstreak before and this male was quite a poser and didn’t fly far when it did take off. So I tried a few shots of it showing the bracken it was…
Some ponds pics today, taken back in July, of a water scorpion nymph. This one is yet to develop its long ‘tail,’ which is actually a breathing tube that acts rather like a snorkel, allowing it to breathe air while the rest of its body is submerged. Here is a close up of the head.