3 spined stickleback close up
Some close ups of a 3 spined stickleback I took last year.
Mallard and redpoll in Wat Tyler Park
On a quick walk this morning, the first one with sun for a while, I spotted this mallard on a pond. I rather liked the reflection. Another nice surprise was a few redpolls, something I had never seen in the park.
DetailsWood ants Formic rufa
Last week on a visit to Norsey Woods in Billericay, Essex, I tracked down a wood ant nest and photographed the ants as they collected up food and nest building material. This pair were dragging a dead ant back to the nest. Others were moving small twigs and leaves to the nest. I did manage…
DetailsWater measurer Hydrometra stagnorum
A few recent shot of the pond surface dwelling Water measurer Hydrometra stagnorum. These were taken with my photographic aquarium.
DetailsDarter dragonfly nymph
A few shots of a darter dragonfly nymph (Sympetrum sp.) I took back in July with my photographic aquarium set up:
Colymbetes fuscus and Rhantus frontalis diving beetles
A few shots from July, taken with my photographic aquarium set up, of a couple of medium sized diving beetle species. First up Colymbetes fuscus. I also photographed this smaller Rhantus sp. probably Rhantus frontalis.
DetailsLetter to my MP on the badger cull
Dear Andrew Rosindell I am writing to you to express my concerns over government plans to cull badgers. The current plans to cull badgers seem to be scientifically unjustified, as trails (the Krebs trail for example) have shown their effectiveness for bTB control seems to be minimal and in some cases make the problem worse.…
DetailsAlpine swift, Eastern dappled and black veined white butterfly and squacco heron
Back in May I visited Kefalonia, the greek island. When I arrived at my hotel there were a number of alpine swifts flying around, which a great sight (and sound). I went for a walk and found a patch of longer grass and wildflowers, where there were some butterflies: Eastern dappled white Meadow brown And…
DetailsBackswimmer nymph and smooth newt tadpole
A couple from back in April. Thus smooth newt tadpole was fully developed so must have overwintered as a tadpole. There were also a number of small backswimmer (Notonecta) nymphs.
DetailsBlack tailed godwit at Limosa limosa Oare marshes
A few photos form back in March taken at Kent Wildlife Trust’s Oare Marshes Nature reserve. The reserve is a fantastic place to see birds, but they are rarely close enough to get a decent shot, even with a 500mm lens, as it is very busy and a lot of the folk there have dogs…
Details