From my back door and a little beyond.

I have myself a job now, working 4 days a week, so chances for photography are few and far between. Add to that fact a head cold, very high winds and problems with my 1D mk 3 and you will hopefully understand why I have not got a lot to offer.

However, I hope that what I have got is of a quality that will please. I want to start with a subject that I have mentioned before, the moon. I love the moon, I find it very calming and mesmerising. I spent a while looking at the moon one evening recently and played about with different settings on the camera. I wish I had the ability to read the destruction booklet and learn more about using my camera but as soon as I start reading, my mind goes blank. I got one shot that I'm happy with.

I would love to get better shots, 

Something else that always amazes me are Dandelion clocks. You know the one's that you blow to tell the time, unless you're a 4yr old child and you suck and get a gob full of seeds. I love the delicate nature of the things.

This isn't probably the best shot you've ever seen of one but it shows what I mean.





The birds in my garden are looking somewhat rough, the Blue tits are unphotographable at the moment. The Starling stay for only a second or two and are extremely flighty. The Woodpigeons are great but my dog dashes out to chase them off as soon as they land on the fence. The only birds that are brave enough to ignore her are the House Sparrows.

The best surprise of the week though was a Hornet in the garden. When I first saw it I thought it was dead.

This is exactly as it was. But as i set up my kit it started to move and only then did I actually realise just how large they are.







I can't recall having seen one this close.

I dont think it was well, it found a hole and crawled into it, but I enjoyed the short time I spent in it's company.

I banged my camera this week and have been having intermittent problems with it, now that I'm working I will be able to afford to send it off to get it checked. Thankfully I have the 50D as a back up. so hopefully weather and time permitting I will be able to post again soon. The exposure seems all over the place so best get it checked. I'm also still having problems with the computer, so a new one of those is on the cards too.

Thanks for your patience in waiting for this post. Andy C, you can update your website now.



Mixed bag.

Hello all, I've been continuing with the Macro stuff for the last few days with an hours long lens thrown in, in the Forest on Weds whilst I waited for the dog at the hairdressers.

Ladybird.

Large White Butterfly.

Pearl bordered Frittilery.

A Cerposis Vulnerata.

are enough examples of the Macro stuff, the Wood Warbler was very frustrating, I found one who was not too afraid of me but it just wouldn't come low, this is a crop.

Wood Warbler.

One of the most enjoyable opportunities this week came from some more views of one of the Terrapins on the local pond, I have seen two together this week but the one decided it wanted to remain anonymous and plopped into the water just as I got my lens set up.

It is hard to photograph them on their favourite log as the sun is wrong in the mornings and the angle wrong in the afternoon. However I decided to have a go when it was very hazy the other day, I'm pleased with these.

Terrapin.

and

I tried to get the Mallard ducklings that are currently on the pond but the Cob Mute Swan was adamant that he did not want them in the picture, I have never witnessed such unfaltering chasing of ducklings. The Swan did not seem interested in stopping the mother from getting the bread that I had thrown out but it just wouldn't let the ducklings come close.

Mallard and Ducklings.

I hope you will agree another mixed bag of not a lot. But my I've been having fun doing the tiny stuff, its almost given me back my desire to do more photography.

On a sad note, I'm having horrendous problems with my laptop, it crashed the other day and despite getting most of my stuff back I lost a months worth of pics including some lovely ones of my Grandson, I cannot upload pictures to the gallery link, because it say's "access denied" every time I try and the EOS utility programme seems to be working only intermittently. I have problems with Photoshop updating too. I will get it looked at as soon as I can but for a while there won't be any updates in the gallery.

Just for your perusal and because I can I want to show you this shot of my boy, My little Grandson Kenzie-James Lamb, who now can say, Grandad, Car and Keys, and whom I have to allow to drive my car outside his house for 5 mins every visit.

As always click on the pics for larger versions.

Little Birding, Little critters.

I have very few photos to show you this time, I have been struggling to get bird pictures due to weather and wind.

I did have a good week adding to my bird list, Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, and Yellow Wagtail have all been added since my last posting. I got photos of two wagtail species, but unfortunately neither was very good as both were large crops.

Yellow Wagtail.

I saw this bird in Herefordshire at a pond a few miles from my house, I was chatting to a fisherman when I saw it on a pad of lilies, it was having a wash. By the time I had gone to the car and fetched my camera a coot had decided it didnt want it in its patch and was just about to shoo it off. I managed a few quick frames but nothing to sing about.

Grey Wagtail.

This fellow was at another pond in south Herefordshire, clearly collecting food for its young. Again it was a snap shot and from a distance, its a large crop. You can see immediately though the difference between the two.

I was out with the camera today and whilst waiting for a Chiffchaff to come into range a Shield bug landed on my lens. I got the 50D out of the car and got a few close ups of it, this encouraged me to try my hand at a few others. I really would like to crack macro work, It gives me a lot of pleasure. The hardest part is identifying what you've snapped.

I think this first one is a Soldier Beetle but I only have a Collins Gem book of insects so I cant be 100% sure.

I have no idea what this is, or what it's feeding on.

This next one is a Cercopis Vulnerata. A very speedy little bug, when disturbed it disappears so quickly you dont see it go, honestly, I did not see it fly off, the book says its a quick mover too.

This is a Shield Bug, I think its a Green Shield Bug. This is the critter that landed on my lens initially and then proceeded to walk all over my kit.

A slow mover this one, no sense of urgency whilst it was on my kit.

The weather is going to be somewhat mixed again this week so it'll be get what you can whilst you can. Come back soon.



Gods Country.

The Welsh are very quick to tell us that Wales is Gods country and after a 2 day stint in Powys and in particular the Elan Valley I am tempted to believe them. The Elan valley, close to Rhayader, is truly one of Gods best attempts to give us heaven on earth. Most of you reading this will have been there, but if any of you haven't then you should go. If for no other reason than to spend time in the open to admire the stunning views and the countryside at its best. The reservoirs and dams are beautiful, although if I had a choice of when to go to see them at their best it would be autumn/ winter.

Birds were our target, obviously, and Powys and the valley did not let us down. Let me list what what I've added to my yearly list from the 2 days spent there.

Red Kite, Ring Ouzel, Swallow, Redstart, Pied Flycatcher, Grasshopper Warbler, Lesser Redpoll, Meadow Pipit, Tree Pipit, Whinchat, Stonechat, and Dipper.

We also saw lots of stuff that I've already got this year, infact most of my yearly list to date was seen. The Highlight though were nesting Kestrels. I'm not going to say where we saw them, I'm sure you will understand why, but we did and although the views of them were very distant, it was great to see a pair of one of  Britains most loved bird of prey hopefully bringing more of their number into the world.

Thats all well and good Brian I hear you say but lets see some photo's. Okay here goes.

Wheatear.

The top bird is the male of the species.

Meadow Pipit.

Buzzard,

Whinchat,

and finally Pied Flycatcher.

There will be more going into the gallery in the next day or two so have a look, its in my links. As usual you can click on each picture for a larger version.

I will be returning to Powys and the Elan valley again throughout the summer and will post anything more that I get on those trips in due course.

From a distance.

Another 3 or so hours spent in my hide in the forest yesterday produced one single Hawfinch shot, not a very good one but its all I have to show.

It turned its head towards me just as I pressed the shutter, spoiling a better shot. It then flew off, obviously scared by the camera, not to return.

Other things came down including this Siskin.

I am slightly concerned that the leg with the ring on it appears to be swollen. I have voiced my concerns on this blog before about the excessive ringing of birds in this country. I hope the scientists and the like hurry and compile all the info they need so it can stop. I saw Blue tits, and chaffinch with rings on them too, I cannot believe we dont know all we need to know about these birds.

I then decided to have a walk in a different area of the forest and saw Blackcaps, Chiffchaff, and Willow Warblers in good numbers but they were all at a distance. I did manage a few shots of the Blackcaps and Chiffchaff, these are all crops.

Male Blackcap.

Female Blackcap                                                                                                             

Chiffchaff.                                                                                                                      

Nothing would come close. Still, lovely to see and lovely to hear.