Make Hay......

The weather has not been bad at all has it? I can't believe it's been so long since my last post either, I've been a busy bee when the weather has allowed so that has been most of the time, but the one thing I've noticed is we seem to be getting a lot of gusty wind. Does make macro stuff difficult. However I've had some good stuff and have enjoyed the last few weeks on the whole.

Firstly, let me start with an answer to a question on my last post, the caterpillar with all the twigs on it was a Bagworm moth caterpillar.

The Dragonflies finally arrived.

Four Spotted Chaser, Broad Bodied Chaser and Club Tailed Dragonfly were amongst the first. The Club Tailed I was particularly pleased with as I had never had them before. My grandson Kenzie helped me find them, he has really good eyesight and was able to see where they landed when we saw one drop from flight.

I spent a great 2 days down with Chris G in Devon, we had some really good views of 4 Spot, Broad Bodied, Black Tailed Skimmers, a female Emperor ovipositing, and my first ever Hairy dragonfly.

Female Black Tailed Skimmer,

Emperor,

Hairy Dragonfly

Chris put out his moth trap and although it was pretty disappointing we did get a beaut of a Poplar Hawk Moth.

There have been lots of other small stuff to keep me happy, in fact I've been in my element this last few weeks, I really do like to get the small stuff.

The first is the larva of a 7 Spot Ladybird, the second is a Dagger Fly, it is genuinely hanging on with one leg whilst eating it's prey held in the others. This is allegedly common practice.

I'm hoping to get to Gloucestershire soon for some White Admirals so make sure you come back to see if I was successful.

Still waiting for a dragon.

It's may the 24th and I'm still waiting to photograph my first dragonfly of the year and truly envious of those that have already done so. I've seen two, probably 4 spotted Chasers, in flight but none at rest.
Damselflies have not been so scarce, I've seen a lot of the common ones. Blue tail, Common Blue, Azure, Red Eyed, Beautiful Demoiselle and Banded Demoiselle.

This is a female Red eyed.

I've seen some nice butterflies too, Painted Lady, Pearl Bordered and Wood White being amongst the best.

I've been up to the Elan Valley to do birds and I have to say I was mildly disappointed with the numbers. I saw all the usual suspects, including the Red Kite nesting again in their usual spot. but numbers were very low.

The Jay and the Whinchat were nice bonus birds though.

 

Back nearer to Home I've had two firsts this month, The first was an Orange Ladybird, the second a fungi, Helvella lacunosa, or Elfin saddle as it's more commonly known. It's only the second recorded find where I found it, in Herefordshire. so I'm quite chuffed with that. The orange Ladybird came as a shock because initially I thought it was a cream spot, but after a bit of research I discovered that the cream spot always has 7 spots on each wing cover, this definitely has eight.

The little critters have kept coming with a few nice ones amongst them. The first are a mating pair of Woundwort Shield Bugs, although Collins Complete guide to British Insects has them down as Bronze Shield bugs, which they look more like. The second is a cardinal beetle, Pyrochroa Serraticornis, the third is the caterpillar of the Drinker moth, and finally a Mayfly, Ephemera Danica.

 

The swans on my local pond have brought 7 new cygnets into the world and my hasn't dad been a grumpy thing for the last few weeks prior to them hatching? He has been chasing everything around the pond, he has been witnessed killing at least one Duckling and unbelievably swallowing it whole. Mind you he's not been the only one at it, another friend of mine witnessed a Mallard drake kill a duckling too. Presumably wanting to breed with the female himself. The death rate of Duck and Moorhen chicks on the pond is currently 100% there have been 10 ducklings seen on the pond and 4 Moorhen chicks, not a one has survived. I have said before that the Pike are believed to have killed a few and having seen numerous pike in the margins and shallow water spawning over the last 3-4 weeks some of them were of a size that makes that believable. Here's a shot from another water that I got this week of a young pike. Perfectly formed and yet only 3 inches in length.

So beautiful at this size.

Now, I need help. Can any of you help me out with identifying this strange caterpillar. I've not sent it to Ispot yet as I wanted to add it to this post. It seems to have camouflaged itself with twigs. Works perfectly, if I hadn't seen it moving whilst photographing something else I'd have passed it by.

Weird thing, not sure if it's a butterfly or moth, could be a sawfly or something similar. Any how, that's me finished for today, I've put lots of stuff on Smugmug over the last couple of weeks so if you haven't had a look for a while, go treat yourselves.

 

Busy busy busy.

Wow, what lovely weather we've had for April. It's been fabulous for getting out and about. It's been a busy period with lots of miles walked and lots of photos taken.
All of the birds seem to be in, I heard my first cuckoo yesterday (21st Apr). The only thing I haven't heard or seen yet are Sedge Warblers. Whitethroat and Reed Warblers are in on the Gravel pits near Hereford but no Sedge. I don't doubt they are there though.

I spent two fabulous days in Devon with Chris G and Mike S. Thanks Chris and Lynne for your hospitality. We went after Dartford Warblers, not really knowing how we were going to do.

We were on to them pretty quickly, although distant and characteristically skittish. I had never seen a Dartford before so it was a thrill to see them. This is a considerable crop.

When the Dartford weren't around, the Dunnock kept us entertained with their singing.

There were also plenty of Stonechats milling around too.

we also saw a single Yellowhammer and a very pale Kestrel, so pale in colour that we weren't sure what we were looking at for a while. It was distant.

The following day saw us back at the reserve, and after a quick trip away for a McDonalds breakfast as the mist was too thick, we were soon back amongst the Warblers. we also noted that there were quite a few more Yellowhammers around.

All in all a brilliant 2 days of birding, finished off with a quick detour to see Dippers near Honiton.

Back at home I set myself a target of Orange-tip butterflies. I only had a couple of shots of this quick moving beauty, so it was going to be a challenge.

The female I caught on some Red Dead Nettle flowers,

The male on some Cuckoo (aka Lady's Smock) flowers.

My next targets were slightly larger and I wasn't even sure I was going to photograph either of them, I just wanted to confirm that they were in so that I could save myself a journey into Powys to Gilfach Farm NR. I was pleasantly surprised to find both, and to manage a shot or two of the one. Yes Redstart and Pied Flycatchers were my targets. The Pied Flycatcher was singing his little heart out, but the female that was near him seemed to be unimpressed and whereas he clearly favoured one nest box, she much preferred another, I can see heartache if one of them doesn't compromise.

I have spent almost a weeks worth of evenings watching badgers on a Herefordshire Nature Trust reserve. I was going to do a project on them and try to photograph them but I have been asked to hold off by the trust as they have a family viewing evening planned in June and have their own plan in place. Shame as I had already managed to attract the badgers very close and was just about to start implementing lighting. However the nights I sat there for 3 hrs a time were very rewarding, with some really nice viewing.

I have another target species in mind. Yellow Wagtail. I know a site a couple of miles away from me where there are usually a pair. I have already had clear viewings of one bird, although only managed one frame. I need to dedicate a few more hours to this project.

One of the critters I love at this time of year is the Bee Fly, at another HNT site there are two types,  Bombylius Major and Bombylius discolor. I have provided HNT with images of both and they are going to use them in their Spring newsletter hopefully, so for the first time I may get a picture in print. You can see the images on my Smugmug site Just like buses you don't see anything for ages and then 2 come at once and hot on the heels of the request from HNT to use my images came a request from Hereford Fungi group to use an image of a Fishy Milkcap, Lactarius volemus, in their newsletter. How will I cope with the fame??

With 29 images on Getty images now and as yet no sales (not that I'm expecting any), my feet are well and truly planted. I am told by some that my images are of a great quality now but I still don't think that they are anywhere as good as a great deal of others. I get my pleasure from getting the images and sticking a few on my Smugmug site. there is a link on this website.

Now to finish, the highlight of this last week or so was getting a call from my son who was observing Wild Boar in the forest. He said could I get down there and if I could he would stay with them and keep me appraised of their position. Too right I could get there, and at something slightly over the speed limit for a portion of the trip. I was soon with him and feeling blessed to witness one of the best groups of Boar I've seen, three sows and fourteen piglets. Clearly a group that was thrown together as the Piglets were of two different sizes and all three of the sows appeared to be lactating. we spent an amazing 45 minutes or so watching and in my case photographing them, and once again I was never in danger from the sows. They knew I was there and yet they allowed my to get so close that on occasion the piglets were too close to get fully in the frame. The piglets themselves were amazing, inquisitive and delightful to watch. I was so enamoured that I often found myself forgetting to press the camera shutter. In the wake of some bad press relating to a dog being seriously injured, I wish more people could have watched the group as I photographed them. They really are no threat if approached carefully, quietly, and slowly. Here are just three of the hundred or so images I took.

The Sow pictured was the biggest and oldest of the three, and she was big. It was a brilliant experience and one that neither I nor my son will ever forget, in deed my son was so impressed he rushed home to fetch his girlfriend and returned a short while later to find them not far from where we'd left them, so she could see them up close too.
There are and will be more shots on my Smugmug site.

Hurry up and wait.

Hurry up and wait was a term we used to use in the army all the time. It invariably meant a period of intense activity followed by a long wait.
Well this last few weeks have been a bit like that, I've been wishing for Spring to hurry up and arrive, and it is, I have a Blackbirds nest in my garden and the Blue tits seem to be in and out of my nest box quite a bit. But I'm not able to do anything with it as I've had to wait for bits of kit to be repaired.
I've had both my 600mm lens and my 5D mk 3 in for work.

I was having problems with the 600 lens, the tripod leg collar would not rotate around the lens 360 degrees. Apparently the bearings were shot and there was grit in the collar. That was fixed and the lens returned to me on Tues this week (24th).  The camera, has been an issue since I bought it. I was never truly happy with it, I did not think that the auto focus was as good as it should be and I believed there was too much noise/graining at low ISO's. It has worked intermittently, clearly, or else I would not have any shots to put on here or on the Smugmug galleries. I visited Clifton Cameras in Dursley after a visit to Slimbridge with Mike and Chris, The chap there could not see any issues but I asked him if it could be sent off anyways for a check. He suggested it would be a good idea just to give me peace of mind. If there was nothing wrong it would prove it unquestionably. There are issues with it and hopefully I should have it back next week. However for both lots of work I'm now over £400 lighter in the pocket.

The day at Slimbridge that I referred to with Chris and Mike was a bit of a let down. The weather was not great and most of the migrants have left. However it was a day out so that's not all bad. I have also spent a day with Chris and Mike this week at the Photography show at the NEC in Birmingham. Wow, if only I was a lottery winner or had a rich sugar mummy. There was some fabulous kit on show. I think Chris and Mike enjoyed it more than me though, they both have an interest in Studio type photography and a lot of the show is geared for just that, but there was enough to keep me interested. That said, I'm not sure there was enough to make me want to go again next year.

The only photos I have to show you are ones that I got on my last visit to the Forest.

I'm looking forward to getting everything back and getting out there and doing some summer migrants. Don't you just love Spring?

Rallying around the Crossbills

On no less than 4 occasions I've been down to the Forest to try and get shots of Crossbills. They have been much photo'd lately and I thought it only right that I give it a go.
Much easier said than done. On my first visit to the church at Parkend there were approximately 6 photographers in situ. and a quick chat revealed that the birds had been down on one or two occasions, but not within the previous 20 minutes or so. I don't like being amongst too many other people and was very doubtful that with so many people standing less than 10 metres away from the puddles the Crossbills would be too inclined to come down very often. So I didn't hang around. That afternoon I went back to find even more people so again I didn't stay too long, just long enough to meet a few of the people who's images I've seen on Birdguides. We were blessed with a view of 3 males and 2 females who came briefly to the puddles and surrounding branches, but I didn't have my stuff out so I missed out. It was reminiscent of a war film with camera shutters being fired off.

My second visit was about the same. Too many people and far too few views of the birds, again I didn't hang around. The third visit was the same. Finally I went down on Wednesday 18th and upon my arrival was pleased to see that there was only one photographer and that he was in his car. I quickly checked that there were no birds down and then drove into position behind him. He informed me that he had, had one sighting whilst he had been there but he believed that the Crossbills he had seen were Two Barred Crossbills, this got me a little excited as photos of them would be brilliant. Shortly after I arrived and with no further sightings, he waved me goodbye and drove off. I was hopeful that as I was the only one waiting and that despite a number of cars being parked it wasn't going to be too long before something came down. Unfortunately the best laid plans don't always come off and within 5 minutes I was joined by at least 6 other birders, all looking to see the birds.

I sat and waited for almost 2hrs without any joy, and was quite frankly amazed by how dull and inconsiderate some people can be. Dog walkers, graveyard visitors, and even other birders were walking around in front of where I had my camera pointing, and I'm sure some did it deliberately. At one point an elderly couple turned up with their bino's and a scope and preceded to walk towards my car, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I had my lens sticking out of the window, they didn't seem interested in walking around the other side of my car where they wouldn't obscure my view. At the exact moment that the old chap was going to walk in front of me a male Crossbill dropped like a stone to a puddle. after almost 2hrs of waiting I was beside myself and as loudly as I dared I hissed "Stand still" at him. I managed 5 frames before the bird flew off. He calmly said "Was that one of the Crossbills"? suffice to say I had to bite my tongue really hard, and indeed I then drove off. Fuming. I've put the one shot on Smugmug, but it will hopefully be replaced with better.

The Wyedean Forest Rally took place on Valentines day, my brother came down from Chester and we joined my son and family for a days spectating. I was pleased that the weather held up for most of the day as it gave my brother a chance to use the 50D I'd given him, for the first time doing stuff other than small birds in his garden. I think he enjoyed the day, I know I did. Here are some shots.

The second shot was the winning car driven and co-piloted by Paul Bird and Aled Davies. The last shot was of Graham Elsmore the winner of the first three Rallies in 75,76 and 77. He was competing to celebrate 40 years of the rally and was in a Mk 2 Escort supplied to him by the sponsors of the rally.

Whilst waiting for the cars at the afternoon stage we decided to watch I was amazed to stumble across some fabulous Fungi.

Scarlet Elfcup, Sarcoscypha austriaca. stunning things aren't they? Never seen them before so a real bonus. So much so that I returned yesterday to get them with the macro lens. I had a good mooch around but couldn't find any others.
 I did see a fallow buck through some trees and find a badger sett which is currently being used by a sow with cubs. How do I know? Well it is a fact that when the sow gives birth she is extremely reluctant to leave the sett for anything more than a few seconds until the cubs at least have their eyes open. The one reason she does leave is for toileting. Usually badgers will not do their business near the sett, if the weather is particularly harsh they will sometimes build toilet chambers inside the sett which are sealed off afterwards. When a sow has cubs she will usually leave the sett but find a toilet area very close to the sett which she re-uses time and again.

Here is an example of such behaviour, clearly evidence of more than one use, and located, in this instance about 8 feet from the sett entrance. It was a satellite sett of only one hole, with only one track too and from it. It may be worth a look in late April to see if the cubs are emerging. Its usually 11 weeks from birth that they start to emerge, and the sett had a potential viewing area only a short distance away. I have deliberately not shown the sett entrance, just in case there is a remote chance someone might recognise it. May be being paranoid but that's my choice.

Oh I did get a fabulous shot of a visitor to the puddles at Parkend whilst I was waiting for the Crossbills. I'm more than happy with it.

Thanks for looking and don't forget to check out the Smugmug link.