After an appalling run of rain and wind, the summer paid us a visit this week...lovely warm sun from the middle of the week onwards...a brief rest for some predictable thunder storms and then some more sun...with a workshop planned this weekend let's hope it stays.
The readership of this blog is still low - our friends in the Ukraine appear to have gone for good but thank you to all who continue to read on a regular basis...you are all welcome.
Work-wise it has been a busy week - I have had several insurance shoots (where I produce images of damaged cars for insurance companies) and have managed to get out shooting wildlife. In addition I have been planning for the workshop on Sunday. Finally we have bought a house...so that has had to be sorted - the planning for that will start now. The interior bit will be planned by Lucy...the garden I will convert into a wildlife haven. There is a large pond which will be converted from the koi hotel it is now to a wildlife paradise - my winter project. The garden also borders a large orchard, to which we have access. Over time I hope this will produce some great wildlife imaging opportunities...I have a project springing in my mind as I type...
So, what have I managed to photograph apart from damaged cars? A trip to Wicken Fen last Sunday allowed me to do my first dragonfly survey of the season - nine species recorded including a big emergence of red-eyed damselfly.
Unfortunately I didn't manage any pictures of that species - the count was the priority; but I did manage to capture ovipositing azure damselflies...
In addition, I found these around the reserve...
cleavers...
common spotted orchid...
hoverfly on cow parsley...
linnet...
scattered scrub and a swathe of cow parsley...
sorrel...
southern marsh orchid...
water dropwort...
yellow rattle...
...water violet.
Not a bad way to spend Sunday...
A brief trip into Ely found me these...
You can find wildlife anywhere...I love the red valerian on the old walls...
And in my back garden, in between showers this guy appeared...
green woodpecker...
Waiting for the weather to break paid off...and on a warm sunny day I had an insurance booking close to an ancient earthworks called the Devil's Dyke...this wonderful landscape feature is a great place to walk and to see wildlife as it is chalk grassland with scattered scrub...
species-rich grassland - thin soils mean tough perennials find it difficult to get a hold...annuals and less vigorous species abound...a wondrous place in summer - plants and insects everywhere...
A shady spot beneath a hawthorn tree - good for a picnic or just a rest...
So, within the species-rich grassland what do we find? Well...I found...
...bird's-foot trefoil...
...bladder campion...
...common gromwell...
...hoary plantain...
...horseshoe vetch and bee...
...oxeye daisy...
...common rock-rose...
...sainfoin...
...white bryony.
All lovely stuff...but the highlight was this...
This is lizard orchid - one of our rarest wild flowers...Not yet in flower - so keep an eye out for the blog with it in full flower...for a botanist even like this it is thigh-rubbingly exciting!!!
Occasionally hawthorn can gain a hold, creating scattered patches of scrub...ideal for...
common whitethroat...and its food...
That about wraps it up for this week...Saturday is spent doing things to the new house and preparing for the workshop on Sunday...I don't know how many pictures I will get to take on either day...
I have been sharing my Flickr images on the BBC Springwatch site and they have received a good number of hits...you could join them if you like...
I have also added a couple of new projects to my Behance portfolio - so you can catch up with my work there - as you can as ever on my Facebook site. If you feel the urge to buy any images, many can be found in my Dreamstime Portfolio - in addition all images you see here are for sale and I undertake commissions...as well as one to one tutorials...
Have a good week one and all...see you next time...
TTFN
The readership of this blog is still low - our friends in the Ukraine appear to have gone for good but thank you to all who continue to read on a regular basis...you are all welcome.
Work-wise it has been a busy week - I have had several insurance shoots (where I produce images of damaged cars for insurance companies) and have managed to get out shooting wildlife. In addition I have been planning for the workshop on Sunday. Finally we have bought a house...so that has had to be sorted - the planning for that will start now. The interior bit will be planned by Lucy...the garden I will convert into a wildlife haven. There is a large pond which will be converted from the koi hotel it is now to a wildlife paradise - my winter project. The garden also borders a large orchard, to which we have access. Over time I hope this will produce some great wildlife imaging opportunities...I have a project springing in my mind as I type...
So, what have I managed to photograph apart from damaged cars? A trip to Wicken Fen last Sunday allowed me to do my first dragonfly survey of the season - nine species recorded including a big emergence of red-eyed damselfly.
Unfortunately I didn't manage any pictures of that species - the count was the priority; but I did manage to capture ovipositing azure damselflies...
...and a four-spotted chaser - holding territory
In addition, I found these around the reserve...
cleavers...
common spotted orchid...
hoverfly on cow parsley...
linnet...
scattered scrub and a swathe of cow parsley...
sorrel...
southern marsh orchid...
water dropwort...
yellow rattle...
...water violet.
Not a bad way to spend Sunday...
A brief trip into Ely found me these...
You can find wildlife anywhere...I love the red valerian on the old walls...
And in my back garden, in between showers this guy appeared...
green woodpecker...
Waiting for the weather to break paid off...and on a warm sunny day I had an insurance booking close to an ancient earthworks called the Devil's Dyke...this wonderful landscape feature is a great place to walk and to see wildlife as it is chalk grassland with scattered scrub...
species-rich grassland - thin soils mean tough perennials find it difficult to get a hold...annuals and less vigorous species abound...a wondrous place in summer - plants and insects everywhere...
A shady spot beneath a hawthorn tree - good for a picnic or just a rest...
So, within the species-rich grassland what do we find? Well...I found...
...bird's-foot trefoil...
...bladder campion...
...common gromwell...
...hoary plantain...
...horseshoe vetch and bee...
...oxeye daisy...
...common rock-rose...
...sainfoin...
...white bryony.
All lovely stuff...but the highlight was this...
This is lizard orchid - one of our rarest wild flowers...Not yet in flower - so keep an eye out for the blog with it in full flower...for a botanist even like this it is thigh-rubbingly exciting!!!
Occasionally hawthorn can gain a hold, creating scattered patches of scrub...ideal for...
common whitethroat...and its food...
That about wraps it up for this week...Saturday is spent doing things to the new house and preparing for the workshop on Sunday...I don't know how many pictures I will get to take on either day...
I have been sharing my Flickr images on the BBC Springwatch site and they have received a good number of hits...you could join them if you like...
I have also added a couple of new projects to my Behance portfolio - so you can catch up with my work there - as you can as ever on my Facebook site. If you feel the urge to buy any images, many can be found in my Dreamstime Portfolio - in addition all images you see here are for sale and I undertake commissions...as well as one to one tutorials...
Have a good week one and all...see you next time...
TTFN
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