Pembrokeshire Holiday pt2 Terrible Twosome on Barafundle Beach 15th June 2014

 Today we are going to find Barafundle Bay , having driven down very narrow lanes we have parked at Stackpole Quay and the path takes us over the headland to Barafundle.        Our first view of the Bay , tides out and its almost deserted!   the sky is clearing fast with clear blue sky coming this way :)

                                          Terrible Twosome are already in the water :)

                                                   Having loads of fun getting wet    lol

                                                    Mollster has just soaked Jan    hehe

                                                    "Fang"    Chesters new nick name :)

     With its  beautiful rocky edges to the bay , and caves the dogs are investigating.........

                                                 Im in the cave now :)     looking out........

We eventually walk up the steep path and back up over the headland towards Stackpole car park

 

Posing Mollster :)

                                       Last view of the beach , what a wonderful sight .

                             Tomorrows weather in the morning is not looking good :( 

Pembrokeshire Holiday june 2014 PT1

Its Friday morning and Jan and i with the Terrible Twosome are on our way to Pembrokeshire for 10 days .  we are going to a caravan site not too far from Tenby. I have never been to this part of the country before and hopefully weather permitting might be able to go over to Skomer to see the Puffins.   Any how after over four and half hours drive we have arrived at the campsite and set up the caravan and the two awnings , one for the dogs :)
The weather is warm and sunny so since the dogs have been in their cages all day in the car we will take them down to the nearest beach at Penally which is part of Tenby South beach .  parking at the railway station the path goes through the sand dunes and an army rifle range , hope they don't shoot Chester  lol

 Having walked the entire length of beach we are almost in Tenby , so dogs on leads as we get near the dog ban area of the beach .   its high tide now so will be a bit more sand to play on on the way back later .

                           Heading up into the town , its really nice here in the evening sun.

Looking back at the length of beach we have just walked, and!  need to walk back  Arghhh    its been a long day and feeling a bit knackered already   Ooops lol

 We have come to the harbour , its very busy in the narrow streets , Mol is not happy in crowds :(

 After visiting a chippy we are on our way back to the beach , its a long walk back to the car :(
                                 a big cabbage palm makes it feel quite tropical here :)

             What a lovely first evening here , and the forecast is looking quite good all week :)

                                      Back to the car at last , Mollster is looking tired, Not!

 The following morning we are going shopping first for food , the Terrible twosome are waiting patiently to get going 

We are now on Freshwater East beach  , there are very few people here for a Saturday , a theme for the whole week actually.    the dogs are having a great time :)

                                   The sky is stunning blue now , and its getting very warm

                                            The sea is getting quite warm for june :)

 After walking the length of the beach and giving the  Beasts a good soaking i have noticed people walking up a path high up onto the headland, so we decide, or rather i persuade Jan that is where we should walk :)                 The path is quite easy actually and the view from up here is superb.

 We don't walk to far, Jan is tired  Lol      i walk around a bit further and take this image before turning back

 The path continues through the sand dunes nature reserve where i spot loads of marsh orchids and a load of rabbits, luckily Mol is on her lead by this point .            a final image with the flowers making a nice foreground :)

                     the end of a really nice first full day on the Pembrokeshire coast

                                                all images taken on HTC ONE phone

Dragons and Bugs at Aldford river Dee june 2014

A quick  trip down to the river Dee at Aldford to see if any Clubtail Dragons can be found ,   i think they are quite ugly for a dragonfly but they are elusive and always nice to see.  my last trip failed to see any so i dont really expect to find any but its always worth a walk :)

Walking onto the river side path just past the Blue bridge i start to look in the first fields edge and amazingly i have spotted a female Common Clubtail , cant believe my luck sometimes :)  unfortunately its starting to spit with rain and the light levels are very low but i will do my best in the breeze to get a sharp image or 2 .

 as its cold i have moved it onto a plant for better picture but with the wind movement i just cant get a sharp image, so will try a finger shot............

 There are a few Banded Demoiselles but as usual i just cant get close to them , this is the best i have managed  today.

Continuing down the river there are hundreds of Scorpion flies , but the light is not good enough to get any decent sharp shots.   this is only one i have managed but it is not very sharp , time to put the mpe-65 lens and flash on now

                            That's better :D                   an  Aliens  head lol

Now i will just shoot a few flies then head off home.  loads of Doli flies   love their green eyes :)

these tiny flies are so difficult to photograph, they seem to react to the cameras pre flash and move before the image is taken , it is quite a common problem but i have managed a few good shots.

                                                                                just a fly 

                          a Clegg Horsefly , amazing eyes they have , so beautiful but deadly  lol

                                                              a focus stacked portrait

                that's a great way to finish the morning just as its started raining fairly heavy now.

World Famous Laburnum Arch at Bodnant Gardens and a few dragons 1st June 2014

Today i am on my way to Bodnant gardens in north wales to see the famous Laburnum Arch , which i have seen many times but never at its peak , for the last week it has been fully open so my timing is great.     the gardens open at 10 am,  so as i need to photograph the full length of the tunnel without anybody getting in the way i will get there early to be first in line to get in :)

I have arrived just before 9.30 and the car park is deserted , Yay!     i make my way down to the garden entrance through the tunnel and i am the only one there , but soon quite a few start arriving.  The Arch is just 2 minutes walk from the entrance so i have already got my tripod set up and camera ready to rush round and get as many images as i can while its clear.  as the gates open i can, as a National trust member, go through fast entrance and i am rushing round to the arch.   i have already decided my composition so quickly i set up and take a series of bracketed frames , i have managed to take just 15 frames before a couple of other photographers set up beside me and then watch in amazement as 3 people just blatantly walk straight in front of us all and walk very slowly down the middle of the tunnel preventing any more shots , after this a steady procession of people arrive and that is it!    here are my best 3 images..............

Time for a quick walk around the garden to see if can see any bugs to shoot , the Bearded Iris are looking fabulous.

                                          i have found a spider lurking in a curled up leaf :)

                                                            a Blue Himalayan Poppy

               The White Wisteria looks superb next to the steps below the rose garden.

                                                                        Bumble bee

                                                  and another spider hanging around :)

               a final shot from the garden before i nip off to rspb conwy for a walk around there.

I have now driven back to Conwy to walk around the local reserve , i have heard quite a few dragonflies have been seen recently so will try and find a few.

I have just spotted an Emperor Dragonfly hunting over this pool but it is not settling , constantly flying as usual for this species  but a male Broad Bodied Chaser is being more co operative and i am going to try get a few shots of this one.

                                              after half an hour i have bagged a few images :)

now its time to walk back to the car park and get back home to go take Mollster for a walk , on the way i must go see the Bee Orchids  but first a Common Blue catches my eye :)

                                                    and my final image of the Bee Orchid