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

Beautiful Bee Orchids at RSPB Conwy june 6th 2012

It has been  a few years since i last photographed Bee Orchids, so since the butterfly season is really slow with the weather being so bad a quick decision to visit  RSPB Conwy to see the orchids and the birds:)
Arriving early in the morning , the weather was changeable but the sun was out when i arrived which makes a change this year!  haha
After a quick chat with the very helpful rangers in the visitor centre , i knew exactly where to look for the Bee Orchids. the first spot was just behind the centre on the edge of a field where they had put a sign up :)   in fact i found 5 plants in this spot :)  but only one was good enough to photograph!

A walk around the reserve now, a swan is nesting near to the hide on the first lagoon so that is the first place to start :)  and here she is, what a beauty :)

A walk along the boardwalks through the sedges , loads of sedge warblers were making a lot of noise!  haha , but couldn't get any pics.  but i did find this Drinker moth caterpillar feeding on a sedge stem .

at the end of the boardwalk there is a small pond , hopefully i can find a few damselflies but it is early with the cold weather for them to be emerging.  after a quick search i found one on a wooden handrail of all places , newly emerged this morning as it hasn't coloured up yet.  shot with canon mpe-65 macro lens and focus stacked 3 frames to increase depth of field.

 

After getting these shots it started raining , not much so i carried on towards the next lagoon hide , passing on the way this view. just love the carved wooden lapwings ,  so i had to shoot a real one:)

into the hide , and my lens limitations are proven, the birds are just too far away for my 70-300mm on full frame , will have to crop alot!!!!!!!    so here is a lapwing.

and after trying without any rewards to shoot swallows & swifts in flight , shot these:)

Time to go and find the other Orchids now , which are on the coastal path on way back to the centre via the estuary.  i pause to shoot the local Canadian family :)  so cute!

more rain on its way by the look of it! 

A view looking at Conwy castle, taken right by the Orchids:)

and now for the Orchids ,  with yellow vetch flowers all around i used them as a beautiful background to show off the Bee Orchids :D

I noticed a broad legged leaf beetle on a daisy nearby , so  took a few high magnification portraits , showing all the pollen covering its head!  haha

and then i found a Drinker moth catt on the ground , so again shot with mpe-65 macro lens, 3 frames focus stacked.

I will finish of with my favourite Orchid image of the day , taken when the sun went behind a cloud. which gave much softer light.

Wonderful morning at RSPB Conwy.

images shot with canon 5d2, 100mm & mpe-65 macro lens & 70-300is