Bodnant Garden Bug hunt April 14 2014

I think its time i went on a Bug Hunt, been far too long , Bodnant gardens near Conwy in North Wales seems a good idea , usually a good chance of Miner bees and one of the few places i know that can see Beeflys which are on the wing now , its early spring and quite warm with a sunny day forecast :)

I have arrived and entered the Gardens , the spring flower borders are looking superb.

                                     Superb view over the Snowdonia mountains

The terrace and the rose gardens are usually a good starting point , a large Saraccoca i think its called, has small white flowers that Beeflys love to feed on is near the steps on the edge of the garden in below photo.    i am heading there first.

Walking down onto the lower terrace i have spotted a Miner bee in the shade on a wall, they need warmth to fly so this one should be easy to photograph with the Mpe-65 macro lens.

                                                                 Its being a good model :)

                                           

coming to where the Saracoca Was!  as its been dug out :(       no Beefly feeding shots today it would seem!
Now i head down a steep path lined with Camelias which  goes down to the lower stream in the valley , good waterside planting will attract the bugs hopefully.     i have just shot this tiny moth fly on a Camelia petal :)   they are about 3-4 mm wingspan .

 

In a sun trap in the valley floor near to the stream i have found loads of bees and a few of these Tawny miner bees, so beautifully coloured

          at last a Beefly  , they are very skittish today and cant get close enough to shoot properly.

                      and another beautiful bee, Ashy mining bee Andrena cinerari.

I have spotted my first large red damselfly of the year, a couple weeks earlier than last year ,this is a two frame focus stack with mpe-65

After an hour shooting, or trying  lol   i am going to have a quick walk around the gardens before going home.                           a lovely hoverfly in a Rhododenron flower:)

                                                         A few pics of the beautiful gardens.

                                                 the end of a great day in wales

Nuthatch Fun in Cannock Chase march 17th 2014

Another trip to Cannock Chase today ,  the weather forecast is not great yet again , but will be ok for the most part .  arriving at about 9 o'clock its just a short walk into the woods to the large fallen trees where the Nuttys come down to feed :)

the first thing I'm going to do is put out a few broken peanuts in the thick moss that's on one of the trees nearby , a favourite spot for them.   it has only been a minute or so and two arrive above me and come down immediately to pick up the food .

Look at this one , cheeky bird has found the peanuts i stuffed into a hole in the dead tree about 15 ft away , it must have been watching me put them in as i arrived  lol

      I have managed to get a portrait as it landed on the wood above the hole :)      beautiful colours

                               Mollster is quite happy watching me from behind.

        A stump on the dead tree has also had peanuts stuffed into the bark, quite hard to try slow down the "theft"   lol     the light is really nice now , shining through the trees at a low angle.

                                                   got lucky with these two images!

 i have watched them landing on this stump for ages now, but its very difficult getting good sharp images as they are such fast little birds. 

                                      I have just noticed this one in a large tree above me

 The sun is higher now and giving different light to the backgrounds , lighting up the moss on a tree behind which looks quite nice .

That will be my final image for the day , the sun is being blocked by trees now and this area is getting a bit dark.  its been a good morning shooting and watching these fascinating little birds .


                                       all shot with canon 5d mk2 and 100-400 L

Snowdon walk with Mollster march 3rd 2014

A quick trip around the mountain lakes beneath Snowdon with Mollster today, after just over an hours drive i am looking at the famous view of Snowdon over Llynnau Mymbyr at Capil curig.  never tire of seeing this view and the first glimpse of the weather conditions on the mountain.

after paying the rip off car park charge at pen-y-pass we make our way up the pyg track , Mollster poses looking down Llanberis valley.

looking back to the car park rapidly disapearing into the distance as we gain height , its a fairly easy path even in deep snow but today i can make fast progress.

Crib Goch is ahead but this path passes to the lower left side with superb views across Llyn Llydaw and Snowdon herself.

                                         here is the view mentioned above across the lake

                                                            Posing yet again Mol ?

                                                stunning panorama  view large HERE

                                            This is one of my favourite views up here :)

 having reached the viewpoint above Glaslyn with Snowdon summit behind with a good covering of snow still (   MARCH 2014 )     Mollster is doing what she does best :)

                                             Come on hurry up she must be thinking!

            

 having reached the bottom of the zig zags , i take the path back down to Glaslyn to meet the Miners track to go back. it looks amazingly clear with the sun shining down into the deep water.

                         paddling time for Mol , it must be really cold standing in there!!!!!!

     a last view before the steep track down to Llyn Llydaw , come on Mol  that's enough paddling

                        beautiful weather today, clear views all around for a change.

Down at Llyn Lldaw where the path goes around the lake and over a causeway between the two lakes

we are now on the final long flat stretch of the miners track that goes straight back to the car park

                                                              Welsh Mountain Goat :)

                                                         final image of the Mollster :)

Cannock Chase Birds feb 10th 2014

I haven't shot any birds for ages, so i have decided to go down the m6 to Cannock Chase.  its a long way but is a superb place for birding.
arriving at about 9  i set up a few perches and put some feed out for the birds , almost immediately a Nutty come down and i managed a few quick shots with my 400mm lens , got lovely light in this one:)                 Nuthatchs are one of my favourite bird, but there is a better place in the wood to shoot them for later in the day.

 Every ones favourite the Robin comes down onto the large log i have put a few seeds on , the light is really nice still but starting to cloud over a bit.

There are not that many showing, a scruffy looking coal tit sitting in the tree and a few Great tits flitting in and out but not coming down to feed much.

                                                     A Great tit perching on the log top :)

a Female Bull finch is mopping up the fallen seeds on the ground, proving really difficult to get a good picture with a clean background , this is the best i have managed .

a "Poppit"    aka Long Tail tit are superb little birds, usually appear in small groups, feed then disappear quickly  , this one stopped for a short time to feed on peanut butter placed on the branch :D

There are just not enough feeding here now so i have decided to walk into the woods to search for the Nuthatches , there are a few different large fallen trees where they readily come down to feed on whole and crushed peanuts carefully hidden in the bark.
after a 10 minute walk into the woods i have come to the second set of fallen trees, these have been the most consistent feeding areas for the birds i have found in the previous couple of years.

After spreading a few whole and crushed peanuts in various places i only have to wait a few moments before the Nuttys come down :)      its unfortunately come over very overcast and spitting with rain, so i am having to shoot at high 1000 & 1600 iso

          They are so fast!   coming down from the trees, grabbing a peanut then flying off again  lol

                                               A Chafinch pops in for a photo to be taken

              After a couple hours of fun watching and shooting  them i pack up after this image.

                  it has been a great day shooting and watching, even spotted a herd of Deer :)