South Stack Lighthouse may 18

With the weather not being to good Again!   i decided to visit RSPB South Stack on the island of Anglesey and look around the lighthouse and maybe shoot a few bird shots.
The lighthouse was built in 1809 at a cost of £11,828 ,designed by Daniel Alexander and built by John Nelson. it is on a point on the tip of Anglesey not too far from Holyhead. it is 91 ft high and the light can be seen 28 miles away!

To get down to the light house i had to climb 400 steps  and gives a good opportunity to see all the nesting sea birds that are on the cliff faces.

 There are approx 4000  sea birds nesting all around the rocky headland, here are Guillemots all in rows!  lol

                              Near the bottom of the steps i get a better view of the lighthouse.

                                                              Razorbills on a rocky outcrop :)

Crossing over the bridge onto the island i first shot a herring gull portrait, they where everywhere  sitting on nests, this one was shot with 70-300 lens

Up into the lighthouse on a guided tour:)   the central spiral staircase which surrounds a central tube that housed a winding mechanism that originally turned the oil fired lamps of which there where  21 ! which originally where housed in a 3 sided reflector which took 6 minutes to revolve . now it is a 6 sided housing with the original 1000 watt bulbs converted to electric in 1938.

the outside of the revolving lamp enclosure

                                                  and then i climbed inside the structure

      Here you can see the bulbs, one is a spare that can be turned to replace the other one if it blows!

                               Another slightly closer composition of the staircase :))

    There is a museum that has loads information about the history of the lighthouse , here is one of the large 1000 watt bulbs as it arrived in its special cradle to prevent damage in transit.

and an old generator that was used to power the lights

Just outside the entrance was a female herring gull sitting on her eggs , i shot this portrait with 100mm macro lens:)) 

and then!!!!!!!!    she took off and started dive bombing me!  SCARY!  but got the shot before ducking!  lol     uncropped from 100mm macro , about 4/5ft from my head   :)  and i felt the wing clip my head!!!!!

                              After this excitement, i made my way back up the 400 steps lol
       pausing to shoot the birds again, not because i needed a rest!!  a good view down the coastline:)

images shot with canon 5d2, 17-40L ,70-300 is & 100mm L macro

Whixall moss Butterflies hunt 8th may

With finally a sunny day i decided to go on a butterfly hunt at Whixall moss in Shropshire , one of my favourite sites to go shooting.
I parked at Morris bridge car park and proceeded down the track onto the mosses, it was quite warm already  , but was 10 o'clock already!   in the first meadow before the mosses i soon spotted a few orange tips, it was very breezy so had to shoot at iso 640 to give a fast shutter speed to freeze any wind movement!   one male dropped down near me and i quickly shot 5 frames at 1/640th  f8 before it took off!   luckily i managed to get this wonderful back lit shot showing the orange on the wings that only the males have.

 

walking down one of the tracks i always stop to look at this derelict old car, must have been there for 40 odd years!

and near to this in a small ditch, a Raft spider Dolomedes sp , the largest uk species of spider, this was only a medium sized one, 2 inch leg span

Taking the path onto the mosses i found the first large red damselflies sheltering from the strengthening wind! a real pain when shooting macro.

i didn't manage to get a perched shot but did get one on my finger :) 5 frames focus stacked shot using canon mpe-65 macro lens.

I did chase a few more orange tips and speckled woods which were numerous but failed to get a single usable image!    but did find a pair of flies :))

Onto the mosses now hoping to see the first Green Hairstreaks of the year, but no sign of them in the two normal areas for them.  here is a shot of the mosses with cotton grass.

I now decided to make my way over to the canal, where usually loads of subjects can be seen all along the towpath.  just before the canal i spotted a Holly blue, very rarely do i see them!

Along the tow path , the dandelion flowers attract loads of insects:)

I soon came to a newly constructed wooden platform , presumably for bird watchers. i noticed something Green flash past me, YAY  1st green hairstreak of the year.  there turned out to be loads in a small area on the left of this platform.  a couple of people came over to watch me shoot and where amazed at what i was doing lol

and after shooting a few of them a shield bug shot.

Continuing down the towpath i heard one of the people calling me, they had found a Holly blue, i rushed back to see it  and shot a portrait at high magnification with mpe-65 lens.

Continuing down the canal towards the far end where there are usually plenty of Brimstone's and orange tips feeding on the dandelion heads:)

Male Orange tip  and a closer view of a perched female, note no orange!

Finally managed a Brimstone shot , not great but the first of the year:)

Back to the wooden platform!

a lizard resting!  lol

and a fly,  possible marchfly species , not 100% on that though!

And nearby a Green Veined White feeding!

Walking back to the car , a view down the canal

and finally a spider moulting its skin !

 

The end of a superb day, in all i had spotted over 24 green Hairstreaks , and numerous other butterflies with a total of over 90 for the day!!  Amazing!!!!!

The bug season has now started :))))

images taken with canon 5d2, 100mmL &MPE-65 macro lens

Rannerdale Bluebells in evening sun 6th May pt4

After a long day walking the mountains , at last the sun came out for me to shoot the Bluebells :)    i drove back down Buttermere valley to Crummock water and parked up at the foot of Rannerdale knotts .
The light was looking alot better than it did this morning when i was here shooting in hail and rain!
i made my way quickly up the path and was surprised that only a couple of walkers were there, thank goodness, hate people in photos!!

        My first view of the sunlit fell side and the Famous Bluebells bathed in early evening sunlight:)

  I quickly made my way around to the other side of the fell so i could shoot in amongst the bluebells:)

It really is a wonderful sight to see!

                Turning around to look towards Crummock water,Mellbreak  and the valley , what a view:D

                                                          A slightly different composition

                    And  what can be said when looking at a view like this, and hardly anyone there?

There really is nothing i can actually saw, just let the images tell the story:)

One last view:D

                                         That was the end of another fantastic mountain adventure:D

                                                   all images shot with canon 5d2 and 17-40L