Dark Green Fritillaries at Newbough warren Anglesey June 30th 2014

Today i am going in search of Dark  Green Fritillaries  , there is a good site on the Island of Anglesey off the North Wales coast . So with  Mollster loaded in the car,  of we go :)     its looking a very warm sunny day , which might make it difficult to photograph them but they will at least be on the wing :)

After a 2 hour drive i arrive at Newbough car park , and decide to walk down towards the dunes firstly.

                                         There are plenty of wild Orchids in the clearings

 I have just spotted three Green Fritts :)   next to the main path  and i manage to get this open wing shot .

                                                                      and a Grayling

 Mol is getting restless so time to take her down to the beach, there is a slight problem though , dogs are not allowed on the beach at this time of year!    which is bloody stupid as its deserted!!!!!!!!!!!!
So i have to walk right down the coastline and around the headland to get to a dog friendly beach! 

                                    Around the boadwalk for no apparent reason ..................

                 and down the road side path amongst the buttercups which are looking lovely :)

 The path comes out next to the dunes by an almost deserted beach, the only people on it are walking to the peninsula to the lighthouse which is cut of by the incoming tide.

 i have made my way through the dunes and then the woods  which was not easy as there was no path!     we are high up on the headland and have to scramble down to the beach now!

                         Hurry up dad , i want to go in the sea Mollster is probably thinking!

After making our way down to the beach Mol is straight in after a stick i have found...............

The tide is coming in fast and have to be careful not to get cut off as there is not much of the beach where we have to climb back up.  After 20 mins its time to go and find some more butterflies .
The tide is almost across the narrow part cutting off the island very soon , we are now up top and walking back through the forest .



 Good view from up here , i have just noticed 2 people with dogs on the beach  as a ranger drives along and shouts at them   lol     its ok having a dog ban in summer hols when kids will be on the beach but its stupid midweek at this time!   Mutter Mutter LOL

 Back now up on the rough ground behind the dunes in search of butterflies , i have tied Mol to the gate so i can chase the Fritillaries :)

          Got one feeding !  Yay      it has taken ages , they are very flighty and i cant get near them

                                                                        a close view

                                                    Open wings nicely, so beautiful :)

             One last look before we go, its clouded over now and the butterflies have vanished!

                                                                   the end of a great day

Prees Heath Butterfly hunt June 23 rd 2014

The time is right to go to Prees Heath in Shropshire to photograph the silver studded blues, which i do every year,  its always great to see them emerging covered in ants helping to clean off the emerging butterfly.     
It has been quite warm for the last week and i have found out they have started emerging , unfortunately it is quite breezy today but should be able to shoot a few .


I make my way from the car park down the main path through the trees towards the clearings where the bell heather grows, this is the area to find the emerging butterflies.  i have found a newly emerged male straight away , but is very difficult getting sharp images in the increasing breeze , this is the best i have managed so far :)

 Searching the short Heather for butterflies emerging is proving difficult , there are loads of males flying but not a single female so far.  usually males congregate around an emerging female making them easier to spot.     after half hour i have just found this male  , wings almost fully unfolded but only one or two ants cleaning him,    i have hardly seen any ants which is very unusual for here.... i use my MPE-65 macro lens to get this image with a single ant on the butterfly.

                   The heather is looking superb with plenty of males feeding...........

                                                 Another male silver studded blue

 While searching, something big has just flown past noisily , i follow quickly and find this huge Robber fly with a poor butterfly in its clutches!!!!!!
I takes off again but i have managed to keep track of it and when it landed i manage a few shots with the 100mm lens before putting on the MPE again to get this close up shot:)

 although i could have got same image with the 100mm lens ,the flash gives a better light on the image at closer range, so the much shorter focal distance (3" in this case) of MPE is preferable.

                            a phone shot showing the surroundings as well as the subject

                                                                        A Feeding Blue :)

                   At last i have found a pair ,  and they are in a good position to shoot :)

It is now too windy to continue, i will now drive over to Whixall Moss to have a quick look around before going home , but i shoot a thistle flower on the way back to the car :)

     At Whixall i make my way to the open area  where the Large Heath butterflies can be found.

                  There are loads of them , but as i get close they fly up and get blown away  lol  
Eventually i have got close to one  , but cant prevent the shadow over the wing from a rush stem :(

                          Cotton grass which is the favoured habitat of the Large Heath.

 Cant believe my luck!    one perched on a bracken frond on the main path while on my way back to the car :D

      Its been a  Good half day shooting , a bit of a challenge which makes it all the more interesting .

Colby Wood, Pendine and Barafundle last day in Pembrokeshire 21th June 2014

Today is our last day in Pembrokeshire :(   We leave tomorrow , so for the last full day in the sun we are firstly going to Colby wood for a quick look around, then off to Pendine sands .

                                                          Come on, Hurry up !

            We are at Colby Wood near Amroth, we cant go into the gardens with the dogs . but can go into the surrounding area .

                                 Big meadow area with a stream running through.

                                               Appears Chester cant read!!!!!!! and can't get out    haha

                                            Looking at the house from the meadow

                                            

                                                    
           I have just spotted this male Broad bodied chaser , managed a few shots before it flew off!





            The trees have good colour for this time of year , must be amazing in the autumn

This is the end of the meadow, we have tried walking further to follow the stream but cant get much further , so we decide to leave now and head to Pendine Sands.

  Having parked up near the beach , this is the notice on the top of the beach!!!!!!!!!  SERIOUSLY!

                                          Hope Chester doesn't roll on a bomb!     lol
This beach is seven miles in length and i think has been used for land speed racing at some point. it is still used for hot rod racing i believe.

         The dogs are straight in!  its very shallow and they can paddle quite a long way out.

                                                                        So fast Mol :)

   i am using the long lens at high iso to freeze the movement, just look at the water drops

                               Look what Mollster has just found!   its a huge barrel jellyfish :)

Chester has been barking alot , a welsh guy has just stormed down the beach complaining!  WTF?
its a 7 mile beach  , with a dog free zone at the car park end with loads of screaming kids all along the busy area that we have left  and he complains about a dog barking!!!!!!!!!!       does he complain about all the noise the dam kids make?    No of course he doesn't!          Tosser!

             We continue walking along the beach, the tide is going out fast as its so shallow.

                                   We are trying to dry them off now on the sand chasing the ball .

                                                         Lying down to get a shot :)

      Time to go back to the van now for dinner , then  back to Barafundle beach for the evening.
             its a lovely warm evening and enjoy a great walk over the headland from Stackpole :)

                       an almost deserted beach ,except a few teenagers down for a barbi  lol

                                i don't think it will be long before these two get wet!

wet and sandy  lol     the low evening sun lighting them as they run  , Chester has his eye on the ball !

                                                                  Chester is flying!

                                              Turning golden now , lovely light

                                      Time to go now , they don't want to!  Awwwww :(

 

Last view as the sun lights up the headland

 

                   Last pic from Pembrokeshire  , its been a great holiday with superb weather.