Hi to my Blog
I do not get out every day, but I have been thinking for a while about doing a Blog, so here we go, I will try and keep it up dated and informed of what I have been doing, I have always been into wildlife and nature, the biggest buzz I get is seeing something for the first time.
Work often gets in the way of the walks and escapades I want to do, but after 39 years in the Merchant Navy I still like my Job.
I do loads of walking, mainly with my wife Elaine, or with my mates from the Wildlife Paparazzi.
Living in Dorset has got to be one of the best places to be, I have seen loads of places around the world and Uk, there is no place like home.
August another month gone
The month started in West Wales, watching Chough, a very young Wheatear and seeing a Wood Bug another first, when we returned home, the first thing I noticed as I walked around Lodmoor, was the silence, the Sedge and Reed Warblers had gone, eerie to say the least, then the sudden realisation summer was coming to an end, an instant downer, then as I walked on down the west path, I saw a pair of Dunlin in close and the first of many Common Sandpipers, I have never seen so many Sandpipers here 10 in all, along with a pair of Wood Sandpipers another first.
I left it late but finally got to visit Alners Gorse for the butterflies, Ben came down and we saw a Brown Hairstreak and a very late White Letter, on the same day we went down to Portland, got lucky tons of Hummingbird Hawk Moths, Painted Lady's and Clouded Yellows, what a great spell we had with these this year, plenty of them for a couple of weeks, we also found a Holly Blue and a few Migrant Hawkers.
Oh well another month gone now September has also passed, am I getting Old are the years passing quicker ?
Time Goes By
It was back in July that I last posted, so I have a bit of catching up to do.
We had a big family holiday over in Wales, I think there were about 28 of us, so chaos was inevitable.
Here are a few pics that I have downloaded, some of them are in HDR so not everyone will like the way they are processed.
My Nearest and Dearest Very Happy Days
Tenby at Sunset
The Old and the New Lifeboat stations
The Harbour at Low water
The Old Slipway HDR
The New Slipway HDR
The Tide does go out a long way
The Harbour again
This is my HDR version of the Harbour.
Fatboy Walking. Elaine caught me without my knowledge, that is Skomer in front of me
Fatboy WalkingElaine took this without me knowing, that is Skomer in front of me
Durdle Door 15-7-14
I have been looking at some pics on the internet of Durdle Door. Today I thought I would get over there and take some pics, I really wanted to see the Stack called Butter Rock, I thought I would make the most of it and do Man of War bay as well. I phoned my mate Dennis and he very kindly lent me a 24-105 lens, so with that and my 12-24 lens I was sorted.
I started down at Man of War Bay, I walked to the point and tried to get some shots looking East, using the rock line as a leader.
When I had filled my boots I walked back around the cove and taking shots now and again.
I finished off in the corner, before clambering back up and over the the cliff to Durdle Door.
When I got down onto the beach, I walked like a man possessed to the other end of the bay, finally got to see the Stack, brilliant well worth the effort.
I think this will be a cracking place to come at Low water as well, with just the beginnings of the reef showing would be magic, I took loads of shots with the Big Stopper filter on, then I changed to the 10 stop B&W filter, this gives a warmer pic and as the sun was beginning to drop thought it would be worth a try.
I looked back along the beach and thought for a brief moment I was stranded.
It was okay but close to a paddle back, I wanted to get a couple of shots of the Door and some of the Sunset so I had to rush, I had a brilliant time down there, never got home until 10, that climb is knackering really needed my Rum and Coke tonight.
Happy Days, going Fishing tomorrow :-) tight lines.
It's been a while :-)
Okay it has been a while since my last post, I have been busy and side tracked, work, jobs at home and when I do get out are my pics worth shouting about!!!!
Well the Silver Washed Fritillary Butterflies are about again, they are probably my favourite of all of them, I have seen my first Purple Emperor and quite a few White Admirals, whilst out on Portland I got my first pics of the Lulworth Skipper, even got them mating.
I had a trip out with Frank and Dennis to Martin Down in Wiltshire for the Dark Green Fritillary's, saw loads, took tons of shots that looked great in camera, but were not so good on the Mac, since then I have seen them in few different places in Dorset, notably on Ballard Down Swanage, I will go back there as soon as I can, brilliant views of Poole Harbour, Bournemouth to Hengistbury and beyond to the Isle of White.
I also had a day out with my Friend Ben, fresh form his stint working on Springwatch. We always find something new, this time we went to Chase Wood a new place for me, it took a bit of finding but great for Butterflies again, we also went up to Salisbury where I found without realising it, our first ever Purple Emperor, we walked miles that day, We finished off in the evening driving back down to Weymouth,to go on the Fleet at Ferry Bridge, where Ben got his first shots of the Little Terns.
Ferry Bridge has been good this year, I got to see some Ringed Plover chicks, never seen these before, well not this small, while on chicks, I had the chance to take some shots of the Oystercatcher chicks up on the old landing craft in Poole harbour, when I was on night watch, initially there were 3, but the next time I looked,sadly only 1 was left.
I have spent quite a few hours (5days) watching Water Voles up on the river Frome at Wool, bearing in mind that the whole area was under water for nearly 3 months over the early part of this year, I was unsure wether I would find some, well I did, I saw at least 2 on one spot, I wasn't able to get very close and they were in the shade, but I did get some pics, this is the best of them
Sadly I spent more time looking at the river bank than the Voles, then I spent 2 days without seeing any, on the 2nd day I should have realised, I saw a Stoat hunting on their patch, it was as usual with Stoats all to swift a sighting and I never got a shot of it, but here is one I saw up at Chase Woods a another totally unexpected glimpse in low light.
I have tried to condense 4 weeks worth of togging into this blog, okay 2 plus were at work, but all the same, I let myself get behind, I am off to Wales next time off, looking forward to getting some shots in over there, it will be a trial, we are going with my family, there will be 36 or more of us there. Look Out Wales the Eggs are Coming.
Another Day on Bugs Beasties and Butterflies
Marsh Fritillary
On Saturday I wanted to go to Cerne Abbas, thought that I might get to see some Butterflies, my mate Frank was already there when I arrived at 10:00, I decided to walk the hedge at the bottom of the hill hoping to find some early flyers, I saw a lot of Bugs and Beasties but no Butterflies.
I eventually got to the end of the field and started to climb, it was still quite damp but warming up nicely, I was hopeful, eventually I saw a couple of day Moths, then a Brown Argos, a Marsh Fritillary, Frank found a Duke Of Burgundy Fritillary in a tree, by the time I got to there it had flown, I saw it land I crawled across the ground and got my first shot of one of these rare beauties in years, we were able to get a few shots before it warmed up enough to fly off for good, I decided to keep climbing up the hill, then as I got near to the Giant, I started to find a few Marsh Fritillaries, brilliant, these are excellent Butterflies, it seemed to go on and on everywhere I turned more and more of them, fantastic :-)
We decided to go to Powerstock common, there we found a few Blue Butterflies, got a terrific find of a Great Crested Newt, 2 years on the trot at the same spot, got a few bugs here as well, It was now 2:30 so we decided to head 30 miles East to Higher Hyde Heath.
It was warm when we arrived, Saw a Grass-Snake and Adder out in the open, the usual Lizards and Damselflies, saw my first Golden Ringed Butterfly of the year too.
On Sunday Elaine and I decided to go to Portland, via the tip as per usual, we got down to the Bill, saw a few Bee Orchids in the fields by the Obs, the Little Owl wasn't showing, we headed off to the Cliff edge, there are quite a few Auks on the ledges but no eggs were visible!!!!
I think this maybe one of the worst years ever for them, the winter storms took their toll, with most of these birds being monogamous they will sit and wait in vane for their mates, how sad, it doesn't help with the local fishermen and their gill nets everywhere either, I sat and watched from a distance in sadness as one fisherman cleaned his nets, he must have pulled at least 10 Guillemots dead from just one net utter madness.
Anyhow I digress, we started to see a few Small Blue Butterflies up there, I quickly changed my set up to macro mode and took a few shots of them, the Bill was busy in the warm weather, we did our usual walk out to Godner point before heading up the path to Culverwell, this is a small wooded spring near the Obs, sometimes really good for birds, it had recently had some tidying up work done there, a hole had been left only about a metre square and 1/2 a metre deep filled with water, in it I spotted some baby Frogs, they were in transition between Tadpole and Frogs, so I called them froglets, some had lost their tails and some still had them, great to see, I put my extension tube on between the 100-400 lens and the camera with the flash and took some pictures, this for me this is a very are sight, I cannot remember the last time I found these, probably when I was a kid, many years ago.
Finished my day off at Lodmoor, it was dull, but I did get some pics of Shelduck Ducklings, Happy Days :-)
Beetle ( Cryptocephalus aureolus)
Wasp Beetle
Arnie Bug Swollen Thighed Beetle
Bee Halictus rubicundus
Scorpianfly Female
Willow Leaf Beetle
Marsh Fritillary
Brown Argus
Duke Of Burgundy Fritillary
Duke Of Burgundy Fritillary
Adonis Blue
Great Crested Newt
Common Lizard
Harlequin Ladybird
Burying Beetle and Family
Small Blue
Small Blue Coupled
Froglet
Froglet
Shelduck Ducklings