A photographic diary featuring my latest images
Saturday 22nd August 2009
Garden
I have been renovating my garage and needed to move the contents of my wood store, whilst doing so this little chap hopped out.
Adult Toads have a body length between 8 and 15cm and can live for up to 40 years. Hopefully this one has a long life ahead as he/she was only 3cm long and would have been a tadpole earlier in the year, emerging as a Toadlet in May.
I find Bees difficult to identify but I believe this one is Bombus pascuorum. This species nests just below the ground in old mammal burrows, or on the surface in grass tussocks.
I also photographed two more Hoverflies. The first one is Eristalis tenax, commonly known as Drone Fly and it is a mimic of the Honey bee.
This one is Syritta pipiens, also known for obvious reasons as the Thick legged hoverfly.
Thursday 20th August 2009
Old Winchester Hill
The weather has been sunny and hot, perfect conditions for butterflies, so I went looking for Clouded Yellows. Sadly when I arrived it was blowing a gale and not a butterfly in sight! Never mind I did manage to get a few insects and a Large White was braving the wind.
Large White
Grass Moth - Agriphila tristella
Mesembrina meridana
Hoverfly Sphaerophoria scripta
Saturday 15th August 2009
Garden
I found two new moths in the garden, the first is the Light Brown Apple Moth. This moth orginated in Australia and was probably introduced accidentally in Cornwall in the 1930's. In Australia, New Zealand and North America it is a pest insect as the larvae consume numerous crops.
I discovered this Old Lady moth when I was sorting out the wood pile at the back of my garage. It gets its name from the colouring which resembles the material historically favoured by old ladies for their dresses. The UK moths website has this to say about it.... A large-winged, sombre-coloured moth, which is distributed locally throughout much of Britain, and common in places. It hides by day in old buildings and sheds, and frequents damp localities as well as waste ground and gardens.
Friday 14th August 2009
Swanwick Reserve
These are the first photographs I have of a Common Darter Dragonfly, unfortunately the only lens I had with me was my 400mm, so they are not the best. This is one of the most common dragonflies and can be seen into November. They are ambush predators, waiting on a prominent perch until prey fly past and chasing it.
Monday 10th August 2009
River Hamble Burridge
I went kayaking on the Hamble today. I have often seen Kingfishers in the upper reaches, so I took my camera just in case. I am still waiting for my first usable image of a Kingfisher but I did see this very handsome Egret in the trees.
Sunday 9th August 2009
Garden
I found two hoverflies in the garden today that I could identify and two that I couldn't.
Meliscaeva auricollis
Meliscaeva cinctella
If anyone can help with the next two, please let me know.
I also added two moths to the site, the first is the Silver Y moth, so named for the wing marking. There were ten to twelve of these moths around the Lavendar at dusk, they never settled and the wing movement was a constant blur which I had to freeze with the flash. Fortunately one was attracted to the light in the kitchen and this allowed me to get an at rest photograph clearly showing the Y on the wing.
The second moth is commonly known as the Mint Moth. It flies by day or night and as the name suggests is often found on Mint and related species. It is a very dainty moth with a wingspan of 10 to 15 mm.
Friday 7th August 2009
Swanwick Reserve
The Hampshire Wildlife Trust asked me to take some landscape photographs of their Reserve at Swanwick, and whilst doing so I spotted this young Roe deer.
Swanwick Lakes is an almost entirely man-made landscape. This former clay extraction site is owned by NATS and managed for wildlife and education by the Wildlife Trust. The reserve extends to around 80 acres and is designated as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC). The reserve is beautiful and well worth a visit.
Wednesday 5th August 2009
Farlington Marshes and the garden
I dropped into Farlington Marshes today, as usual the reserve was teeming with birds although most of them were out of range of my lens. There were several flocks of young Starlings making an impressive sight every time they took flight. I managed to photograph some of them in the trees.
Talking of impressive, as far as I am concerned it doesn`t get better than a swan in flight. I saw this one take off and managed to get a sequence of photographs as it flew straight towards me
I also photographed these two juveniles, the first a Shelduck and the second a Reed Warbler.
Later in the day I went into the garden, the sun had come out and the Wild Fennel was giving off a very strong aroma which seemed to be attracting every insect in the neighbourhood! I photographed insects on this plant at the end of July but have only just had time to identify them so I will include them here.
Median Wasp
German Wasp
Hover Fly Syrphus vitripennis
Hover Fly Volucella zonaria
Hover Fly Epistrophie grossulariae
Hover Fly Erisalis interruptus
Hover Fly Myathropa florea
Hover Fly Scaeva pyrastri
Sunday 2nd August 2009
Keyhaven
I revisited Keyhaven today and was given a flying display by this Common Tern, these Terns hover before diving headlong for fish and aquatic invertebrates.
This is a Turnstone in summer plumage, surely one of the most beautiful waders?
The Oystercatchers were feeding as the tide dropped and I managed to get a few photographs. In the second picture is an adult with juvenile, the young bird can be distinguished by the muted beak and leg colouring.
Keyhaven also has its share of butterflies and other insects and I was pleased to get my first images of a Wall Brown Butterfly. There are generally two broods a year although there is an occasional third brood in warmer years, in the south of England and The Channel Islands.
