Had a great day with the camera today photographing cuckoo again (much better than last time), followed by some woodland bird photography. The young male sparrowhawk at the drinking pool was a buzz to shoot as were the siskins and woodpeckers, but for me the dashing, crimson fronted redpoll males in full breeding plumage were superb. .jpg "european cuckoo")
.jpg "european cuckoo")
.jpg "european cuckoo")
.jpg "sparrowhawk in bluebell woodland")
.jpg "sparrowhawk in bluebell woodland")
.jpg "sparrowhawk in bluebell woodland")
.jpg "siskin male")
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.jpg "redpoll males")
.jpg "siskin female")
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Back at Brockadale today between showers looking for insects and flowers. I’m enjoying doing the macro work again, it’s been a while since I have done any and it’s always amazing to see familiar insects in high detail. I wasn’t as successful as I’d hoped to be today but starting top left and going clockwise, I did click beetle, red soldier beetle, carrion fly, scorpion fly, daisy and then some micro moth on germander speedwell. The latter insect is no more than 3-4mm long, absolutely minuscule and I’ll probably never identify it!
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I went back to Brockadale today looking for more wildflowers and came across one of the locally scarce stinking hellebore pants. Although well past its flowering period, it was easily recognisable but the amazing thing was that it was totally covered in brightly coloured shield bugs! I have identified these as sloe bug (also known as hairy shield bug) and there must have been over 60 on the one plant. Some were mating, some were sparring and some just seemed content to sit in the warm spring sunshine. Depth of field is always a problem with such small insects and high magnification, these images are around f/20 using the legendary 200mm micro Nikkor. Here are a couple of shots of these fascinating bugs..jpg "sloe bug (Dolycoris baccarum)")
.jpg "sloe bug (Dolycoris baccarum)")
.jpg "sloe bug (Dolycoris baccarum)")
.jpg "sloe bug (Dolycoris baccarum)")
.jpg "early purple orchid at Brockodale")
.jpg "early purple orchid at Brockodale")
The overcast light this morning seemed perfect for a trip to photograph early purple orchids at Brockadale YWT reserve. I figured they would be just about in bloom now and I was right. The whole of the limestone grassland was covered in a sea of purple and yellow, the yellow being cowslips which are just passing their peak now. There was plenty of spring migrants singing too and I came across a whole gang of red soldier beetles in the grass. They seemed content crawling to the end of a blade of grass but were not so happy when I tried to place them somewhere more photogenic and kept flying off!
.jpg "red soldier beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)")
.jpg "red soldier beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)")
.jpg "cuckoo on fir tree")
The cuckoo is a familiar herald of the British spring time with its loud resonant voice echoing over the woods and fields but in recent years, numbers of this enigmatic bird are in decline. While still numerous in some areas, in many others it is disappearing or has gone from the landscape. Today I was fortunate to be able to photograph one of three birds in an area of small conifers as the males displayed and bickered with each other in an effort to attract a mate. The local meadow pipit population, whom the cuckoo regularly uses as unsuspecting hosts, was not as impressed with their presence as I was! Although many non-birdwatchers are familiar with the call of the cuckoo, far fewer actually know what a handsome bird it is.
.jpg "eurasian cuckoo")
.jpg "cuckoo")
cuckoo on fir tree
