Hello and welcome
I have always had a keen interest in wildlife and the great outdoors;
I was an Angler for over 30 years but gave it up a few years ago to
concentrate on photographing wildlife. I lived in Runcorn; Cheshire a
short distance from the M56 that gave me great access to the Wirral,
Northwales and Lancashire, with some great countryside on my doorstep
I didn't have to travel too far in search of wildlife and photographic
opportunities.
Some of my wildlife photographs range from as far afield as Cuba,
Antigua, Saint Martin, Saint Lucia, Dominican Republic, Tuscany ,
Corfu, Turkey, Spain, Portugal.
I now live in the Charente area of western France.
Garden Tiger moth Caterpillar
Garden Tiger moth caterpillar.
The hairs are an irritant and protect it from predators, such as birds- be warned in case you pick one up.
Black necked Grebe at Woolston Eyes
Black necked Grebe at Woolston Eyes.
Longhorn Beetle at Woolston Eyes.
Cormorant eating a catfish
An early morning visit to a local reserve near my home in France produced the Cormorant eating a catfish.
It took some time before is swallowed it due to the spines on the catfish.
Scarce Swallowtail
This species is believed to be an extremely rare in the UK.
However this one was in my garden in France feeding in an apple tree.
Western whip snake
This juvenile Western whip (Hierophis viridiflavus) came from next doors garden after it had been caught by his cat and was playing dead.
When I put the whip snake on the ground it started to move towards the nearest cover.
More from France later
Coypu
More from France
A short walk from the house is a small lake that has a family of Coypu in residence they are not camera shy and will come very close to you, swimming up and down the lake checking you out.
Lots more in the France Coypu folder
More later
Cuckoo on a wire
Most mornings are heralded with the sound of Cuckoos which sit on the telegraph post just next to my garden and take turns in chasing each other off, I did get some photographs of them but not what I wanted. Seeing them most days is reward enough.
More Later
Back from the brink
Back from France I started up my laptop and disaster. My laptop had locked me out, it wouldn’t recognise my password. After many failed attempts to get it to boot up, whilst pulling the last remaining hair follicle out, I was on the brink of launching it out of the window, which I would have done if it hadn’t have had all my photos taken this year on it.
I decided the best option was to bury my head in the sand and go out and take some photographs, if that didn’t solve it what would.
At Leasowe I ran into Gerhard and Mike, Gerhard asked what I was out photographing. Nothing really I said, just repairing my laptop. I could tell by the puzzled look on their faces that it didn’t seem like the best way to solve my problem.
Gerhard said he could do a better job than me (and he did). I am now up and running thanks to Gerhard. I am very grateful for his help.
After working on the house and garden I only managed to explore my surroundings on a few days but I did have some success at home.
Whilst working in the back garden t I discovered this toad under a log pile.
And in the front garden under some rocks this Fire Salamander.
The fire salamander is possibly the best-known Salamander species in Europe.
Black Redstart are nesting in the back garden and can be seen most days feeding on insects, which provide some great photographic opportunities.
More in the France folder
A trip down to my woodland produced Firecrest, although difficult to photograph I still got a few shots.
Could have been in better light.
A short walk from my house is a small lake that has a family of Coypu in residence they are not camera shy and will come very close to you, swimming up and down the lake checking you out. The field next to the lake seem to hold Roe deer most mornings and can be seen from the road if you are lucky.
Most mornings are heralded with the sound of Cuckoos which sit on the telegraph post just next to my garden and take turns in chasing each other off, I did get some photographs of them but not what I wanted. Seeing them most days is reward enough.
More later with the photographs.
Full Moon
Full Moon taken last night, this is my last post before I set off to France for a month.
I will be posting from France if I can sort-out the internet while I am there. So watch this space.
More later
Toad Wars
Its Toad wars at the local pond with male toads wrestling for the best position to fertilise the female’s eggs.
Another Gaffe
If I make a mistake it’s not the end of the world I can correct it.
But for some it is.
Early morning at the feeding station and a mistake cost this Siskin its life as it was taken by a Sparrowhawk.
Shame it’s not sharp, I do like seeing the Sparrowhawk but I also like seeing the Siskins and all the other birds that visit my garden.
Everything needs to eat, that’s life.
The Sparrowhawk only made the one visit so the feeding station saw plenty of activity during the rest of the day.
More later