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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.
Stick Insect
Stick Insect (Clonopsis gallica)
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This Stick Insect turned up in our neighbour’s garden; it was worth a few photos as they are difficult to find most of the time.
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Water Rail
Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus)
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More images of the Water Rail in the folder
As night Falls
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As night falls the badgers appear on their nightly hunt for food
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Just before light gave way to the dark a young Fox came into view, alerted to the sound of the shutter it didn’t stay long.
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Fire in the Hole
Fire in the hole
Salamander (Salamandra salamandra)
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Fire Salamanders live in the cellar and help to keep the local Spiders under control.
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Toxic Lake
Part of our daily routine was a trip down to the toxic lake (a local name for the small lake on the edge of the hamlet).
It didn’t seem that toxic to us as it was inhabited with lots of small fish and frogs, Kingfishers and Coypu could also be seen most days.
Although shots of the kingfishers would be nice, Coypu was the reason for our daily visits.
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Praying Mantis
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Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa)
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More Later
Green Lizard
European Green Lizard (Lacerta Viridis)
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With the warm weather came the Lizards, the best of them being this Green Lizard which spent most of the day sunning itself on some sandstone rocks I had placed in the garden to attract them.
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After warming up on the rocks it would make a dash for the flower bed in the centre of the garden to catch some insects.
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Back From France
Back in Runcorn after two weeks in sunny France, it’s time to go through the images and see the results.
Graham couldn’t make the trip this time that left Roy to pick up the baton.
At the house in France It soon became apparent that the Little Owls would not be around due to the builder’s activity on the roof of the house next door.
During the week we did hear them calling at dusk in the small orchard opposite the back garden but we did not see them.
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However Black Redstarts complete with their young are made of sterner stuff and are not put off with the noise or human activity.
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These curious little birds are keen to explore all new changes to their territory.
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The ever present Black Redstarts soon discovered the delights of the moth trap that we put out every night.
We were up at first light to see what treasures the moth trap would reveal only to find two or three Black Redstarts had eaten most of the moths that had landed outside of the trap.
It soon became a race to get to the moths first.
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Back to France again
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I am going back to France for some 24/7 wildlife photography on the 26th August for two weeks and I invited the lads. Roy is coming with me and Graham will be joining us later in the week. I have had ten weeks in France up to now this year but I am hoping for some more time later.
With most of the work completed on the house it gives me plenty of opportunity to explore the local area for wildlife and catch up with the Little Owls and Black Redstarts in the garden.
The Fire Salamanders in the cellar are on the list of things to photograph as are the lizards outside, if the weather is warm enough to bring them out, the shots I have of them could be better.
The two acres of woodland that I have has not been investigated in any detail; I have seen Green Woodpeckers and Firecest in the wood and suspect they have been breeding there. If I have time I will be building a bird hide in the woods and setting up a feeding station for future visits.
The Coypu on one of the lakes is a short walk from my house is also worth a visit, Hoopoe are one of the birds I want to photograph and I think I have a site where they feed in the morning.
The Brenne Nature Reserve is a must to visit; I have been before but only seen a very small area of the reserve. This time we are looking at maps to identifying the best areas to photograph our target species.
I have a wish list of the target species I expect to photograph and the locations to find them, so with a bit of luck I could achieve some of my aspirations it all depends on if some birds have migrated or not, some are resident in the area.
Hope to be able to update my blog from France.
Summer Fruits
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Summer fruits are ripe for picking and this little Wood mouse is finding it hard to resist.
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More in the folder
