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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.
Mole Cricket
Mole Cricket: Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa
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A strange looking insect which spends most of its time tunnelling in the soil with its powerful front legs.
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The forewings are short, but the hingwings are fully developed and the cricket flies on warm evenings.
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European Yellow-bellied toad
European Yellow-bellied toad: Bombina variegata
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The European Yellow-bellied toad displaying a warning sign (its skin extrudes a poison) don’t eat me.
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Ruts made by tractors fill with water after heavy rain and that attracts frogs and toads. I found this toad in one of them; they seem to be common around here.
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Buff Arches
Buff Arches: Habrosyne pyritoides
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Gypsy Moth
Gypsy moth
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Male Gypsy moth
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Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis: Mantis religiosa
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I found this Praying Mantis in the flowerbed in the back garden in France.
More later
Stick Insect
Stick Insect: Clonopsis gallica
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I found this insect in the front garden, France
Oak Eggar moth
Oak Eggar moth: Lasiocampa quercus
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Female Oak Egger
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Poplar Hawkmoth
Poplar Hawkmoth: Laothoe populi
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Privet Hawkmoth
Privet Hawkmoth : Sphinx ligustri
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More from the moth trap later
Striped Hawkmoth
Striped Hawkmoth: Hyles livomica
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More from the moth trap later
Lappet Moth
At this time of the year getting photographs of birds can be difficult as most seem to disappear and when you do find them they don’t look their best.
France is just the same, you can come across the odd bird or birds that are in good condition but not that often, couple that with very hot weather and you are on a looser from the start.
Butterflies can also be a bit of a challenge as heat haze badly affects the photo, moths on the other hand are a better option.
With night time temperature being high most days I put my moth trap out most nights, releasing them in a different area after being photographed later on in the morning.
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Lappet Moth: Gastropacha quercifolia
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Little Bittern
Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus
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Back from France after five weeks, having had a great time although it was too hot most days to get any photographs, however I did get some shots I am happy with, the Little Bittern being one of them.
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The Little Bittern photographs were taken in the Brenne which I visited with a French photographer
friend of mine.
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After visiting several locations late in the afternoon we came across the Little Bittern which was hunting in front of the bird hide.
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More later