Beetles and Butterflies

This amazing Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris) was photographed at Eardington NR - this species is mainly nocturnal so a very lucky find. Supporting cast  are a Scarab Beetle and Green Nettle Weevil. Surprisingly no Ladybirds seen. Male and female Orange Tips, Green-Veined White and Comma are from the Severn Valley.

Bees in Eardington NR and Severn Valley

Eardington Nature Reserve have done a lot of work to attract solitary bees to the site which is a disused quarry with sandy soil so excellent for the ground nesters like Colletes cunicularius (image 6). They also attract aerial nesters like these Red Mason bees (Osmia bicornis) with lots of 'bee hotels'. There were many mating pairs - the males differ greatly is size but that doesn't seem to matter to the females. a few fights developed. Other bees, photographed in the Serverne Valley NR are Andrena haemorrhoia, Bombus pascorum, Andrena minutula and Bombus hypnorum

Lake Vyrnwy Birds

 Although I didn't see any of the birds that I hoped to (Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Wood Warbler), these photos remind me of a very enjoyable day walking around the visitor centre and up to the waterfall, especially the Red Kite hunting the hillside. It was a very cold day with occasional hail storms and snow visible on the hills so not surprising that the summer visitors were silent and stayed in shelter. Other birds shown - Meadow Pipit, Siskin, Nuthatch, Dipper, Common Sandpiper, Chaffinch, Dunnock

Lake Vyrnwy Spring Colours

The spring colours are at their best at the moment. Here a few images taken on the around Lake Vyrnwy and the walk up to the waterfall.

Woodland Birds

 A selection of the birds feeding and singing in the car park. It rained on and off while taking these and the light was poor so 6,400 ISO for many with noise reduction applied. Although I have photographed Chaffinches before, I have never noticed the black feather frill above the beak.The Blackcap was very vocal. Apparently males will sing even when incubating - this one shows his brood patch.

Cowslip, Lady's Smock and Ransoms

The spring flowers are at their best at the moment so I spent a bit of time over the last few days trying to get shots that give a feeling of their beauty. The first, second and seventh images are focus stacks, the rest single exposures in various light conditions. The Cowslips attract a lot of insects including greenfly in the first image and Bibio flies in the last two.