Boscombe Beach at Dusk

A beautiful evening for photography on my final evening in Dorset on Sunday - these are a timed set of images taken looking approximately west  towards the sunset (left image) and towards the east (right image) as darkness fell and a small crescent moon rose. In the last image the Needles lighthouse on the Isle of Wight can be seen on the righthand side.

Boscombe Pier

For our last evening in Dorset, we visited Boscombe as the sun went down and the lights came on  (images in approximate order of taking except the last taken before the pier illuminations). The pier lights give a lot of downward illumination so produced images under and around the pier that were very colourful. The pier has a very long history of failures from the first pier in 1889 to the present pier. Hopefully this one will stay structurally sound for a good many years. 

New Forest Beetle and Birds

A walk along the disused railway at Burbush produced a variety of birds and this intriguing Whirligig beetle, which apparently has two pairs of eyes - one to see above water and the other to see under the water. The Goldcrest was in very dark conditions but the bright head flash showed up fairly well.

Stanpit Marsh, Christchurch

Sunday started with clear skies and temperatures of minus 4 degrees so there was still ice around when we walked around Stanpit Marsh near Christchurch. Lovely large clumps of March Marigolds plus a few species of birds and even one hoverfly.

Wood Ants at Arne

Despite the very cold temperatures the wood ants at Arne were fairly active and provided a great macro subject.

RSPB Arne's Elusive Dartford Warbler

Our target for the RPS Nature Group visit to Arne was obviously the Dartford Warbler. It was certainly very elusive with brief views at quite a distance. However, with mainly sunny weather I enjoyed our walk around the reserve in great company. Life in the gorse  included Dartford Warbler, Dunnock, Stonechat - male and female, Robin, Chiffchaff, and Tree Pipit