Progress Report 2 on Wildlife Garden

From Cowslips to a mass of buttercups in a couple of weeks: the wildflower areas of the garden are flourishing with the meadow now full of Buttercups, the Red Campion and Alkanet doing well in the perennial beds, the woodland white with Cow Parsley and Greater Stitchwort  and the Yellow Irises growing fast in the pond. We have had three chasers hatch out from the pond as well as many more Red Damselflies.

Raindrops on Rose Petals

The rain is welcome for the garden in general and certainly gave the roses another dimension. I used my favourite Olympus legacy 50mm lens on the Fuji with a 16mm extension tube to get a bit closer, shooting at between F1.8 and F4. It is a very low contrast lens which really suits the shallow depth of field.

Infrared View of Hardwick Wood

We are very lucky during this Lockdown to have Hardwick Wood in our walking area. It has many mature trees with the Ivy stems creating magical shapes and lots of spring flowers, including several extensive areas of Wild Garlic. I didn't see the little cricket on the Celandine when I took the photo - it obviously doesn't absorb any infrared through its chitinous outer skin. Canon 1D MkI converted to infrared, 50 mm lens at 2.2mm.

Can't Find the Moon

Phil was amused by my text to let him know that I would be out a bit longer this evening as I 'couldn't find the moon'. I had worked out that I should get a view of this supermoon coming up over our village church at 20.45 approx but it didn't happen. Eventually a slither of moon appeared from the clouds which cleared to give a better view and then closed in again.

A Glimpse of Toft Wildlife

With the current lockdown, I am spending more time than usual photographing in our local area rather than visiting neighbouring good nature areas but I am certainly enjoying the great range of species the village can provide. These range from the Cluster flies ready for squadron take off, hoveflies -  Myathropa (with the bat mark on the thorax) and Merodon (a great and variable mimic of bees), various solitary bees some very small so needed adjustment of depth of field, to hedgerow birds - Willow Warbler, Whitethroat and Yellow Hammer

Cow Parsley and Dandelions At Their Peak

Cow Parsley (or prettier folk name of Queen Anne's Lace) and Dandelions are at their peal flowering and seeding at the moment - probably a couple of weeks earlier than average. Our local walks are lined by banks of white and the grass is full of Dandelion clocks.