Using photography to show how much there is to be seen and enjoyed in our enviroment.
Caerleon, Wales
Joined July 2010
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An avian miscellany from @RSPBNewport Wetlands this morning. A blackbird looking for food amongst the grass; a female Reed bunting singing near the sea wall; Lapwing flock (spot the Curlews); Lapwings in flight.
Mumurations. I've watched them build up for 2 weeks @RSPBNewport Wetlands. Today's start was a bit shaky, the big show was a bit late but eventually we had 25k plus Starlings aloft plus a few extras. A nearly perfect "V" of geese & a gap in the clouds letting the moon through.
Many mental images serve as a reminder that Autumn has arrived @RSPBNewport Wetlands. Autumn leaves, misty mornings, drizzle, Wigeon and Teal, colourful berries. Or the arrival of Starlings and the start of their murmurations and the sudden fruiting of fungi. @ourlivinglevels
The leaves are turning amber and yellow and then falling from the trees @RSPBNewport Wetlands. Autumn reduces the cover available and provides more opportunity for photos of perched birds. Singing Dunnock, Jay, Robin, Magpie.
Woodpigeons. Every October Woodpigeons fly west along the Severn Estuary in the mornings and then settle for the day. These were in the wood by he hide. Passing raptors (Marsh harrier, Peregrine falcon and Sparrowhawk) startled them, they took off with a sound like a jet engine).
A few photos seen this morning before the sun warmed insects enough to become really active @RSPBNewport Wetlands. Female Common darter dragonfly, Small white butterfly, and a female of a Sphaerophoria hoverfly species.
Yesterday's UKBMS count @RSPBNewport Wetlands found 102 butterflies of 7 species and some sunshine let me photograph a few. Small white; Red admiral taking water from the sugary surface of some blackberries; 2 Green veined whites; and a slightly worn but still vivid Common blue.
Plenty of scope for photographing small creatures @RSPBNewport Wetlands today. Not textbook shots perhaps, but they do illustrate biodiversity nicely. Water strider with prey; spider I haven't ID'd yet; one of a dozen or more small red-eyed damselflies; Shrill carder bee.
Even if @RSPBNewport Wetlands is quiet and few birds are about you can be lucky. Walking over the bouncy bridge, I could hear movement deep in the reeds. The reed tops twitched. I stood quite still, watched and waited as a Sedge warbler climbed a stem and looked straight at me.
The seem in the ring's orientation obscures the useful data, but it could have been ringed by our local Goldcliff Ringing Group a few days before. Sedge warbler passage is in full swing. @GOS_birds
Good list of birds seen @RSPBNewport today. Better were the flowers and the insects on them. Black-tailed skimmer at rest; Peacock butterfly on Hemp agrimony; rare Shrill carder bumblebee on Scabious; Common red soldier beetle. Plus wonderful bumblebee day with @BumblebeeTrust
ALT Black-tailed skimmer dragonfly
Just one photo from @RSPBNewport Wetlands today (it was a busy day). I'd heard Green woodpeckers in the trees and then saw one on the path ahead. Then two. Then three. One adult and two juveniles. All in frame together. Probably making use of all the ant hills in the path edges.
Probably the nicest day of the summer @rspbnewport Wetlands. Increasing numbers of flower species in bloom and more of the insects that depend on them. Teasel; Rosebay willowherb; Shrill carder bee on Red clover; Cinnabar moth caterpillars on Ragwort.
The overnight rain @rspbnewport Wetlands lasted into the morning giving a Blackbird chance to bathe and a Reed bunting to practice "singing in the rain". Once the afternoon sun had dried we saw a rove beetle (Paederus littoralis) and a Gatekeeper butterfly near the info kiosk.
These, amongst other things, caught my eye @RSPBNewport Wetlands today. Ringlet butterfly perched deep in Melilot; Littel grebe chicks with almost perfect camouflage; sculptural Bristly ox tongue; and Bistort just coming into bloom. @ourlivinglevels
Scenes from the seawall @RSPBNewport Wetlands this morning. Mallow. Marsh helleborine, shorter than usual and fewer of them. Common whitethroat singing just inside a Willow. Shelduck family with Shel-ducklings a few yards offshore.
This morning's "Orchids and Herbs" walk @RSPBNewport Wetlands turned into a "We'll try to identify anything" walk. Here are a tiny Pyramidal orchid (smaller than normal); a Common spotted orchid; a Black-headed cardinal beetle; an Alder leaf beetle. We're not just about birds.
Despite the dull, cool weather, plenty of opportunity to photograph plants and insects @RSPBNewport Wetlands today. Bee orchid; pyramidal orchid; Black-tailed skimmer dragonfly (F); Thick-legged flower beetle. And plenty more.
One of this morning's goals @RSPBNewport Wetlands was to get some decent dragonfly photos. The easiest to find were perched Four Spot Chasers and the strong sunlight showed them off nicely. Of course there were butterflies, bumblebees, solitary bees and hoverflies, too.
