Attempting Macro

On Thursday my intention was a macro session, a discipline I struggle with. To me macro should be done from a tri-pod, but by the time you set up the tri-pod your subject has flown. The single dragonfly shot was hand held, and the male and female were captured from a tri-pod. The Common Whitethroat was a pot shot from the car with a 300mm lens.


Bumble Bee probing kidny vetch

Large Red Damselfly

Pied Flycatcher and Tawny Owl

I revisited Yarner Wood in Dartmoor this Easter weekend, looking to photograph three species, a Pied Flycatcher, a Wood Warbler and a Redstart. As you can see I dipped on the last two but I managed to grab an average image of the Pied Fly and a mediocre shot of a Tawny Owl. I found the photography difficult as we arrived midday with high sun and strong shadow.

Moths

With the spring warm weather the moths are early this year, here are three of many caught last Thursday.

The Emperor shown here are sometimes mistaken for a butterfly as it flits across Heath Moors.

A V Pug

The Silver Y is a migratory species generally arriving in the British Isles from May onwards. Check out this link for more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Y

Three More Of The Gull-Billed Tern

Click on the image to enlarge.

Red- Throated Diver

On Thursday we went to St Andrews Pool to photograph this long staying Red Throated Diver, I spent a couple of hours trying to capture shots with some action or behaviour. With no sign of a summer plumage and normally Red Throated Divers have moved North by now, it is thought that this individual may be injured.

Gull Billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica

Things are gradually hotting up with the temperature and rare migrants, with the recent Purple Heron at Lands End, and now a Gull Billed Tern between Lands End and Porthgwarra. This individual has been scouring the recently ploughed fields for flies etc, its aerobic skills are phenomenal as it plummets to earth stopping inches short to grab that unsuspecting insect. For more information click on the link http://www.birdguides.com/species/species.asp?sp=061053 Click on the images to enlarge