Macro Season
As the pastures and road verges fill up with this years blooms, the many invertebrates begin to take to the air and soak up the spring sunshine.
After much trial and error from the previous year I have decided that my simple camera was better suited to macro-photography rather than bird photography. Which doesn’t mean in any way that I will give up chasing marsh harriers and ospreys etc…they will hopefully turn up to distract me during one of these intensive macro sessions! 🙂
The Aster Project
My most contrived project of the year begins to grow in April and eventually reaches fruition by the end of October….basically I let Asters overtake the whole of my doorstep wilderness and then patiently wait for a few sunny days when hoverflies, bees, butterflies and the occasional damselfly descend on the flowers for the abundance of nectar before the chill of autumn kicks in… 😉
Time and Chance
“If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” ~ Woody Allen ~
Whenever I attempt to create plans and strategies to capture that special photograph…there is always other stuff along the way to provide a distraction…fortunately so, or I’d end up at the end of the day with nothing to show for my efforts…
There I was minding my own business (stalking some small bird I think) and I heard a voice through the hedge asking me if I’d captured any good pictures lately and proceeded to inform me about an osprey he’d been observing…so off I went to “Other Side” of the lake where this osprey was hunting.
On my arrival at the “Other Side” I was greeted by well bearded man waving a stick, asking me if I knew the difference between a marsh harrier and an osprey…so I knew at least I was in the right place…I had been hearing rumours but just couldn’t quite pinpoint where the ospreys were…worse than that, I am tormented by constant rumours of sea eagles too…one day…
So there were a couple of ospreys flying around, diving for fish…you get the picture, classic stuff…
As we witnessed this spectacle I heard a familiar call from behind us…which deep inside I knew but it was a considerable time since I heard this call so I had to dig deep into the dusty archives of my memory…it took me about ten minutes and a mental journey back in time along the banks of an English river before I knew it was a kingfisher…but the man said the kingfishers had died out due to the recent hard winters…shortly afterwards we were told by a couple of walkers that they thought they had just seen a kingfisher. 😉
After a while they all left and the highly observant ospreys kept their distance and as I slipped into a dream involving expensive photographic equipment I noticed this damselfly taking a break…
Diamonds in the Rough
In late summer the heathland is buzzing with life, the heather is in bloom and attracts all sorts of butterflies, bees and hoverflies as well as damselflies and dragonflies…so it seemed a good idea to pay this small area of heathland a timely visit.
It was a perfect situation as I surveyed the territory, stepping carefully through the heather to capture what was possible…dragonfly reconnaissance kept a watchful eye on my movements while managing to avoid getting caught in the frame. 😉
a heartical view 