YOUNG COMMON TERN PHOTOS.

As the colony of terns expands at Preston Dock more and more aggression is shown is shown by the parent birds to one another,and life is very much on a knife edge for the young terns.Often the young terns end up in the water but with a bit of luck manage to get back to the nest,unfortunately this 2 -3 day old chick ended up in the water and strong winds blew it further away from the nest and even with the frantic calls and encouragement from its parents it never made it back to the nest.           A selection of photos of the older chicks learning to fly and dive in the water showing how quick they have to grow and learn in order to survive are also included.

                                                                      

THE LARGE HEATH BUTTERFLY.

The large heath butterfly is a rare butterfly in England with just a few sites in Cumbria,North Yorkshire and two sites in Lancashire.The needs of the butterfly are for HARE`S-TAIL COTTONGRASS for egg laying and food for the caterpillar and CROSS-LEAVED HEATH which is the nectar plant for the butterfly.

I visited a small site in Lancashire to try and photograph this rare butterfly,visiting  this site by yourself (like me) is not recommended as the butterfly easliy disappears into it`s surroundings while underfoot the bog is very uneven and you can easily drop down a couple of foot,not recommended while carring expensive photo equipment.If the bog doesn`t get you the horse flies will.

I`ve posted images of the hare`s-tail cottongrass,cross-leaved heath and the rare large heath butterfly.

YOUNG PEREGRINE FALCONS.

I`ve made plenty of early morning visits over the last month or so to the peregrines and even though there have been restricted views this year due to the nest being relocated I`ve managed to capture some images.Patience and perseverance has certainly been needed this year but I`m more than happy with the results.