A WEEK AWAY.

A few images from  recent week away in the South Lakes,a couple of waterfalls the Ravensglass narrow gauge steam train and a few landscapes.Hopefully I will be able to catch up on my recent work and start blogging  again soon.

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.

That`s the name of the game,Small Copper a first for my garden 23.9.16.Migrant Hawker Leighton Moss.The rest of the images were taken on the allotment with a 100 macro lens hand held with fill in flash practicing getting the exposure right.

DRAGONFLIES AND LIZARDS.

I recently visited a couple of Nature Reserves in the north of the County,the weather wasn`t to kind and the birds were few and far between.At the first reserve a distant Osprey was seen but photo opportunities were limited to a couple of record shots of the lizards on the boardwalks.At Leighton Moss I visited the public hide and a few dragonflies were buzzing about and I kept myself entertained trying to capture images of the Migrant Hawker in flight.I`ve posted a couple of my better images below.

PRESTONS COMMON TERNS.

This summer I`ve made a few early morning trips to Preston Dock with the plan to  try and capture images of the common terns returning with fish to feed to their young.I was in particular trying to capture the eye contact of the bird and fish this as I found out was very very difficult and after trying lots of different methods the one that suited me best was with a smaller lens hand held, concentrating on one returning bird and trying to get the exposure right was a challenge.I`m pleased with a few images and have posted a few below.

PRESTONS PEREGRINE FALCONS.

The Preston Peregrine`s have successfully fledged two young on St Walburge`s this year.I`ve only visited a couple of times this year due to family commitments but have managed to capture a few images.The first is of the male bird taking a well earned rest on the nearby St Mark`s Church,the second and third are of the young fledged birds while the last image is of the large female taking of from the church. Just think of that bird falling out of the sky at 150mph + not many birds would survive or escape such an attack.

ALLOTMENT UPDATE JULY 2016.

The allotment has become a challenge to get the balance right between wildlife garden and vegetable plot.The pond is slowly maturing and showing lots of promise while the wildflower meadow is struggling being overrun with tall grasses that have smothered most of the wildflowers [alot of work to do at the backend].I`ve dug the shallots up early and hung them in the makeshift greenhouse to dry and mature.Best of all the early potatoes have been a success.YUM YUM.

  I`ve posted a few images below to show an up-to-date picture of the allotment.

THE BEE ORCHIDS OF PRESTON DOCK.

A boat left Charlestown in Cornwall every week loaded with a cargo of china clay destined for Preston Dock.The cargo was unloaded and stored on the keyside at the south side of the dock and the chalk and limestone minerals from the clay was washed into the surrounding land.
   As regeneration took place flats were built and the land was landscaped and the conditions were perfect for the Bee Orchid to grow.I visited in mid May to photograph the Orchid and have posted a couple of images below.

THE BLACK-TAILED GODWIT SHOW.

Early morning visits down to Newton Marsh is certainly the best time to photograph this beautiful wader to show it in all it`s splendour.I visited the Marsh plenty of times in the month of May and managed to capture a few images in wonderful light and have posted a few of my favourite images from my sessions down on the Marsh.

SAND MARTINS AND PIPERS.

A small colony of sand martins try to nest every year at Cam Brow in the Trough of Bowland,the site is very precarious and sometimes ends in disaster for the martins.Last week I visited the site and found one of the nest holes that had gone into the bank at an angle,unfortunately part of the tunnel had given way and the nest was exposed showing 5 young  waiting to be fed.I took a few images from distance and left them in peace hoping that the young martins would survive and fledge.
 Common Sandpipers nest along the Marshaw Wyre and I was lucky enough to find a nest with three eggs in,I`ve posted an image of the nest and eggs and also a Common Sandpiper reflection image taken about six weeks ago at Newton Marsh.