Viewing entries tagged
Bluebells

New lenses for 2025

For a long time I’ve been wanting to get into landscape photography and even more so since shooting a full frame camera but I didn’t have a very versatile setup, nor the motivation to get said setup.. I’ve blogged about my health many times before so I want bore people with that but I’m waiting for surgery to right some wrongs so travelling light has become my top priority. Travelling with my big telephoto primes has to take some what of a back burner for now and this was my motivation to get some smaller, lighter weight lenses for travel so I ended up getting the Canon RF 100-500mm along with an RF 24-105 and I replaced my trusty EF 100mm macro with the RF version also. It’s so nice to have a light weight setup again, though I haven’t got rid of my big prime lenses. The EF 300 2.8 mk ii and EF 500 mk ii are irreplaceable for what they do and I can see myself keeping these lenses for a long long time as they produce results that paved the way for much of my wildlife photography in the last decade. It’s not all about soft out of focus backgrounds however, and the versatility of this 100-500 with its superb close focus, is just so fun to use in the field. Here’s a few photos below from a recent trip to Skomer Island and exploring some of the Pembrokeshire coast. I don’t have lens filters just yet for my landscape photos but it’s nice to get going, practising my compositions for days where the light is a bit more compelling. On a different more birdy note, I did find a Firecrest on Skomer and a female Pied Flycatcher on the way back, so very birdy at the moment with spring migration still very much in full swing.

Some more from this spring so far, which has mostly been work trips or stopping off too/from work. I’ve worked quite a bit which is only a good thing for me right now as I need the money lol. As you can see below, spring blossom has been some what of a theme, trying to lap it all up and make the most of all the flowers I can get this year as it’s so short lived.. Considering I had my first Nightjar on the 10th of April this year(!!!), summer is fast approaching!

Sound Recording

I haven’t been out much with the sound gear, just can’t fit it all in but I did get some early spring birds with Tree Pipit, Willow Warbler and Mistle Thrush being my faves so far but I also got a great opportunity to record a pair of breeding Willow Tits.

Marsh Fritillaries

It’s been on my ‘todo list’ for a few years now to make the effort and see the beautiful Marsh Fritillary butterflies at one of our last known breeding sites in Aberbargoed. I believe most of the site is a former colliery, a habitat formed from the scars of industry, but this scar has healed, even when it was thought to never heal again. It’s actually proving to be a ‘win’ in conservation terms, as the coal spoil itself has created a variety of micro habitats because of the way the spoil handles water. Some water gets trapped creating marshy habitats, some completely runs off creating dry patches. This water management has resulted in such a variety of plants occupying the same habitat, which is proving to be just what our insects need, as with most insects, they need a variety of plants to complete their life cycle.

This is why our modern farm practises aren’t good for biodiversity. Fields are drained to turn into dry grassland, replace with poo and chemicals which pollute our waterways. Ground nesting birds still move in, lay their eggs, and then the farmer will cut the grass, killing all that once lived there, Reptiles, Amphibians, Mammals, all dead or injured, which then attracts the predators, foxes, birds of prey, crows and gulls, of which are then blamed for feeding on still-birth lambs, and until quite recently, persecuted for it, because NRW allowed for licensed shooting of these animals who are just cleaning up after our mess.

Specialist species like the Marsh Fritillary don’t stand a chance in modern Britain. We’re so caught up in that ‘human race’ thing called life, that we forget we’re ruining it for our future generations. The exploitation needs to stop. We need more protection for nature. There are good farmers out there doing all they can to minimise their impacts on nature but it’s doing to take more than just the good will of the minority. Wildlife Trusts, Butterfly Conservation, RSPB, they are all doing their part to try and balance the equation but it’s not enough. If our government doesn’t act now, species like this will be lost forever.

Sorry rant over, also included in the photos were some very fast Dingy Skipper Butterflies, a Drinker Moth Caterpillar, some microscopic Gorse Shieldbug Eggs and a scenic shot of an emerging Fox Glove in a field of blossom. All these shots were taken with my Canon 100mm macro which is proving to be good investment. It’s nice to roam around with a small lens for a change. Lugging the telephoto and tripod around can be a bit much all the time.

Bluebells, Froglets and more Mimics

Wifi has been down for a week so I’ve got lots go catch you up on. I’ll start with some beautiful woodland Frogs amongst the Bluebells which doesn’t seem significant but I look forward to finding them every year in this wood. Any excuse to use the macro lens and to include flora in my images. It looks like it’s going to be a good year for bluebells. I’ve even seeing them high on the moors, which seems unusual.. certainly not something I’ve ever noticed before. I just always associated them with woodland but I guess that’s because everything else is intensely farmed..

While I’m on the uplands, it was pretty special bumping into not 1 but 2 Ring Ouzel in an undisclosed location. We’re at the start of the breeding season for these birds now so it will be interesting to see whether they stick around or if they continue on their migration.

Ring Ouzel

Ring Ouzel

Other notable images from my weeks adventures were mostly bugs. Mating Green Tiger Beetles was a first but Hairy Shieldbug and a Common Crab Spider posed well. The shieldbug image is a 3 image stack, which enabled me to keep a soft background while using the 3 images to pull focus on various parts of the shield-bug in order to get it all in focus.

If you enjoy my mimicking recordings, this one might be a new one for you. It certainly was for me! Siskin have a complex song, but I've always found them pretty easy to identify, therefor didn’t really give them much attention. I don’t know whether it’s just this individual or whether they all do this, but this Siskin could mimic a Blackbird alarm call, a Magpie contact call and a Green Woodpecker call, all mixed into its own song.
It was a real windy day and recording thru numerous branches but you can still hear it if you listen carefully. I’ll revisit this bird on a clearer day to get some better quality recordings. What I love about mimicking birds is, it reminds me that all birds are total individuals, capable of making their own choices.

Goldcrest Poll Results

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you may have spotted a little quiz where you got to decide which of the spectrograms below is a real Goldcrest.

Twitter Results

Twitter Results

Facebook Result

Facebook Result

Test ID Sepctogram.jpg

Well, the results were pretty unanimous on both Twitter and Facebook. The majority of people thought that B was the real Goldcrest. Well I’m quite happy with that result, as the answer was in fact A !!!

So far I’m yet to find a Firecrest that’s been able to produce the Goldcrest song with 4 notes per phrase. It’s the last note of each phrase that appears to be the most challenging for the Firecrest.

Firecrest Mimic

I’ll leave you with a picture of a lovely Froglet, one of many covering the woodland flower at the moment that’s plastered with Bluebells. It’s going to be a good season by the looks.

Common Frog Bluebells 28th April.jpg

Bluebells

Everything is falling into natural order with regard to flowers so far this spring. April showers came early this weekend though and I really got drenched! Things you do just to be outdoors.