Ashridge Hertfordshire - Landscape change 2011 & 2017

On a walk around Ashridge at the end of March I took this photograph of the Fallow Deer with an old dead fallen tree (an Oak?) in the background.  I wasn't sure I had seen it on the ground before...

 

...and looking through my old photos, I came across a series of images that I took in July 2011 with this same tree standing in the background.  It looks like it had been dead for some years and I suppose it was only a matter of time before it fell.

With gradual changes to the landscape (mainly man-made) often not remembered over the years, and be it only a slight change in the landscape, this is a record of nature changing the view.

Patterns at the Zoo

Cropped images from the visit to Whipsnade Zoo.

 

Turkey Feathers

 

Giraffe

 

Sealion reflections

 

Zebra

Indian Rhino



 

Elephant trunk

Exotic Butterflies

A visit to Whipsnade Zoo with me in tow of the Grandchildren at Easter, we had a quick tour through the Butterfly House.  Captured these images.  What beautiful creatures these non-native butterflies are.  Particularly lucky to get the butterfly in flight, and the mating pair.  Very different the male and female of that species.

Buff Tailed Bumblebee and Mite

Not the greatest photo of  a Buff Tailed Bumblebee (I think I am right about species) taken at the end of March, but when I looked at it closely, there was a little rider on its back....

 

....A Mite.

Not uncommon, but the first I have seen since I saw several on a queen Red Tailed Bumblebee.

College Lake - March Catkins and Fern

Photos taken at College Lake on a mainly dull day in March with my macro lens.

 

Pussy Willow catkins and buds (I think!)....

 

....Beautiful catkins and buds....

 

....Colours of a fallen catkin and seeds....

 

....Moss spreading over a bench seat (and autumn leaves).

Spring Butterflies

With some warm Spring days, butterflies have emerged and can be seen flying around.  A few photographs from these days.

 

24th March near Tidenfoot Pit Leighton Buzzard, Small Tortoiseshell, a photo for the record...

 ...and a Comma.

 

30th March, again near Tidenfoot Pit, a Peacock....

 ....and another Comma.

 

 

9th April, at Incombe Hole. Steps Hill, near Ivinghoe Beacon, a Grizzly Skipper feeding on a Dandelion.... 

....A worn Red Admiral.....

.....and finally, a Green Hairstreak that was so accommodating that I managed to take this photo with a macro.

 

Apart from these butterflies, I have seen Brimstone at all 3 days, never settling long enough to get a photo, as well as Small White, male Orange Tip never settling at Incombe Hole, and a Holly Blue passing through my garden in April.  10 species so far this year.

Bedfordshire Surprise

After dropping my wife off to play tennis today, I took my camera for a quick walk around an abandoned sand pit that had been allowed to grow wild, before picking her up an hour later.

 

A beautiful afternoon, with nothing in particular to see, only the usual birds, like this magpie sitting high up in a tree...

 

....a mute swan feeding,...

 

...a Peacock butterfly resting (and feeding) on blossom...

 

....and a blue tit feeding on a willow thicket.

I dropped down to the edge of the second pit, and saddened by the rubbish in the corner, I was about to leave as there were no waterfowl on this pit lake, when my eye caught a movement in amongst the rubbish about 50 yards away...



 

Quickly pointing the camera, I managed to catch this shot.  To my surprise it was either an otter or mink.

 

It spotted me and turned away and disappeared behind the rubbish, not to appear again despite watching for 5 minutes more.

 

Looking at the guides online, I am pretty certain it was a Mink lacking the large off-white throat that the Otter has.  Thinking back, I don't think it was as large as the few otters I have seen in my life.  However, I could not find any photos of a Mink with the small white throat patch seen in these photos.

 

I have mixed feelings about Mink, a non-native species which are partly responsible for the demise of the water vole.  I would have been much happier to have seen an otter (I was advised by fishermen that there are some within 15 miles of my town some years ago).  But all the same it was good to capture photos of such a shy animal.

Bedfordshire Kites from a Town House Window

Red Kites have been seen regularly above my Bedfordshire town for the last 10 years or so since their re-introduction into the Buckinghamshire Chilterns some 25 years ago.  When I spot them flying or soaring over my central town location, I am never ready and by the time I grab my camera they have normally gone out of view or too far away.

 

However yesterday I spotted one flying close to the house in grey overcast conditions.  Grabbing my camera which fortunately had the telephoto still attached to it, I ran back to the upstairs window, and throw it open, and pointed pressing the shutter button.

 

These are the results with a bit of help from photoshop to brighten the photos up. Whilst I did not have time to check my camera settings, I was relatively lucky to get 4 reasonably in-focus photographs (3 here) out of 11 taken in the 10 seconds that I had before the bird flew away out of view behind a roof. 

 

A bit grainy, but reasonable considering the lack of preparation I had. Maybe next time it will be a brighter day.

Bedfordshire Birds - Long Tailed Tits Nest Building

One week later after posting photos of a pair of Long-tailed Tits sitting in the top of a bramble thicket, I returned to the area to see what was about.

 

Straight away and over about 10 minutes I saw more Long-tailed Tits coming to and through, diving into the thicket, and emerging quickly flying off into the surrounding trees.  I realised that this was a family building a nest deep in the thicket, something I had never seen before.  The Long-tailed Tit is unusual, in that the family from previous years stay together and work as a group to build the nest and feed the large number of young.

 

I understand that the dome shaped nest is built of moss, hair, lichens and spiders webs, lined with feathers.  A selection of possible examples are seen below.

 

Some form of a grass stem perhaps?

Just left the nest and off to forage.

 

The male with a bunch of feathers....

 

Unfortunately I never managed a photo of this male showings its beautiful pink colouration. 

 

Possibly feathers and a spider's web?

 

More spider's web?

I soon left the area, as I had the photos I wanted, and to allow the family to continue with their nest building.