Bucks chasing Doe at Ashridge

This weekend in the diminishing light of dusk a pair of Fallow Deer Bucks have singled out this Doe and are chasing her....

...can she get away?....
...more trouble...
...But the sight of the large stationary buck she has run towards stops one buck dead in his tracks.
I suspect it was a not a deliberate ploy on the doe's part. She continued running and circled round to join the group of does she had been broken out of, leaving all three rutting bucks frustrated.

Ashridge Fallow Deer Rut

The Fallow Deer Rut has been going on for 4 weeks and is now in full swing with at least a dozen bucks in the ancient deer field at Ashridge.

10 days ago, a Buck with a fine set of Palmate antlers in a hurry.
He already appears to have some battle damage on his flank.

He reaches a small group of does with two bucks in attendance.
This weekend the stags were still rutting hard. Activity increases towards dusk. This buck is having words with a young year old male deer with the begining of antlers called a prickett and also trying to keep his does in check.

Patience and hard work pay off with a buck mounting a doe just before dusk.
The other does are keeping their options open by sitting around!

Hill Ridges in Shadow, France

An evening in France last September, with the hills caught in the sun

River Ceze, near Besseges, France

September by the River Ceze - A calm hot afternoon

A Wall butterfly resting on a leaf in the dappled sunlit woods at the river's edge

A fisherman catching minnows for bait for the trout later that evening
A frog watching it all from the water's edge

French Butterfly Reflection

Seeing double

and single reflections

Insects of Le Defile de L'Argensol, Languedoc-Roussilon, France

Back to the Southern France visit in September. A gorge between steep limestone valley sides and cliffs. In this dry season clear water pools remained with trickles of water disappearing into the dry stony riverbed.

Hidden on the dry river bed was a camouflaged butterfly...
...and amongst the vegetation was a praying Mantis...

...Returning to the dry riverbed we picked up a delicately marked grasshopper that would have been well camouflaged sitting next to the butterfly above.

The Rut at Ashridge

The 2011 rut had just started in Ashridge by the first weekend in October. Unfortunately the bucks throaty groaning and other rutting behaviour did not start until the light had gone and all photographs taken were poor.

However, this second October weekend, the bucks were already exhibiting full rutting behaviour when we arrived mid-afternoon, including parallel running developing into the classic palmate antler to palmate antler challenges.

Despite the dull weather and the distance to the deer I did manage a couple of photographs. This buck was on the edge of the main rutting area.
The main rutting area with 2 stags, sorry Fallow deer males are Bucks, calling. At least 7 bucks were in the surrounding area, all trying to attract the females.

I hope to take some photographs of the full range of behaviour by the time the rut ends towards the end of the month.

Garden Spiders Bedfordshire

The unseasonal 'Indian Summer' has continued into October with hot days and clear blue skies. The sun shining on this spider's web caught my eye.

And gave me the opportunity to get in really close. This species of Orb Web Spider has thick hair spikes on its legs (I assume it is hair)

Indian Summer Dawn

This week we have had some remarkably warm and still weather for the end of September. One morning I was out with my camera in time to see the first sun rays cut through the mist rising from the damp grass.

The mist in the hedgerow and the shadows from the tree's branches caught the sunlight causing a fabulous mysterious landscape. The photograph above was cropped at the bottom to avoid an ugly wire fence. The photo below makes a feature of the fence.
Shortly afterwards I was looking across the fields and the railway to the Chilterns from Mentmore's hill. I seem to have the same effect on sheep that I have on deer. They all run away from me.

Finally an hour after the sunrise, a local park still had some mist lingering.

French Railway Scenes

A couple of photos taken on the french railways.

The first a couple of disused carriages standing the sidings at Ales this September

Rolling stock outside Nimes Station September 2010

The Twisted Hollow Beech Tree of Ashridge

I suspect that the ancient beech tree in Ashridge's Frithden Beeches filmed in the making of a Harry Potter film is the most famous tree in Ashridge.

However, I have been visiting another beech tree in Ashridge for a number of years which in my eyes is even more wonderful.This tree has lost the top of its trunk, practically all of its heartwood centre and most of the trunk's perimeter from rot. And yet it still manages to sprout a small canopy each year from wildly contorted branches growing from the top of its truncated trunk.

It must have been quite a substantial tree before it lost its top section of trunk. Apart from the base, most of which is rotten, all that is left now is a two foot wide by about 5 inches thick spiral band of live wood following the original twist of the tree.

It is not the easiest of trees to photograph, especially in summer when the light is cut out by the leaves. I hope my photos taken this weekend properly shows this wonderful example of how nature is determined to survive despite all the odds.

French Grasshopper Display

Taking a morning walk up the path to the rocky outcrop near Ales in Southern France, camouflaged grasshoppers would jump and fly off to safety showing a flash of bright red just before I stood on them. There was no way I was going to get a photo of one in flight.

However, later on I discovered that a few of the grasshoppers were sitting around and quickly opening and closing their wings covers in a short bursts. I presume this one second burst of colour was a display to attract a mate or deter a competetor.

I did eventually manage to photograph this particular grasshopper showing his red wings.

At a shutter speed of 1/800 of sec and I still couldn't freeze the action

A photograph showing the beautiful markings of another grasshopper

And another one

French Evening Shadows, Clouds and Silhouettes

The last rays of sun on a sundial on the wall of an old house in a village in Southern France.The dramatic sky that evening in Black & White

Evening Shadows in the Olive Grove

A low sun produces interesting patterns in Southern France this September

Lenticular Clouds Southern France

A dramatically beautiful cloud appeared over my head whilst visiting Ales. This first photo was taken about 4:30 in the afternoon. The last was 2 hours later from a hillside near to Ales. It hardly appeared to move.
From the hillside. How many different types of cloud?

A close up of the soft shapes of the cloud
Getting towards sunset

The Virgin Mary appears to be orchestrating the sky.
Note 2012 - I understand this cloud formation is called Lenticular Clouds

Window Shutters and Roof Pigeons

Resting pigeons on a roof in Ales, France.

The pigeon on the pipe on the right looks fairly comfortable with little risk of smoke and heat from the pipe

Short-Toed Eagle, France

An evening walk up a rock outcrop near Ales in the Languedoc-Roussillon Region of southern France, gave me a sighting of this Short-toed Eagle which was using the updraft of air to climb and drift away. Luckily for me it didn't seem disturbed by my presence, and swung overhead as it climbed, allowing me this photograph.

The wonderful French name for this bird is Circaete Jean-Le-Blanc. It is also known as the Snake Eagle in Mediterranean Regions, snakes forming a good part of its diet.

Cité Radieuse, Marseille

A weeks visit to the South of France included a short stay in Marseille.

We passed by the Cite Radieuse, the iconic building designed by Le Corbusier and built between 1947-1952. The building influenced several housing schemes, including Park Hill in Sheffield. A very short stop gave me the opportunity to try and take a few architectural photographs of the external staircase.

The roof of the building was designed as a social space with a running track and even a paddling pool. From a distance the roof has the appearance of the superstructure of a liner (the top of which can be just seen in my photograph).

Another shot of the Staircase. The authorities had a large information board up which rather spoilt views of the whole building from the end elevation.

Durham Night Views

An evening walk in Durham by the River Wear. A high ISO with a slow shutter produced some unexpected effects.

The moon appeared through a break in the clouds for a short while.

The wider panarama.

Interesting lines.

Going Home.