September Hedgerow Birds

Another sunny morning's walk in September, this time along the Grand Union Canal near Cheddington

 

A light mist just above the water's surface caught by the early sun.

It was generally quite quiet except for a 100 yard stretch of hedgerow, which contained a number of birds, hiding in the bushes.  After an hour of trying to capture their images I got....

 

A Goldfinch...

...a Longtailed Tit...

...another...

...and a Chiffchaff.











September Butterflies

A morning's  walk along the Grand Union Canal at Slapton, Buckinghamshire

 

Early morning whilst the water was still



 

A bit later a deadly Comma on its own warning sign...

 

....followed by a Red Admiral sitting on the tip of the rod of the no fishing sign five minutes later.  Why these two different species found these signs good resting places I don't know.  Perhaps they reflected heat as it was still quite early?

 

The Comma moved to the hedge...

 

....to feed on ivy flowers.

 

The delicate colours of a Green-veined White.  Its eyes are exquisite.

 

I only saw one individual of each of the above butterfly species, plus one Speckled Wood of which I failed to properly photograph



Damselfly and Prey

A damselfly with its prey - probably a young cricket, no more than 5mm long

 

The lacy wings and abdomen tail

A close-up of head and prey





Red Admiral

A pristine Red Admiral butterfly on Buddleiah photographed at the end of August



Scotland - A Beautiful June Morning at Ardmair

More from June Trip to Scotland

 

Ben Mor Coigach in the early morning, the lower slopes shrouded in cloud. 

 

A male Willow Warbler singing...

 

...and stopping to have a preen of his wing feathers



 

A couple of Shags resplendant in black with a sheen and bright yellow in Ardmair Bay 



Rutland Water - Pied Wagtail Aerobatics

Rutland Water in July.

 

A Pied Wagtail feeding it's fledged juveniles with insects caught flying over the reservoir.  This catch was a Damselfly

Flying off for another mini meal

"Look no wings"

 

On the way back making a sharp turn.





Scotland - Clootie Well

The Clootie Well near Munlochy on the Black Isle to the North of Inverness, and near the banks of the Moray Firth

 

We discovered this strange place by chance, turning into a Forestry Commission Car Park for a bite to eat. Historically, such wells are places of Celtic pilgrimage, with a piece of cloth dipped in the well and then hung up in the surrounding trees.  This will bring good health to the person from whom the cloth originated.

 

The trees surrounding this ancient shrine were festooned with hundreds, if not a few thousand pieces of cloth, rags and whole garments (mainly socks) all in different condition as they aged.  Many of the clothes it would appear to have previously belonged to children, whom I suspect were possibly suffering from life threatening disease.

Whilst it was strangely interesting, it was certainly very eerie, and I wasn't sorry to leave.



Rutland Water - Great Crested Grebe Nest Change Over

A Great Crested Grebe nest at Rutland Water in July 2012.
 

Stretching, bored...

 

...Mate arriving...



 

...Your turn...



 

...Just checking the eggs.





Scotland - Stac Polly Walk Pt 2

More photos of my walk on Stac Polly in June

 

View of  the Summer Isles from the top of Stac Polly

 

Surprised by an orchid close to the path just a few hundred feet below the summit

Cul Mor in clouds and a shaft of sun

A Millipede on the path

 

Low clouds over Ben Mor Coigach

 







Rutland Water - Barn Owl and Osprey

More photos from the trip to Rutland Water in July

More than an hour before sunset, a Barn Owl suddenly appeared from behind a hedge 50m away.  Flying along the hedge line...

...it turned and disappeared into the next field.  Despite the brief view, this beautiful owl was the highlight of my day.



Earlier we watched the Manton Bay Ospreys (at a distance) with the 2 juveniles mainly sitting in the nest making occasional short early training flights.  I understand that the Osprey in the photo was an adult cleaning talons and leg feathers by dipping them into the water as it returned to the nest area.



Rutland Water - Great Crested Grebe and a Pike (again)

Rutland Water a month ago in July.

Having watched a Great Crested Grebe swallowing a small Jack Pike at Tring Reservoirs a few days earlier (see earlier blog), I was surprised to see another and larger Pike being expertly swallowed by this grebe at Rutland Water.  It's progress is shown in the series of photos below.

Lifting the fish up...

...to the vertical (giving a nice reflection)...

...so it will slide down...

...until it is nearly all gone, destroying buoyancy.

Scotland - Stac Polly Walk Pt 1

Photographs taken on a mainly grey June day walking up Stack Polly (Stac Pollaidh in Gaelic).

A view of Stack Polly from the West.

A lichen covered rock with different colours on the path up

A view near the top of Suilven and Quinag in the distance



A slightly hairy caterpillar - I don't think that this is of the Emperor Moth, a number of which we saw flying quickly across the moor from the path.





Now for something completely different

A lunchtime at the begining of August visuting the outdoor exhibition of Tom Stoddart's wonderful photographs at South Bank.

This man in a mask appeared from behind the photo display and stood there long enough for me to take this shot, before he disappeared.

Slightly disturbing!

Wilstone Reservoir - Great Crested Grebe and Pike

An evening's walk at Wilstone Reservoir Tring in July.

A still evening with a Great Crested Grebe swimming quite close to the bank....

....Moving away it dived and came up with what looked like a beak full of weeds....

....At first I could not work out what the bird had hold of, but after a minute or so of juggling, a young pike emerged as the weeds fell away.  The grebe soon swallowed this fish.

Later, the grebe surfaced just below me on the bank, allowing me to take a relatively close shot as it swam off.