More Macro

Macro photography can get a bit addictive so first thing this morning I was up and out into the garden looking for some more macro subjects. I found a Broad-Bodied Chaser Dragonfly a Hawthorn Shieldbug with an Aphid (Greenfly) and a Damselfly.

Click on the images to see more detail...

Red Mason Bee with Mites

Yesterday evening I was watching a couple of Bees flying in and out of a screw hole in the pergola. As they started to settle in for the night I decided to try and get a few macro shots of them tucked up in bed, so to speak..

One of the Bees came out of its hole and appeared to be shaking. I switched the camera to video crop mode to take a closer look and to my surprise I could see lodgers on the Bees back with one crawling around its head.

I have to admit it was a surprised to see them, something as small as a Bee with its own lodgers.

After some research I identified the Bee as a Red Mason Bee and its lodgers are Pollen Mites or Krombeins Hairy-Footed Mite (Chaetodactylus Krombeini).

This Bee only had a few Mites but they can become so laden with these hitchhikers that they are unable to fly and then face certain death. If you See a Bee on the ground get your magnifying glass out and take a peek, you never know what you might see..

Woodlife Trails Diploma - Wilderness Immersion

This weekend as part of the Woodlife Diploma I attended the Wilderness Immersion Course. I attended the course back in April 2011 then helped out on the same course in the following October.

Although it was essentially the same course, due to the different time of year both yielded different experiences. So when I returned to take part this year I was pleasantly surprised to find that once again a whole new experience was gained.

As I open my journal to select some parts of the weekend to blog about the smell of the wood smoke fills my nostrils which invokes memories of some of the weekend’s experiences.

I set my alarm for 5am (not that I needed it) and set off for a dawn zone-in. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts this is my favourite zone-in time. From blacks and greys to pastel s and then a burst of full colour, the birds wake and start claiming their territory. Squirrels quarrel and play in the trees and then if you’re lucky a close encounter with one of the woodland residents.
Just down the track from the base camp I position myself up against a tree and began zoning-in and immersing myself into the surrounding woodland. There was a slight mist rolling around the track and I could hear Blue Tits, Great Tits, Blackbirds, Woodpecker and a Cuckoo. Then my first sighting of the morning was Muntjac Deer crossing the track in front of me..
After that I could hear a Cock Pheasant working its way across the woodland behind me. He emerged from the edge of the woodland and started to cross the track. Every now and then he would stop and give out a call whilst shaking his wings, have a quick scan around and onward with his patrol.
Then it’s back to camp for some breakfast.

After a day of tuition from JP and Pablo it was time for everyone to put their skills into practice and find a layup for the night, for me this would produce a first time encounter.  I was fortunate enough to be laid up within sight of a Badger Sett. I zoned-in and sat and waited in hope of seeing my first Badger in the wild emerging from a sett.  My first sighting was a Fox. I gave out a squealing sound that I have previously used to call in a Fox but instead of coming towards me it circled back on itself and then disappeared.  Later it was explained to me that the Fox was probably instigating a search pattern looking for what it thought was injured prey.
Some 30 minutes later and the light was dropping, I was beginning to ache and was starting to get cold when suddenly a Badger emerged from the sett .  At this point I had that warm fuzzy feeling inside and the discomfort just disappeared. The Badger scanned the area before making its way through a run to the other side of the sett. A little later it appeared on a high point of the sett, again had a good scan around and then disappeared.
I waited around for another 45 minutes or so and my final sighting of the evening was a Fallow Buck and three Does crossing just behind me. It was then back to camp for a hot brew, a social round the fire and then a lovely warm sleeping bag.

Thanks to JP & Pablo for another fantastic course.   A chilled, knowledge and experience gaining, social weekend with Friends....

Wasp Nest

Sometime back a friend gave me a small wasp nest that he had removed from his new house, I have been meaning to take some shots of it for ages but it had turned into a round tuit job...

So as I had the light tent out today for another project I decided to switch over to the macro lens and take some shots of the nest.

The nest was very delicate and each time it was moved it started to crumble. As I worked my way into the nest it revealed some dead wasps. Some of these had died whilst in the process of emerging from the comb whilst some can be seen still fully within the comb.

I would guess that the previous owners of my friend’s house had the nest exterminated and just left it in place. Looking at the nest it’s as if all the inhabitants were going about their daily life when suddenly they were frozen in time. You can see this reflected in some of the shots...  

Here are a few of the pictures; you can take a look at the full album here Wasp Nest Album

Wood Spirit

After a hectic few days up North with the out-laws I decided to have some chill out time in the garden. Whilst preparing some wood for a fire tonight I came across some silver birch that I had rescued from the local woodland where some major coppicing is taking place. I decided to have a go at carving my first Wood Spirit. I  carved it using my Mora Erik Frost 120. It looks a bit blocky in places and I'm not sure that it looks too much like a Wood Spirit but I guess you gotta start somewhere.

First Outing of the Year

As I sit here in the middle of Whiteley Woods, birds singing, a woodpecker tapping away in the tree, blackbirds alarming in the distance and of course a nice hot cup of coffee you forget how cold it is. Just a great feeling of peace and relaxation.

Today I have seen a Buzzard, Spotted Woodpecker, the solitary Roe Deer and my favourite encounter of the day a Fox.

I have had close encounters with Fox before whilst on a zone in but this was different. Today I called a Fox to within a couple of metres.

I spotted him crossing the track ahead and walking through the fence line onto the local golf course. He stopped and sat at the edge of the fairway as if to check the coast was clear to cross.

I manoeuvred myself to the edge of the fence line and gave my attempt of a squeal from a distressed rodent or was it rabbit..  Ok something else for me to learn.. I gave a squeal...

Much to my delight the fox turned and came running straight at me. He came within a couple of metres of me and sat there looking at me as I carried on making the call. Even when he spotted me and started to move off he had to stop each time I called to make sure he really wasn't missing out on anything.

Well coffee is finished and its time to move on.......

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Here is a short video of my Fox encounter. I was a little disappointed to find that in all the excitement I managed to hit the stop recording button while he was sat checking me out...  But you get the idea..

Happy New Year

Happy New Year All...

I haven’t had a chance to get out much this year yet hence the lack of entries in the blog.
So tonight I took a few shots of the Moon and Jupiter and its moons to kick off 2012 on the blog.
I used my Canon 550D and 100-400mm lens at 400mm.

 You can’t see any detail on Jupiter but you can clearly see it’s moons. To get a little closer I used the video crop function on the 550D.