A New Blog Post

A return to some landscapes for today and a nifty play on words for the title.

While waiting for the aircraft to fly through the valley I took a few shots of the surrounding area.  I'm sure you will agree this is a really beautiful spot and it was scenes like this that made the long wait more bearable.

Mach Loop

On Thursday I took my first trip to Cad West on the Mach Loop in North Wales.  This is an area used by military pilots for low flying training. It can be hit and miss whether you get to see anything but there were plenty of other hopeful photographers who had made the effort to make the steep climb to a good vantage point all looking down the valley in anticipation.

A regular visitor to this spot happily announced that earlier in the week there had been 20 or more passes through the valley and that 5 passes was a bad day.  So with expectations set high I settled down for what turned out to be a long wait.

It turned out that due to an accident in the valley and the air ambulance having to airlift the casualties to hospital low flying on Thursday was reduced.  

We did get three passes by Hawk Jets from RAF Valley and I was able to get a few half decent shots as you can see above.  

Although I was disappointed by the lack of action the fly pasts that I did see were incredible; the speed, the noise and the sheer skill of the pilots as they threaded through the narrow valley were captivating and I will definitely be going back for more.

Make Sure You Get My Best Side

This aloof looking creature is a Great Grey Owl, I stood watching him for several minutes and every time that I moved to try and get a full face photo he looked to either side.  I felt certain that he was deliberately doing it.  However, as much as I would have liked to get a shot with him looking directly at me I think these pictures really give a good insight into the character of this beautiful bird.

Small and Deadly

In today's blog I have made quite a shift from the big cats of the past few days and gone from mammals to amphibians.

The first four pictures show three different species of poison dart frogs.  They were really tiny and as you can see beautifully coloured.

The final two pictures were tree frogs.  I really like the fifth picture with the frog peering around the branch with its beautiful yellow eye.

In the last picture the frog was squished up against the glass and so it presents a really interesting view of a fascinating creature.

Jaguar

This is possibly my favourite of the big cats, and in the past when I have visited Chester Zoo I have never caught a glimpse of the Jaguars as they always seem to be hiding out of sight.

I was really pleased this time round because I got the first shot outside just as this beauty climbed up onto a tree stump before turning quickly and made off to the back of the enclosure.

The second shot was taken indoors through glass as this cat was grooming himself.

I hope you will agree the Jaguar is truly a majestic cat.

Top Cat

These really are magnificent cats, they're quite literally Grrrrrrrrrreat!

Sorry about that, I couldn't resist it.

Like the lions in yesterdays pictures these Siberian Tigers were relaxing in the afternoon sun.  In spite of the bright colours and striking pattern of stripes the orange and black are a superb camouflage.  Earlier in the day it had been really difficult to spot these cats because they were hidden in the undergrowth, it wasn't until later in the day that they came out and it was possible to get these shots.

I Love Big Cats

Over the next few days I will post pictures of some of the big cats at Chester Zoo.  I would like to see these creatures in their natural habitat but that's not going to happen any time soon.  I was able to get a few good shots during my visit and today I am starting with this beautiful Lion which at the end of the day was relaxing in the late afternoon sun.  It was relaxing but as you can see she was closely watching the visitors who were looking at her.

Enter The Dragon

From a small Chameleon yesterday to a real giant of a lizard today.

This majestic beast is a Komodo Dragon, the largest living lizard and native of Indonesia. They are very much an endangered species so it is good to see the conservation work going on at Chester Zoo, as well as this young adult male there are two or three young female dragons on display. 

They can grow up to 3 metres or 10ft in length, and up to  70kg or150lbs in weight.

This chap is 5 years old and has reached breeding age.  He has a voracious appetite and his diet consists of calves which are brought in for him to devour.

Cold Blooded Compatriot...

Today's shots are of a Chameleon.  I am really happy with these pictures especially the second one because they were shot through the glass of their vivarium and so I had to avoid getting any unwanted reflections. 

Although he didn't move very much I think each picture shows a different expression.  I don't like to anthropomorphise however looking at the first picture this reptile seems to have a contemplative expression but in the second he is clearly smiling.

Such a big baby

Today I have spent the day at Chester Zoo .  After a very damp start it brightened up and I was able to take a load of pictures.  The shots I have posted today were the last ones I took.

They are not the best pictures I took and the first and third shots are a little blurry because of the poor light indoors and the fact that both elephants were moving at the time.

The first picture is of a male Asian Elephant which was pacing around his enclosure at the end of the day and was waiting to be fed.

The second and third pictures are of a female baby elephant which was born just two days ago.  Initially she was just lying at her mother's feet but in the final image she was just getting to her feet as her mother supported her with her trunk, another young female member of the family also stepped in to give support.  

You can see a video of her being born and some better photos too, by clicking on this link

Fallow Deer in the Forest

While on holiday my son and I went cycling and walking every day and every day we saw lots of wildlife including a large number of deer.  In the forest there are different species of deer but mostly we saw Roe and Fallow deer.  

In the evenings we went for walks into the forest and spotted deer using our night vision scope including a doe with her fawn which was a real thrill. 

Although we saw lots of deer on our daily trips I didn't manage to get any decent shots of them as they roamed freely about the forest. Then on our last day we took a trip to Bolderwood to the deer sanctuary to try and get some photos and of course when we got there there were no deer to be seen. So we went for a walk for a bit and waited for a bit and eventually our patience paid off when a small group of Fallow deer came into a clearing and I was able to get these pictures.

Nuthatch

This is one of my favourite birds.  The nuthatch is quite a bold and friendly little bird.  It almost seems like this one was sat posing for the camera but really it was constantly looking round for grubs and insects, it was always on the move, so it took some patience getting these shots

Close up on the heath

So one day while on holiday we decided to go looking for snakes and so we set off across the heath and we searched high and low, well not high because it was all low growing gorse, heather and bracken.  Anyway we didn't find any snakes but it was fun all the same.  

The pictures above were taken along the way.  The first two are of the gorse thorns and the third picture is of some of the heather flowers that were blossoming all around us.

Hoylake Sunset

First of all, I didn't realise I was quite so tall, ha ha.

Here are a few shots of the sunset across Liverpool Bay, taken this evening from Red Rocks on the Wirral coast between Hoylake and West Kirby.  It's a really lovely spot and at this time of evening it's really peaceful too.  These pictures were taken using the camera on my phone, so very basic and no post production of any kind.

In the shady woodland

Today I have chosen a few images from various locations around the New Forest to show off the different colours under the forest canopy.

Sun and shade bring out all the shades of green and adds to the atmosphere in this fantastic woodland

A Common Gull

Here are five shots of a Common Gull taken from the cliff tops overlooking Lulworth Cove. Just moments before, I had swapped lenses from my 150 - 600mm zoom to my Canon 24 -105mm.  I was slightly frustrated because with the bigger lens I would have been able to get some cracking close ups and not had to crop the images so hard however I think that even at 105 mm these are sharp images with a fair amount of detail so I'm pleased with the results.

It was quite windy and so the bird was using the air currents to stay up without exerting too much energy.  I really like the fourth image which shows how it was using its wings, tail and even feet to steer and turn in the air.  Gulls get a lot of bad press for stealing food from tourists and leaving a mess on cars but they are still beautiful birds and very graceful in flight.