Hydrangea

These Hydrangea were growing in a shaded dell above a stream. I had never looked so closely at Hydrangeas before and I noticed how delicate and beautiful they are.

Tiger Stripes

I have no idea what this plant is, possibly a fern but I have done a bit of research and come up blank. If you know then please enlighten me...

I liked it for its lush leaves and the stripes on the under surface. I also like the way the light is shining through the leaves.

I like to see bold colours in the garden but often lush green is just as stunning.

Bitter sweet

I love chocolate it is good for you, I love flowers too so when I spotted this beautiful Chocolate Cosmos I had to get a picture. It is such a  rich and warm brown just like chocolate and in the summer sun it looked absolutely glorious. The flower is not fully out but it still caught my eye. 

Red Gazania

After incorrectly identifying a flower the other day I was especially careful to research today's' specimen to avoid any embarrassment. 

It is, I can confidently say a Red Gazania. Photographing red flowers is quite tricky because it can be difficult to get a true representation of the colour but I think I got this one spot on.

The second shot was a bit of a bonus as I had focused in on the centre of the flower to pick out the detail in the heart of the flower and I hadn't noticed the aphid at first but I am quite plesed that I captured the little critter, it gives a sense of scale as well as being a cool shot.

Kniphofia

It is really no wonder that plants are not generally referred to by their scientific names. Take todays flower for example, Kniphofia is quite a mouthful, and if you try the family name; Asphodelaceae it all makes sense to give it an easier name, Red Hot Poker seems like quite a good name for it.

This was a nice specimen with fleshy looking flowers that open out to beautiful red bells. Quite stunning.

The first shot reminds me of a giant glass sculpture I photographed earlier this year on the Venetian island of Murano, see my post A Lotta Bottle from 10th March

The Great Pretender

I love bees and I get a buzz when I get to photograph them because they're not at all easy subjects.

But this is not a bee, or a wasp it is a hoverfly, one of the 300 species that are native to our country. They don't sting like bees or wasps but they mimic them as a means of defence against predators. They are important pollinators just like bees and just like bees their numbers are declining as a result of the increased use of  pesticides.

Just like bees they are interesting subjects for photography and luckily for me this one sat around long enough to get a few decent shots.

Waterfall

These abstract images are of a waterfall in the Dell at Bodnant gardens in north Wales.

I love to watch water falls and fountains, looking for patterns in the movement of water and in these shots I love the different colour as the light catches the falling stream.

I have rotated the first image through approximately 45 degrees which i think creates an interesting effect however I prefer the second image for the colours and the pattern of the falling water which makes me think of twisted strands of coloured glass.

Anemone

I am not sure exactly what variety this is but I am fairly sure it is a type of anemone.

Whatever it is it is beautiful and when you take a closer look it is really quite complex with lots of tiny buds and delicate fronds making up the central disc.


Update:  It has been pointed out to me that this flower is in fact a Cosmos not an anemone and so I wanted to set the record straight.

Insect Heaven

I love these white Cone Flowers (or Echinacea), their strong white petals folding back to reveal the spiky orange centre that attracts all manner of pollinating insects. 

Look Into My Eyes!

I had intended on posting some flower images today but looking through the folder of pictures I spotted these shots of a hover fly and decided that I would follow up the past two days pictures of bugs with these before moving onto something a little prettier.

Although I say prettier I think you will agree these are quite spectacular and as you look closer at the compound eyes you can see how magnificent they really are. I love macro photography...

Do you ever wonder how things look to these creatures with such complex eyes?

Dusty Whiskers of the Humble Bumblebee

So keeping things going along the same theme as yesterday but still from my visit to Bodnant here is a fantastic macro shot of an industrious bumblebee absolutely covered in sticky pollen.

As it was buzzing around it looked like a normal yellow and black bee going about its work but getting close up I could see that much of the yellow as in fact pollen and then with the help of my trusty macro lens we can all see just how much pollen there is.

We owe so much to these little beauties and when you see this it should underline just how important they are as pollinators.

Gold Face

I haven't posted anything to my blog in a little while and I certainly haven't been as regular as I had intended when I started it but I do intend to post more regularly. I went to Bodnant gardens recently with the intention of getting some beautiful shots to share to get things started again.

I was fortunate that the weather was good and there was excellent light and lots of beautiful flowers on display so I took lots of pictures that I will be going through to select the best.

Given that there was so much to see and photograph you might be surprised that the first images I share from that day out are of a disgusting Horse Fly. I say disgusting because they are annoying buzzy bitey things ( I got bitten on my elbow by one)  but  since I had my macro lens attached I thought I would take a closer look at the fly that settled on the bench behind me.

I was surprised to see that it has a shiny golden mask around bright red eyes that don't exactly make it a thing of beauty but is quite spectacular all the same.

Apparently it is the female flies that bite and they will travel large distances to find a suitable food source. Unlike mosquitoes that pierce the skin and suck blood from the host horse flies have jagged saw like teeth that slice the skin and they release an anti-coagulant so they can feed on the blood that pools in the wound. I said they were disgusting...

Damsel

I have mixed feelings about these images. 

First of all I was really chuffed to actually capture them since these beautiful Damselflies (the first I think is a male demoiselle, the second is a Brown Damselfly) hardly stopped to rest in their near constant search for food, so getting any image at all was quite a scoop.

The second one is especially fortuitous because as brightly coloured as it is I would normally miss it, lost in the greenery.

I am slightly disappointed because the heads in each are not in sharp focus; the reason for this is shortly before taking these pictures I had been experimenting with different focus settings on my camera and as I was not fully prepared for these shots and having to be extremely quick them main area of focus is the wings. However, this does show on closer inspection the stunning patterns in the lacy wings and in the red one the ovipositor  is in sharp focus.

Heart of Stone

As always I am looking out for hearts in nature and this warm coloured pebble on the beach at Milford on Sea caught my eye. The sea spray in the air was a real nuisance in that I had to continually clean my lens but it added a freshness and shine to the pebbles.

Heavy Clouds, Heavy Seas

This shot was taken at Milford on Sea in Hampshire on the border of the New Forest. It was a super windy day and standing looking out to sea was hard work getting battered by the wind and sea spray. At one point a little boy ran up some steps behind me and as he reached the top and no longer had the protection of the sea wall the wind lifted him off his feet and blew him over. It was quite a spectacular moment and could have been quite serious but he seemed to bounce and simply got up and ran off along the shore.