I haven't posted anything for about 10 days (I have been working on a calendar of British Birds for 2020) and so I thought I would come back with something special and I hope you will agree with me that this picture fits the bill.
You may think I am over stating things by describing this as the loveliest view in the world but those are not my words but the words of the leading art critic of the Victorian Era; John Ruskin (he was also an artist, social thinker and philanthropist). He described this view of the River Lune as seen from the churchyard of St Mary's Church in Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria as being"the loveliest view in England, and therefore the World".
A painting of this view by JMW Turner described "priceless possession" was sold at auction in 2012 for £217,250
Well beauty is in the eye of the beholder so you may disagree with that statement but I am sure you will agree that it is pretty spectacular indeed. It is certainly a great view of the English countryside. This picture was taken after a few days of heavy rain, local roads were flooded and lots of water was coming off the hills raising the level of the river which was flowing extremely fast rushing towards Devil's Bridge about a mile down river.
In some ways this view reminds me a bit of the view of the Wye Valley from Symonds Yat Rock which I think could compete for the title of loveliest view... but then I would say there are other views that could compete and I am sure you will have your own candidates, why not leave a comment with your suggestions.
So here are a couple of shots of a Speckled Wood butterfly. If you look closely you will see that the eyes are actually hairy just as part of the surface of the wings are also hairy.
This specimen was seen at Bodnant in North Wales and being in the north this accounts for the brown colouring, southern varieties have a brighter, orange colouring but despite the different colouration they are the same species.
This hover fly was taking a moment to rest on the wooden handrail of a bridge across a small stream. With the sun beating down it was a good opportunity to warm up.
If you can, zoom in to enjoy the detail in this shot; those wonderful shiny compound eyes and the soft fur. There is so much to appreciate when you look closely at these fascinating insects. They're great pollinators and they don't sting or bite so they're great little critters.
I almost walked past these little white flowers but then I noticed the delicately scalloped edges with a slight bluish hue and the beautiful central cluster.
These are so elegant and beautiful.
These are white Hydrangea and the blue bud will eventually open out into a star shape revealing the delicate stamen
I had popped down to Dunham Massey last Saturday to take some photos of the deer, I managed to get a few shots but while following one small group of young deer I spotted a fallen tree covered with loads of fungi. I can never resist something like that and so I was glad to have my macro lens packed in my bag.
Here are just two of the shots I got...
These Canada geese caught me somewhat by surprise. I had seen a flock feeding on one of the ponds at Burton Mere but these took of in a flap from a field just outside of the reserve. Just one or two came first but a couple of minutes later a larger group took to the sky and then an even larger flock flew up and overhead before settling on the pond beyond the grassy bank behind me.
Often when you see geese in flight they seem to fly in good order, there is a pattern and structure to the flight but as you can see from the second shot it isn't always that way and sometimes they seem to almost tumble through the sky.
Just like yesterdays shots of the dragonfly these images of a Painted Lady butterfly were taken using my 150 - 600mm lens (handheld). In some ways these were harder than the dragonfly because it was even more restless and almost constantly on the move.
I learned just the other day that Painted Lady butterflies are a migratory species that start in North Africa and finish their journey as far north as Iceland and even Greenland however their life span is relatively short and the Painted Ladies we see in the UK are actually the grandchildren of those that start in Africa.
I took these shots at the weekend at Burton Mere Wetlands. I had gone to photograph waders and so I was set up with my 150mm - 600mm lens so not the best set up for photographing flying insects. I didn't think I had time to switch to my macro lens so I did my best.
The large zoom lens is quite heavy and slow so taking these shots, hand held was a challenge and I had to take a few steps back to be able to focus but I think I did ok.
This dragonfly appears settled but he kept on taking off in search of a meal and in the final shot you can see he is finishing off a mouthful of fly.
So the title of the blog is a reference to a song that harks back to when my daughter was very small and that I heard in a movie over the weekend and which perfectly fits with the subject of this post.
We have always, or for as long as I can remember had a lavender plant in out front garden, at times it has become large and unruly and needed pruning right back. In the last year we have had to replace it so at present it is just a small bush but even so it has been full of beautiful fragrant flowers.
I love lavender because of the colour, the furry texture of the tiny buds and the fact that they attract so many pollinators. They also remind me of hotels for some reason.
I know that many people will give a little shudder when they see these shots of garden spiders, after all they're pretty beastly little critters but I hope you will all agree they are decent shots all the same.
I recently had my macro lens fixed and so I wanted to get more use out of it. Over the past week I have been sharing some of the flower and bug pictures I had captures at Bodnant garden in North Wales all shot using my 100mm macro lens.
Then on the recent bank holiday I went into my own garden on a hunt for mini beasts and I spotted these spiders. I was lucky with the light especially in the last shot which gives a great view of the spiders beady little eyes.
