Polydrusus formosus

 

This is a green immigrant leaf weevil.  It was very difficult to photograph because it was so small and moving very quickly along the garden wall.

It is a pest really and has potential to cause damage to emerging leaves and  blossoms so not really a welcome visitor to the garden but it is quite interesting with really vibrant colouring. As you can see from the second image which is a close crop of the carapace the colouring is actually a series of very fine dotted lines (you probably have to zoom in a bit) each dot like a little green jewel.

It is hard to get a true sense of scale when these are enlarged but if you use the grains of sand in the mortar as a guide you will get some idea of how tiny this thing is.

Hitching a Ride

 So today I have decided to hold off with Bluebells and share something different.

These shots were taken using my 100mm macro lens.

The first shot is a pair of Alder Leaf Beetles, full of the joys of spring I guess. I had some less "raunchy" pics but they were a bit fuzzy because there was quite a strong breeze that was constantly moving the tree so it was hard to get a decent shot so rather than posting a fuzzy pic I went for this indecent one instead.

The beetle in the next two images is another leaf beetle, I am not sure whether it is a dead nettle leaf beetle or a brassy leaf beetle, I am thinking it is the brassy variety but I wouldn't swear to that so I will leave that to the better informed to decide. Of course it may be neither of these two varieties as there are several different leaf beetles that are found in the UK. They were busily munching on the leaves and going about their beetle business. In the second image if you look closely you can see the detail of its compound eye. I really like the iridescent green.  

Beautiful Bluebells

 

You know that feeling when you look under a cushion and find a £20 note that must have fallen out of your pocket unnoticed? No nor do I, it is more likely to be a till receipt or a tissue in my house. But just imagine how good it would feel. Well that is sort of how I felt earlier today when I picked up my camera to get a couple of macro shots of a mysterious bug on our garden wall (more of that at a later date). After I had got a few decent shots I scrolled through to find a load of pictures from a recent day out that I had forgotten I had, then to make things even better I found a load of pictures from a day out before that too. I was so pleased I could hardly wait until I finished work to upload them.

So although the bluebell season has ended I still have a few pictures that I haven't processed yet, I don't want to overload this post with too many pictures so I will spread them over a day or two. Unlike my last post which was from a walk in Boilton Woods these were taken at Burton Mere, I think you will agree that these are quite special, such beautiful flowers and now they are gone for another year it is nice to still be able to enjoy their beauty.

I am so grateful for the beauty of nature and I am grateful that I found these almost forgotten images (I would have liked to find £20 too).

Native Blue

 There is something special about walking in the woods in spring when you are surrounded by beautiful flowers and the heady smell of the bluebells. I remember walking on Bluebell Hill near Maidstone with my parents and seeing masses of these flowers and then for years I don't recall seeing them in any numbers, perhaps I just wasn't looking. A few years ago I went to Skomer to photograph the Puffins and other seabirds and large parts of the island  were completely covered in Bluebells and that was the first time I really appreciated not just the flower itself but the wonderful smell, the air was filled with it. It was a perfect day and is a wonderful memory.

These two shots were taken at Boilton Woods near Preston. I have a few more images from a little closer to home at Burton Mere which no doubt I will share if I get round to uploading them.

Nuthatch

 

I really love nuthatches, there is something bout the way they move about the trees often hanging upside down and almost always on the move. I love their colours and the bandit face mask.

I think the first time I photographed one was in the walled garden at Royden park not far from where I live, it was feeding at a bird feeder and going back and forth to a nest. I have a nice memory of seeing several in the grounds at Sizergh Castle too and I sat for ages watching them.

This one was spotted in Boilton Wood at the edge of Brockholes nature reserve near Preston. It is probably my favourite shot that I have captured of a nuthatch because of its pose, the colours and lighting which is enhanced by the early morning sun behind me and the carpet of bluebells in the background.

Boys and Girls

 These little cuties are Reed Buntings, the first is a male and I know its not that great of a shot but I have included it just to show the comparison between the male and female in terms of their plumage. He was moving about so quickly among the reeds it was really very hard to get a clear shot. 

The female on the other hand was a little closer but hopping around in the grass and shrubs and blending in so well so she was also quite difficult to photograph, although I think they're not too bad.

A Burst Of Colour

 There have been many times when I have spotted small flocks of Goldfinches darting from  treetop to treetop, chattering away and felt tormented because they have always proved to be incredibly difficult to photograph.

I was excited when I heard this chap singing away and hoped to get a decent shot but for a while I couldn't spot him. After a few minutes however I caught a glimpse and slowly, I crept towards him hoping that he would stay still long enough.

Perched high up he caught the early morning sun perfectly, showing off his brilliant plumage. I say "he" because although the females have similar plumage they are slightly duller and have less red on the face so I am fairly confident this one is a male.

These are fairly common birds across the UK and although intensive agriculture has led to reduced numbers garden feeders have helped to maintain the population. Although they are quite common I still count it as a privilege to have got such lovely pictures.

The oldest recorded age for a Goldfinch is 14 years which seems pretty  good for such a small and delicate creature. 

In the 19th century they were popular cagebirds with 132,000 birds a year being caught in Sussex alone for this purpose. I think I would much rather see them in the wild, on the wing or up a tree than in a cage. 

A Morning Kiss

These are Roe Deer, the two females in the first image were quite a distance away but it was nice to capture a tender moment as they touched noses in greeting. 

I had actually been following the buck in the second image and hadn't realised that there were three deer altogether so it was a nice surprise to see them all. It was nice also because although they were very wary of my presence they did not immediately disappear into the woods and i was able to watch them from a distance.

It was yet another reminder to me that it very often pays off to be up early. That's not such a bad thing either when I usually wake up at stupid o'clock.

 

Great Tit

 I was trying to photography a young Roe Deer buck that was sneaking around in the woodland when this beautiful great tit flew onto a post right in front of me, pausing just long enough for me to get one shot before deciding I was not interesting enough (I didn't offer him any snacks) and flying off.

Although it was quite shady along this stretch of the path there was enough morning sunlight to illuminate his brilliant colours.

Face Off

 I go for days without any pictures to share and then when I get a nice bunch of pictures I sit on them for ages.  I really need to be more organised sometimes.

Anyway this sequence of pictures, of two coots having a scrap was shot at Brockholes early last Friday morning. They were a long way off so I have had to crop quite a lot to bring the birds into view but you can see there was quite a vicious scuffle going on.

Coots are strange birds and for their size they are unusually aggressive. They will even attack their own young because as parents, once their chicks reach a certain age, they will divide the brood between them and they will fight off and drive away any of the young who are the responsibility of the other parent. In can seem quite harsh when you see an adult bird apparently trying to drown a chick but really, through the division of labour they are ensuring that each chick has the best chance to survive.

Goose

 This was one of the first images I captured on my morning visit to Brockholes. I had been watching a couple of Brown Hares nearby when I spotted this greylag goose through the reeds, enjoying the early  morning sun. It was sitting so calm and serene and I think this image sums up how I felt in that moment with the sun on my back and total calm all around me.

Looking at in now I am also drawn in by the warm layers of colour (which actually are misleading because it was pretty cold at just 3C or 37F).