Dragonflies

 I was recently lucky enough to spend a few days in one of my favourite places; the New Forest.

There is always so much to see and on one particular day walking across some heathland I spotted several dragon flies. They rarely settle for very long and it is almost impossible to get close so I have used my Canon 100-400mm lens with 1.4x converter to get these shots. I had to use a fast shutter because these are hand held shots. 

As always I know I could do better but these are probably the best I got on the day and they are still nice specimens.

In the Leaf Litter

 Meet Trypocopris vernalis.

I love getting down into the undergrowth and leaf litter to find what lurks there. It is so easy to miss what is beneath our feet but there is so much interesting stuff to see. Often it is very small so hard to see, or it moves really quickly so it is very difficult to have a good look let a lone get a decent image.

This little critter scurried across the forest path so I followed it for a little while to see where it would go. At first glance it looks pure black but as the light catches it you can see flashes of brilliant blue. on its belly there is even more blue and it is a really beautiful colour.

The "copris" part of its name gives a hint to one of the characteristics of this beetle, namely its diet, or at least the diet of its larvae since they feed on the dung of animals such as sheep and foxes, YUK! (the poo diet, not the fox). They are a species of dung beetle and their common name is the Common dor beetle or Spring dor beetle. The chances are if you have been out walking in the woods or anywhere in the countryside you will have seen one of these or perhaps one of its cousins as they are widespread across Europe and Asia minor. Despite its dodgy diet they are really cool. Go on take a closer look.

Noisy Nuthatch

I have seen nuthatches many times and they are really beautiful birds. 

I love the way they cling onto the bark or branches of trees lying flat against the surface or hanging upside down, they are so agile. I love their black mask giving them the appearance of a bandit.

This particular bird was spotted during a walk in the New Forest, I was actually stalking a herd of Fallow Deer at the time and it was pretty wet and grey so the lighting wasn't great. The noise in the title to this post doesn't relate to the birds' song but to the "noise" in the image because it was shot at an ISO of 20,000 so inevitably it was very grainy and nowhere near as sharp as I had hoped it would be. 

I had almost discarded these shots as worthless but after a little bit of tweaking in Lightroom I have found that they could be salvaged and they are closer to what I had pictured when I took the shots. I really like the poses in both shots so I am glad I was able to "rescue" them. Now that I know how I will be able to go through some older files and see if I can apply this fix to other shots that previously I had discarded.

Small and Chunky

According to the RSPB pocket guide to birds of Britain and Europe "Small and chunky" are the words used to describe the Stonechat, seen here perched at the top of a Hawthorn bush on the open heath land of the New Forest.

This is a male as you can tell from his black head and throat, his white neck and his rust red chest. 

This perch is typical for the species that like to sit high up on bushes  surveying the land round about and calling out Tsak, tsak-tsak before flying off in search of spiders and insects to feast on.

He really is quite a handsome bird and it was great to spot him while out walking with my son.

Forest Fairies

I spotted this beautiful dragonfly during a walk in the New Forest earlier this summer. It was stretched out in the sun on the heath, no doubt taking a break from its hunting. 

It was a really lovely day and it was good watching the wildlife. It was also good to stop and take a rest just like this little chap.

So why have I called today's post Forest Fairies? Well it's obvious isn't it, there are some people who think these are fairies and who am I to disagree? 

Memories

I have been reminded today about the importance of memory and how the memories we have can be real treasures that enrich our lives. The things that happen and the things we do throughout our lives can shape us and help to define us and so it is important to hold on to important memories as far as we can.

Sometimes events or moments from our past might seem lost but they can actually be buried deep just waiting for a little prompt to bring them to the surface.

Today's pictures are just that. prompt for me. As a child I read a book called The Children of The New Forest by Captain F Maryatt. The book was first published in 1847 and the copy that I read as a child had been a book prize awarded to my mum in school some time in the 1950's. I loved the story of children growing up in the New Forest in the midst of the English Civil War, learning to become independent while their father was away fighting for the King. It ignited an interest in English History and it also touched something in me because I was lucky enough to live close to the forest and visited it regularly so I felt a connection with the children in the story.

I haven't thought about the book for a long time until this evening when I was selecting these images. While these shots were taken at Dunham Massey and not the New Forest they sparked a memory of the book and I can picture the children living in a cottage something like this deep in the forest with deer regularly visiting the garden. How idyllic!

Fungi

Here are a couple of great shots of tiny fungi spotted on a walk in the New Forest.

It was a wet day but that didn't stop us taking a long walk near Millyford Bridge. At one junction in the forest path there was a small pile of rotting stumps which had colonies of these small fungi. They're great subjects for photography. The first almost looks like it would be at home under water, like a coral while the second looks like a miniature forest in its own right.

Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep

One of the things I love about camping is the fact that it brings you close to nature, or in this case it brings nature close to you.

Every morning and evening when my son and I returned to our tent in the New Forest and sat out to enjoy a meal in the sun we were visited by a nuthatch and a family of fledgling Chaffinches. They would come and sit in the bracken and cheep noisily helped along by the scraps we fed them. Well they were so lovely we couldn't resist.

New Growth

I have always liked photographing ferns as they emerge, I love the way they unfurl from such tight little buds to form such lush plants. I love the richness of the colours in this shot too.

Brighten Your Day

Sometimes you just need something simple to lift your spirits. I love yellow so this close-up of Autumn Hawkbit with a covering of raindrops really works for me...

Deer Stalking

During my recent trip to the New Forest with my youngest son we stopped off for a walk at a place called Whitemoor just outside Emery Down. We hoped to spot some wildlife but apart from a few ponies there wasn't very much to see and after a heavy rainfall the ground was water logged so finding a good path was a little tricky. 

I had almost decided to turn back so that we could try our luck in a different spot when we spotted a lone fallow deer in the distance. We carefully worked our way around the edge of the woodland to see if we could get close and as we did so we realised that there was a small herd of deer on the far side of a clearing and this made us even more determined to get as close as possible.

It was really difficult as the land was really boggy and we had to navigate our way crossing a couple of streams, all the time conscious of the fact that any noise might spook the deer and  any photo opportunity would be lost. We found a good spot just on the edge of a small copse and I was able to get these shots. We were still a bit too far away though and as we edged closer the deer became alerted to our presence and skipped into the trees where they stayed as if taunting us.

I like the first picture because there is a carefree feeling to the shot of the young deer at play, the second picture was captured at the point the deer became aware of us and they are poised to make their escape.

It was a great experience stalking the deer as we did and getting this close and while these are technically not the best pictures I am happy with them as a reminder of the day.

Predators

Today I am posting a couple of shots of wildlife in the New Forest and I know that lots of people won't be too keen and some may be surprised that I have even posted them. If you are squeamish then look away now. Alternatively scroll down, you have been warned...

So both of these shots were taken during my first afternoon away in the forest. I had gone for a short walk and first of all spotted this female slow worm crossing my path. It really is a beauty and I couldn't resist taking a closer look. It was a bit tricky to get the shot because I had to hold the lizard in one hand and take the shot one handed. I think I did alright.

The second image is of a Labyrinth Spider. I had gone over to look at the massive web which was spread out over the grass and bracken and I spotted a grasshopper trigger the web and this spider pounced from it's funnel at the base of a plant. On this occasion it wasn't quick enough to catch its prey and he didn't hang around very long before scurrying back into his hideaway.

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.

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.

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

The New Forest

I am having trouble blogging at the moment since I don't have a decent data connection here in the New Forest, at least not on my campsite. Out on the heath however I have 4g so I'm making the most of it

So today's pictures ... The first is a small plantation of trees which have been devastated by disease.  It was sad to see these grey ghosts of trees when all around the forest is a splendid array of green.

The second was going to be my post for yesterday and is a quintessential image from this region. I absolutely love it here and hopefully over the next few days I will get to share some more pictures from my travels...

Lymington

I went to Lymington twice last year, once in June and later in August on a cycle ride with my youngest son.  On the second occasion it absolutely poured with rain and we had to shelter against a wall while the rain bounced off the ground and everything it touched.

The first visit in June was however much more enjoyable, with fish and chips and New Forest Ice Cream down by the harbour (watched closely by the seagull on the post). I liked the harbour with the mix of working vessels and pleasure boats.  A great place to sit on a summer's day.  

There's Not Mushroom

How can you tell my blog is full? ...because there's not mushroom for anymore pictures...

Ok I know that was terrible so enough of the bad jokes let's just focus on the pictures.  I love fungi, the varied colours, shapes and sizes and I know people who would be searching for fairies wherever they find fungi like the Fly Agagric in the first two pictures.

The first couple of pictures were taken at Blean Woods just outside of Canterbury it was the first time I had ever seen this type of fungus so I went a bit mad and took quite a few shots, getting right down in the dirt to get the angles I wanted.

The next two pictures and the last one were taken at Bickerton Hill in Cheshire (I've used several pictures from there in previous posts) and the fifth picture was taken in the New Forest.  I don't know what species these are but I think my favourite is the third one, I love the shape, the colour and the texture, for me its a perfect mix.