Peregrine feeding on wood pigeon.

The peregrines down by the river have pretty much settled down again after their busy  breeding season.Things are alot quieter and sightings are nothing like as numerous as they were in the summer.At least one of the adults will always be around in this territory throughout the coming winter and hopefully on to another good breeding season next year.

Ollie and I came across this bird feeding on a woodpigeon,high up on a cliff face overlooking the river.This appears to be their favourite food source but we always seem to come across the mealtime,rather than the actual swooping hunt and kill time.One day we’ll hopefully see the whole sequence and maybe even get some pictures.But until then,here’s some images of this beautiful bird of prey.

All pigeon fanciers ‘look away now’.








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Riverside Walk.

This past week or two has been a real mixed bag of weather,with sun,rain,wind and even hailstones.Pretty much like the whole of the summer,in actual fact.So having got the heron pictures,in the previous blog,I carried the long lens down by the river a few times but primarily it’s the macro lens that I’ve been using on our short walks.So here’s a few images that illustrate what Ollie and I have been up to lately.

Close up of part of a Peacock butterfly wing.

A tree had been uprooted and carried down river,before getting wedged in some shallows.A great perch,until the next flood anyway.

On a grass stem,in the drizzle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking a bit worse for wear,this Wall butterfly.

 

A natural way to lose weight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Peacock butterfly was sunning itself.

 

This Grey Wagtail was on the lookout for flies,on the River Whiteadder.

 

A side on view of the same, earlier Forest Bug.You can see there’s been even more rain.

This was looking very sorry for itself,in the wet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The same Forest Bug eventually decided it might be a good idea to shelter underneath the grass stem,with the aphid.

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Ollie and I catch up with Ardea cinerea again.

While Ollie and I have been walking down by the River Whiteadder most days,the grey herons haven’t been about a great deal at all through the summer.Just lately though,they have started coming back again and we see at least 2 every day.One of them allows a much closer approach than the other and as the otter isn’t playing ball,we have to amuse ourselves with this fisherman instead.So here’s a little selection of images we got over the course of an hour,last saturday.

         


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 








 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These big gangly characters may be quite common,but it is still nice to have a truly wild animal allow Ollie and I to approach and interact.For us to settle down on the riverbank and take our pictures while they go about their fishing.This one knew we were there but still came wandering down towards us,to the point where I just couldn’t fit him in the frame anymore.So Ollie and I just sat and watched.

These are the moments.No matter how common the subject.

Still,       nice if it was an otter next time.

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More Creepies.

I’m still carrying the macro lens when Ollie takes me for a walk down by the river.There’s generally something to photograph on each visit,although a combination of the wind,flighty insects and Ollie’s nose means you’re not always successful in your quest.The macro is certainly a lot lighter on the shoulder than the long lens but frustrating when you have an otter swimming up the river within 15 metres,as I did this week.

Anyway here’s a few more images and who knows, maybe an otter next time.

Shield Bug after a shower.

Bumble bee resting on figwort.

This shield bug was resting on the colourful meadowsweet leaves.

Grasshopper sunning itself on loose rock.

This shield bug was climbing down the meadowsweet stem.

Managed to escape the mouth of the trout,so far.

This forest(shield) bug was sheltering on a grass stem,during a rain shower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This peacock butterfly was at rest on the ground,as the sun disappeared briefly behind a cloud.

That’s all for now.

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And some more macro.

Here’s a few more macro shots while walking Ollie down by the River Whiteadder this past week or so.

Caterpillar feeding on burdock leaf.

Common as muck!

Chomping.(technical term!)

Red eyed and hungover.

Not great camouflage for this grasshopper.

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More macro.

The photo taking has really slowed down lately.The only time that I’m out with the camera is when I take Ollie out for an hour or so each day.All very frustrating but at least I do get out for a little while and here are some of the images that I’ve taken since the last blog.All taken down by the River Whiteadder and all with my 180mm macro lens,tripod and cable release.

A very common fly,I’ve realised since dusting off the macro lens.

Yellow dung fly feeding on hoverfly.

Caterpillars feeding on nettle.

A very slender bug.

 

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The Olympics.

All this running and jumping about has played havoc with my ‘getting out and taking pictures’ over the last week or two.I’ve been glued to the telly watching every sport possible and loving every minuet of it.I haven’t cried so much for ages and now I think I’m going through the withdrawal symptoms.Anyway I had to drag myself away occasionally to walk Ollie and here are a few images that we took down by the river.They were all taken with my 180mm macro lens,including the heron images.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a sunny day,in the shallows.

 

While we were sat photographing the minnows,this heron slowly approached up the river towards us.

It took no notice of us,even when Ollie had a bit of a grumble at it.It did look nice backlit against the shadowed background.

It even turned around and walked back in front of us,before eventually flying off.
Probably in disgust because it wanted to lunch on the minnows we had been photographing.



That’s All Folks.

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Burnet climbs Pyramid.

Ollie and I took a walk along the beach at Cheswick,on the Northumberland coast.On the way back we came through the dunes where we came across a number of pyramid orchids,amongst the many other flowers growing there.One of the orchids had a narrow bordered 5 spot burnet moth feeding on it and while I tried to take some pictures,a second moth appeared.

The other images were taken where we walk down by the River Whiteadder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





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Close encounters.

The camera’s not been out enough lately but here’s a mixed bag of close up images,taken in the last week or so.

I couldn’t resist this snail amongst all the colour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flash was used for this one.

Using flash can give you more detail but can also give you a black background,unfortunately.


The lighter female is on the left.

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Damsels.

Ollie and I have been down the river again with the macro lens.The weather has been pretty dull again but as long as it is not too breezy it’s fine for insect photography.I like to use natural light,as opposed to flash,and so I’m often using shutter speeds of less than 1/30th sec and therefore it is essential for me to use a tripod,cable release and the mirror lock up facility on the camera.I have to be slow,careful and deliberate while I position the camera on the tripod close to the subject,line the camera lens up to get the whole subject as sharply focused as possible and then time the actual picture taking for when the plant and insect are as still as possible.If there is any sort of a breeze,or the insect is moving slightly,the actual picture taking can take a while.This is where a certain amount of patience is required,particularly on Ollies’ part,as he wants to be jumping about and exploring.But he’s a good boy and is getting better and better.

Of course you can spend lots of time setting up,waiting for a lull in the breeze,only to see your subject walk,jump or fly off at the critical time.But that’s nature photography for you and the next photo opportunity will be just around the corner.




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




Thanks for looking and please leave a comment if you have the time.Any ideas,improvements?Anything I could be doing differently?

Bye bye from me.And Bye bye from Ollie.

Posted in Nature Photography, Uncategorized, Wildlife Photography | 8 Comments