Comma Butterfly

A decided to spend half an hour in the garden today as we have a few insects and butterflies about. I was forced to shoot hand held because of the strong wind today nothing was staying very still for long. I spotted this Comma and we played a game of climb the pond fence; each time I climbed over the fence around my pond to get close to it, it would fly back over to the other side......





The Comma looks a bit like a fritillary but its 'ragged' wing margins and white comma on the underside easily identify it as a comma.

Pied Wagtail

This Pied Wagtail was running up and down in the garden while I was waiting in hope to catch the stoats. I have not seen them running around in a garden before but the garden is right next to a small lake.

The Stoats & the Kestrel

On the day I was to leave for Wales I received a phone call that a family of Stoats was playing in a friends garden.

I rushed over there only to see them disappear into the hedge and sadly they are not being seen regularly anymore.

I waited for about half an hour before rushing off for the ferry but while I was there this Kestrel was busy hunting all around and landed on a sign post to eat a vole. I was set up a hide for the stoats and too far away for any close shots but I do like these two. In the shot above you can see the poor vole dangling down on the post.

After finishing off the vole the Kestrel dropped down onto this wall and sat there for about 10 minutes.

Kingfishers

While on holiday in Pembrokeshire, Wales I visited the Welsh Wildlife Centre at Cilgerran near the River Teifi. The Wildlife Centre building is a magnificent structure and won an architectural design award in 1993. The surrounding area is owned and managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales and has numerous hides along many trails.





One of these hides is called the kingfisher hide. I have visited many hides before and have tried to photograph kingfishers on many occasions too. Most hides I have visited are great for viewing nature from a distance but rarely close enough to photograph anything.





On this occasion as I walked into the hide a young couple said 'your just in time he's posing for you.....', I couldn't believe my luck. There was a kingfisher only a few feet away sitting on a branch. I very carefully got my equipment set up and was extremely fortunate to watch this kingfisher catch a small fish, spend many minutes hitting it against the perch it was standing on before eating it, and eventually bringing up the pellet.


It was a truly magical experience and I used up a whole memory card. I decided to walk back to the car and get some more memory cards and to see if any of the family would like to come and see the kingfishers.




We all went back to the hide and waited for about 45mins before the others decided to go to the cafe after not seeing anything. I decided to visit some of the other hides but as there were a bunch of lads in canoes chasing birds along the river I gave up and went back to the kingfisher hide.











As I stepped into the hide I couldn't believe my luck as this time the male and the female were both there. I also saw some reed warblers, but they were a little way off. It was certainly a day I won't forget for a long time.