Butterflies, Dragonflies and BMX

I returned to Llandegla in North Wales last Saturday afternoon with my son Adam as the weather was still looking good for photographing insects. After lunching on some excellent food in the cafe (mentioned in The Times' Good Food Supplement!), we walked down to the reservoir where I had had good views of butterflies last week. Although it had clouded over somewhat there were still reasonable numbers of butterflies on the thistles. So we spent a happy few hours filming and photographing.

Peacocks were the most abundant butterfly present with about a 

dozen seen in one small area.

At least two Red Admirals were feeding on the nectar, this is

 one of my favourite butterflies.

 The underside of the Red Admiral is cryptically coloured,

 probably to camouflage the butterfly during winter hibernation.

Only one Small Tortoiseshell was seen, a beautiful insect that has

sadly declined in number in recent years.

A few Black Darters were seen, mainly the yellow females as pictured

here.

This Common Lizard was seen warming up on a metal grid.

 

No trip to Llandegla would be complete without a ride on the trails.
I'd ridden these jumps before on my mountain bike, but doing them on
my BMX was something new and great fun! 

You might like: Llandegla Mountain Biking.



 

 

Azores Common Dolphins (part 2)

Finally managed to upload some more photos of the fabulous Common Dolphins seen off the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores. Hope you enjoy looking at them.

 

 

 

 

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Dolphins

 

Risso's Dolphins in the Azores

 

Llandegla Mountain Biking

Zipped out to Llandegla in North Wales yesterday for a spot of mountain biking. The day warmed up quite nicely and by the afternoon we were seeing good numbers of Peacock butterflies, Black Darter dragonflies and even a Common Lizard scrambling around in the top of the heather - wish I'd taken my Canon camera and macro lens! Hopefully the weather will be warm enough next weekend for a return visit. Biked the blue trail then rode some jumps and drops.

Me, near the Black Grouse sculptures.

Black Darter - record shot with compact camera.

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Common Dolphins in the Azores (part1)

Common Dolphin is such an undistinguished name for what is a truly fabulous animal. The Common Dolphins in the Azores are the Short-beaked species and they are engaging, delightfully agile, and downright beautiful animals. I hope these photos from my recent trip manage to capture some of their beauty.

 

 

 

 

Summer Days

I had a few days off last week after my holiday in the Azores and I visited North Wales on a number of occasions; once mountain biking at Llandegla, then a walk up Tryfan in Snowdonia followed by a walk to Aber Falls with my family.
Here are a few recent images. More Azores dolphin photos coming soon.

Dung Beetle at Aber Falls, North Wales.

Juvenile Common Cuckoo at Meols, Wirral. It was great to see

this bird not far from my home as they are sadly declining in

Britain.

Common Blue Damselfly at Cors Bodgynydd, Gwynedd. There

were plenty of Keeled Skimmers on the wing at this Welsh

Wildlife Trust reserve, but none came close enough for photos.

This is me on the Cannon (again!) on the

climb up Tryfan in beautiful Snowdonia.

Risso's Dolphins in the Azores

On my five dolphin watching trips from the island of San Miguel in the Azores at least two produced sightings of Risso's Dolphins, including a scattered party of about ten animals. Unlike Common Dolphins, the Risso's are shy and don't usually come close to the boat. They are quite big and lack a prominent beak. Interestingly, they are born black but as they age they become progressively paler turning almost white; they also acquire extensive scarring which is thought to be a result of encounters with other Risso's Dolphins.