Spotted Dolphins in the Azores

One of the highlights (and there were many!) of my boat trips with Futurismo on the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores was the sighting of Atlantic Spotted Dolphins. These charismatic cetaceans were seen on nearly all my boat trips. They were a species that I really wanted to see as I had not seen them before; and what a treat they were, bow-riding, leaping, breaching, diving and throwing themselves around with reckless abandon. And on one memorable occasion a large pod of "spotties" swam at great speed, porpoising in a long line adjacent to the catamaran that was itself motoring at a rate of knots.
This species only appears in the waters around the Azores in the summer months when the sea-temperature is high enough for them. The younger animals are plain grey and become more spotty as they mature. Om some of the photos grey calves can be seen swimming with, presumably, a darker, more spotted parent animal.
These playful, engaging dolphins are one of the reasons that I fully intend to return to the Azores.

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Common Dolphins in the Azores part2

Common Dolphins in the Azores part1

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.