spiderlick

Mystery Reptile?

2009-06-30T22:28:00.005+01:00

Not sure what this is? Found it on a wall near Froggatt edge.

Photography Tip No 1.

2009-06-30T22:15:00.003+01:00

Before spending an hour in the sun perched on the edge of a pond taking photographs while being eaten alive by all sorts of insects, check that your camera is not set to Black & White from when you were messing with your camera the night before.

Four Spotted Chaser

2009-05-30T19:06:00.001+01:00

Loads of Four Spotted Chasers out today at Cupola Ponds.

Squirrel

2009-04-25T22:42:00.006+01:00

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First outing today with my new camera to Ogston. This grey squirrel was
taking food from the bird table.

Bird of the day was this snipe which showed right in front of the hide.

Swallows

2008-06-28T08:42:00.004+01:00

Well its been a long time since my last post. This Swallow's nest is in an old mill building where I work. The parents fly into the building through an old ventilation hole in a window. There are four chicks in the nest. When the parents fly in they all sit up with beaks wide open which would have made a great photo but couldnt get it.....

Owl

2007-05-13T21:15:00.000+01:00

Took the dog for a walk today in Walton Chesterfield and saw what I thought was a plastic toy owl in a tree in the distance. I had a closer look and it turned to look at me, it was a young one. After I took the hound home I grabbed my scope and camera, jumped in the car to see if it was still there. It was chucking it down with rain and I got covered in mud but it stayed very still. Here's the result.

Lazy Sunday

2006-08-06T21:30:00.000+01:00

Had a lazy day day today after a long day at a wedding yesterday. The sun has been out so another day of photo taking.

Black Darter at Cupola Ponds.

Peacock at Cupola Ponds.

A pair of Darters coupled at Cupola Ponds.

Spider waiting for lunch in the garden this afternoon.

These small wasps/hornets love the Coriander flowers in the garden.

Wildlife in the garden

2006-08-02T22:28:00.000+01:00

Peacock Butterfly on the Buddleia in the garden. We planted this a couple of years ago to attract butterflies and its starting to work now.

Heatwave

2006-07-22T06:13:00.000+01:00

Well its been scorchio all week in the UK, ideal weather for dragonfly watching. Managed to grab an hour at the Cupola ponds in the week and expected to get loads of photos of dragonflies basking in the sun. Failed miserably. I saw a couple of Emperors patrolling and a Brown Hawker ovipositing at my feet but as soon as i approached with the camera it took off. For spotted chasers were everywhere but i didnt get one photo of a dragonfly as they were all really flighty. Here's the best of the day....

Azure Damselfy, male

Not sure if this was lovemaking or a bit of cannibalism.

Six Spot Burnet moth

Small Tortoiseshell

Cupola Pond in summer glory

I and the Bird # 28

2006-07-22T05:42:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Katie of Bogbumper for giving me a mention at I and the Bird #28. Check it out, loads of great blogs to look at.

Grey Wagtail update

2006-07-22T05:37:00.000+01:00

As predicted the Grey Wagtails all flew off with mum a couple of days after the picture below was taken, one of the plant operators saw them take off early in the morning.

Grey Wagtails

2006-06-27T20:56:00.000+01:00

I took this photo of a nest of Grey Wagtails at the factory where I work. The factory is in a semi rural area surrounded by a river on 3 sides and a canal on the 4th side. The habitat outside the factory is really good for wildlife in the wide flood plain of the river. The parents have made this nest on top of a low wall about 3 feet of the ground in a loading area for some really nasty chemicals. Its one of the grimmest areas on the whole of the factory site where people are working all the time and tankers are loaded and unloaded several times a day. The chicks are doing really well and should be off soon. This is the second brood this year in this nest.

More from my day off...

2006-06-21T22:29:00.000+01:00

Blue Tailed Damselfly-Male

Large Red Damselflies coupled.
This photo was taken at Clodhall Pond which is at the side of the road between Baslow and Owler Bar. I went to look for Golden Ringed Dragonflies but didnt see any, the weather was poor. I was sat on my backside leaning over the pond trying not to fall in or sit in a pile of dung.

Shortly afterwards they separated. The female is above and the male below.

Think this one is a Common Blue Damselfly. Struggling to ID it from this angle with my limited knowledge.

Again not sure what ths is. I thought it was a 6 spot Burnet moth when i first spotted it but im having second thoughts. Need to look it up.

This one above is a female blue tailed damselfy showing a different coloured thorax. From my book this looks like a rufescens form of the female less than 8 days old. After 8 days the colour will change.

This is also a female Blue Tailed Damselfly but is the violacea form.

Day Off

2006-06-20T22:54:00.000+01:00

Had a day off work to recover from a weekend in Amsterdam and took off with the camera to Cupola Ponds. It was windy and overcast so didnt expect much but in the end got some half decent pictures....

I think this is a common spotted orchid.

This is the best of the bee pictures, this one is covered in pollen.

Im really pleased with this one of a fly, no idea what sort it is.

Cupola Ponds

2006-06-03T20:49:00.000+01:00

Hottest day of the year so far, took a trip out to Cupola Ponds at Stonedge near Chesterfield. The pond bank side was teaming with insects. Loads of Large Red Damselflies all over the place.

This half eaten fly was hanging on in the wind.

No idea what this is.

Is it a bee or a wasp?

Large Red Damselfly.

Yellow Wagtail

2006-04-22T12:19:00.000+01:00

My first outing to Ogston with my newly repaired camera. This is one of 4 Yellow Wagtails that walked in front of the hide. They moved very quickly and this is the only shot anywhere near in focus. Taken with Coolpix 4500 through Kowa 612 scope.

This Heron flew off to the Heronry carrying a big twig in its beak.

Cormorant

2006-01-28T20:04:00.000Z

This Cormorant was described by someone in the hide at Ogston as a Punk Rocker due to its bleached highlights. It sat still for ages making it easy to photograph through the scope

Linacre

2005-12-30T18:10:00.000Z

Took a walk around Linacre reservoir earlier this week. Very Cold and more dogs than at Crufts.

Teal

2005-10-22T17:56:00.000+01:00

Male Teal having a kip at Ogston this afternoon. The water was very still giving a good reflection.
Digiscoped with Coolpix 4500 and Kowa 612.

Mallard

2005-10-17T22:55:00.000+01:00

A couple of hours at Ogston yesterday, very quiet, except for a few Mallards mucking about in front of the hide.
Coolpix 4500.

Ogston Scrapes

2005-10-15T08:44:00.000+01:00

Took a trip to Ogston today to look at the work done on the new scrapes. It looks like a building site at the moment but will look great when the work is finished and the vegetation grows back. This is a view from the members hide towards the public hide.

This is the view to the right from the members hide.

Ruddy Darter

2005-10-12T23:15:00.000+01:00

This is a Ruddy Darter "Obelisking". It is reducing the area of its body facing the sun on a hot day to control its temperature. This was taken at Hilton gravel pits in Derbyshire in August 2003.

The following link is to a report of the day out. http://www.derbyshire-dragonflies.org.uk/docs/DWT_Hilton_090803.pdf

Small Tortoiseshell

2005-10-12T23:05:00.000+01:00

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly taken at Walton Dam in July 2003.

Canon A40

Four Spotted Chaser

2005-09-25T09:59:00.000+01:00

Four Spotted Chaser taken at Cupola ponds 19 June 2005.

Peacock

2005-09-25T09:44:00.000+01:00

Peacock butterfly taken at Whitwell Wood 31 May 2005.

Large Red Damselfly

2005-09-24T15:38:00.000+01:00

Large Red Damselfy taken 15 May 2005 at Cupola Ponds. This is the first of the year that I photograped. The light colour and its dopey behaviour meant it had probably only emerged that day.

Coolpix 4500.

Black Tailed Skimmer

2005-09-24T09:46:00.000+01:00

Black Tailed Skimmer taken at Cupola Ponds, 11 July 2005.

Small White

2005-09-24T09:41:00.000+01:00

Small White Butterfly, Walton Dam, 24 July 2003.

Teal

2005-09-24T09:29:00.000+01:00

Teal, male, taken at Ogston 25 January 2004.

Robin

2005-09-24T09:14:00.000+01:00

Robin at Ogston 9 April 2004.

Common Blue

2005-09-23T17:17:00.000+01:00

Common Blue Butterfly photographed in Whitwell Wood, Derbyshire, 1 June 2005.
Nikon Coolpix 4500

Kestrel

2005-09-23T17:10:00.000+01:00

Kestrel taken at Ogston reservoir using a Canon A40 through Kowa 612 scope.

Bat

2005-09-23T10:41:00.000+01:00

This photo of a bat was taken in complete darkness on Walton Dam. I used my bat detector to listen for bats in front of me then clicked the camera when the clicks became loud as the bats approached. The picture has been zoomed in and enhanced using Photoshop. If you look carefully you can see its eyes.

Dunnock

2005-09-23T10:39:00.000+01:00

Dunnock sunbathing at the car park at Ogston reservoir.

Goosander

2005-09-23T10:32:00.000+01:00

Goosander having a stretch on Walton Dam.

Woodpecker

2005-09-23T10:26:00.000+01:00

Great Spotted Woodpecker chick in Horse Wood Somersall.

Linnet

2005-09-22T18:24:00.000+01:00

Linnet photographed at Ogston reservoir.