Seasons Greetings

PHONESCAPES

I spent last week on holiday in North Norfolk, normally alongside the DSLR I carry a small compact camera for taking general photos, views etc. This time I decided to lighten the load a little and use the camera on my phone.
Norfolk is the place to go for big skies and during our holiday we were lucky(!?!) to get more than a few dramatic ones!...just the job to test out the camera phone and, after a little tittivating in Photoshop, I'm really pleased with the results.

According to the metadata recorded by my phone I took this next image at 9.68 meters BELOW sea level!
 

Here's a little teaser for you...can you spot the odd one out? 

 

Time Flies

TIME - It's been a while since my last posting, almost 6 months!, so I guess it's about TIME for another one?
This year, with regards to 'nature watching'  I've had a bit of a change in direction..not so many birding outings  but more outings focused on BUGS, or insects as the more serious like to say!
It's such a large and diverse subject and I've become totally hooked, and it's all TIME consuming...I can go out for a few hours 'bugging' and easily come home with 300+ images on the memory card, it then takes a few days (TIME) to sort through them and ID what I've happily snapped away at! 
Subjects can range from the larger, more obvious, Damsel/Dragon Flies down to the small and barely noticeable leaf and plant hoppers. I find them all fascinating and beautiful.

Anyway, that's enough waffle...here's a few FLIES 

 Bluebottle  Calliphora vicina    Very familiar!

Thick-Headed Fly  Sicus ferrugineus   a parasitoid of bumblebees.

Broad Centurion  Chloroyia formosa   One of the many Soldierflies which are named after their brightly coloured 'uniforms', this is a green and bronze male, the female is green and blue.

A Picture-Winged Fly  Tephritis neesii   (about 4mm long)  Belonging to a group of flies that wave their strikingly patterned wings around, semaphore style, to claim territory or attract a mate.

 A Slender-footed Robberfly  Leptarthrus brevirostris   An insect eating fly, this one is enjoying a Mirid Bug for it's lunch.

Greenbottle  Lucilia sericata   Another familiar fly!

 A Fever Fly  Dilophus febrilis   One of the St. Mark's Flies seen in early spring often flying in large swarms, and typically with their legs dangling. This is a female, the male has large bulbous eyes.

Lesser Housefly  Fannia lustrator   Another regular visitor to 'our world'   (note the damaged eye)


 These last two are from the family of Tachinidae flies (Parasitic Flies) the larvae of these flies are parasitoids of other insects especially the caterpillars of butterflies and moths.

 Eriothrix rufomaculata 

 Tachina fera


Hopefully my next post won't be so long in coming but, you know what they say....TIME FLIES...[;o)

A NEW YEAR SELECTION


 It's been a while since I've posted on here...about six months!, for no good reason apart from a large dose of lethargy on my part. So, I thought I'd better make the effort and start off the new year with a selection of images taken over the last month.

We've had a few crisp, bright and frosty days over the last few weeks and most of the local water bodies have had large amounts of ice on them, concentrating the wildfowl into smaller areas than normal...making life a little easier for the photographer...!


Gadwall taking flight...

Tufted Duck fly over...

 
 A pretty in pink Mr. Wigeon...

 There's quiet a few Goosander being reported in the area at the moment...

Still finding it difficult getting the contrast right between the iridescent green head and the subtle salmon pink tinged body of the male!

Plenty of 'winter' thrushes about at the moment too...

Fieldfare

Redwing

A male Reed Bunting... 

And in plain view, instead of using it's camouflage to 'hide' in the undergrowth, a fly over Snipe...

And my 'bestest' little birds of the year..so far!..a very showy pair of Stonechats...

 Female

Male

That's it...thanks for looking.