Wildlife Photography across the Water: Local Patch

Sunday 24 May 2009

Local Patch - My garden, Warwickshire

Well having travelled over 1200 miles when I went to Mull last week, I though it was time to reduce the personal carbon footprint a little, although getting over 50mpg from my EU4 diesel engine I may forgiven for being a little smug. Anyway, I have spent a fair bit of time doing some garden maintenance as I had let it go a bit, but it was remarkable just how much life there is out there now.

Overhead the swifts are screaming, and while cutting back some growth yesterday I heard the distinctive 'cronk' of a Raven, there are plenty of Small White butterflies coming through and I saw my first Green Veined White in the garden yesterday.

The tadpoles are going crazy, forming up in large shoals in the shallows warming themselves. There are at least three newts, Common I think, but will check soon.

On the bug front, there are masses of Hoverflies, many bee species, Green Shield Bug, large Red and also Blue Damselflies now in.

The first picture shows the mass of Ox Eye daisies that have sprung up. This particular patch was supposed to be quite short in height but is over a metre high now, but looks fabulous in a breeze as it sways. There are also a number of fabulous blue Cornflowers coming through as well, as per the second image.

The final three were of a very obliging frog that came up to say hello. I was surprised how yellow its markings are. There are at least three like this with the rest being the usual much darker green/brown colour.

Finally, I had a brilliant day out today with the Warwickshire branch of the Butterfly Conservation Trust, and met some great people. Thanks to Mike, Keith and Val for making me welcome - the site is brilliant, I saw 18 species, including a number of first for me. The food was brilliant to so thanks again. I will post some images from that trip later in the week.

Martin

2 comments:

mark wood25 May 2009 at 08:38
Great post Martin and the pics of the frogs are amazing. I think it just goes to show what happens in such a small time frame.
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Steve28 May 2009 at 21:47
3rd frog should have won best image at Stratford Photo Group last night; you were robbed Martin.
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.