26th July & 27th July 2013

With domestic bits & bobs to do on my day off (Fri) I'd planned an easy afternoon when news broke of a Caspian Tern at Rudyard Lake,Staffordshire a txt from Tom Perrins asking if I'd like to join him after he finished work for the 1 1/2 hr trip north was a no-brainer!! Good views but a little distant for my liking so headed back on the Sat morning only for the bird to again be distant but still a cracking bird for the midlands region & only my 2nd in Britain............

21st July 2013

Had only just got back from Shropshire when a txt asking if I fancied goin upto Lancashire for the Bonaparte's Gull arrived from Archie so arranged to pick him & Jules Allen up & off we set!! As soon as we got to Heysham Power Station we were on the bird but it remained rather distant on the sea before finally coming closer for a cpl of mins by the outflow!! Not brilliant photos but still a nice bird & only my 3rd in Britain & the 1st in Summer plumage.............

20th July 2013

Hadn't got much planned so when Steve Seal phoned & asked if I fancied another crack at the White-faced Darters etc on Whixall Moss,Shrops!! Met up with Steve & Ann at the carpark & made our way up the track to the small pool where we were soon having good views but photographing them was a completely different challenge but after a good few hrs & many horse fly bites we had some reasonable images......

White-faced Darter

Black Darter (Teneral female)

(male)

Common Hawker

14th July 2013

With a cpl of weeks of night shifts out the way I decided to head back up to Shropshire for some pics of the Heath specialities with Large Heath & White-faced Darters & Silver-studded Blues being the targets

Large Heath

Common Hawker

Black Darter

White-faced Darter

Silver-studded Blue

After finishing here headed up to good mate Steve Seals to view some of his Moth trap results with 7 new Moths for myself inc Lilac Beauty,Beautiful Snout,Northern Spinach & Green Arches for photos go to my website!!

My Website

7th July 2013

With the mid summer lull in birdlife continuing I had promised good friend Steve Seal the chance to see his first Golden-ringed Dragonflies & Keeled Skimmer!! After meeting up at Cramer Gutter,Shropshire we were soon having fantastic views of both target species with an added bonus of Steve finding a cpl of Slow Worms (made my day!!) We then headed upto Whixall Moss for Large Heath & White-faced Darter which were duly bagged along with Black Darter,Common Hawker,Brown Hawker & a cpl of Silver-washed Fritillaries! Finally headed over to Prees for the Silver-studded Blues a good day with no less than 4 new species for myself & a good few for Steve & Ann.....

15th June -26th June 2013

Not really had the chance to point the camera at any birdlife for a few weeks turned into a bit of a twitcher with 1 lifer on the 15/6 in the form of a cracking Pacific Swift down in Suffolk & then only my 2nd Melodious Warbler for Britain in Notts last weekend (22nd) with work inbetween just no real quality time to get out & about so a little bit of back garden mothing...........

Angle Shades

Common Swift

Garden Carpet

Common Marbled Carpet

A trip into Norfolk to Strumpshaw Fen RSPB for Norfolk Hawkers & Hairy Dragonflies produced both but no photos however managed some photos of Swallowtail so all was not lost.......

Finally a txt from Adam"Archie"Archer had me making a quick nip up the A5 for a Small Elephant Hawkmoth a species I've only ever seen once & never photographed (Cheers mate)

1st June 2013

Decided to head back to Gilfach Farm today after most of my shots were binned due to a dodgy camera (Hopefully back from Canon shortly?) so used my old Mk111 body with a lot better results also caught up with Richard Smith & Mick Southcott (first time since Shetland last Autumn) Great few hrs with good company & good birds.......

More Photos on My Website

25th & 27th May 2013

Stayed local over the bank holiday weekend looking for Butterflies down at various sites around Bishop's Itchington,Warks managing a lifer in the form of Small Blue also Grizzled & Dingy Skipper,Brown Argus & Mother Shipton (Moth)

More Photos on My website