A return visit

I can't get enough of Silver-washed Fritillaries!

Small Skipper

Marbled White

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM, Extender EF 1.4x II photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica Apo Televid 77 with 20x eyepiece photos taken with Canon Powershot A640

A tale of three hawk-moths

Hummingbird Hawk-moth at The Lodge


Elephant Hawk-moth


and Privet Hawk-moth - the two highlights of my experimental moth trapping in my garden. These two aside, it's not going very well at the moment. Need bigger, brighter bulb...

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D + EF 300mm f/4L IS USM and Canon Powershot A640

The future is orange

Mmmm... Silver-washed Fritillary

and Large Skipper

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Rings and tings

Two species newly added to my birds-I've-ringed list: Nightingale and Swift. Special birds.

photos taken with Canon Powershot A640 and iPhone 3GS

Pondlife

Blue-tailed Damselflies

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Four-spotted Chaser

Emperor egglaying

Waterlily

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

6.47am

Dragged myself out of bed to get to Paxton for ringing at 4.50am... It was a lovely morning with a few nice things, including the first Nightingale I've ringed, juvenile Marsh Tit, Treecreeper, Song Thrush, Willow Warbler and Garden Warbler, loads of Robins, a couple of Reed Warblers and a Blackcap control (a bird ringed somewhere else).

I had to go to bed when I got home though.

photo taken with Canon Powershot A640

Curruca and communis

Lesser Whitethroat

Whitethroat

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Feathery things

I've been doing a bit of ringing lately...

Female Swallow we caught in a mist-net at Beeston, right next to the bird feeders! Don't think she was after sunflower hearts, somehow...

Juvenile Long-tailed Tit

and juvenile Chaffinch, both from Beeston. You can see the primaries are still growing out of their 'pins' (sheaths)

Adult female Starling, whoosh-netted in a Biggleswade garden

She was growing new tail feathers. For Starlings, it's autumn already

Cetti's Warbler at Paxton Pits - the first-ever to be trapped and ringed there

A male Nightingale originally caught at Paxton a couple of years ago

Damsels

Azure Damselflies

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Large Red Damselfly

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Swallow over the lettuce field

photo taken with iPhone and Hipstamatic app

Insects are out and about!

Small Copper

Brown Argus

Brown Argus

Common Blue

Orange-tip

Green-veined White

Four-spotted Chaser

Azure Damselfly

Large Red Damselfly

Large Red Damselfly

not sure about this one...

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

Look me in the eye

As Imperfect and Tense said, the last thing many a juicy worm sees.

Went ringing this morning. Only caught four birds (enough to go round the three ringers, with one spare), but even a humble Blackbird's pretty good really, isn't it...?

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM