Neil Freeman

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil , I've booked a holiday for June all ready in Sussex Don't know what I'll find, but can't wait to go Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Goldie, I've not booked anything yet but some thoughts are taking shape in my mind. I'm doing loads of reading up on various species before I make my final decisions on where to go this year...then I just need to convince the wife

With the wind and rain back again I have been going through some more photos and thought I would post another selection from last season.

Over the past couple of year I have started taking some shots from a distance which show the butterfly as a small subject against the habitat. I had mixed results with this again but managed a few that I was quite pleased with.

Dingy Skipper - Ryton 13.05.2015

Dingy Skipper - Ryton 13.05.2015

Pearl-bordered Fritillary - Wyre Forest 26.05.2015

Small Tortoiseshell - Castle Hills Solihull 26.09.2015

Comma - Castle Hills Solihull 04.10.2015

Despite seeing loads of Burnet Moths around again I usually find these difficult to take a good photo of but was happy with these shots of a Six-spot taken at Shadowbrook Meadows near Solihull.

Six-spot Burnet Moth - Shadowbrook 19.06.2015

Six-spot Burnet Moth - Shadowbrook 19.06.2015

Speaking of Shadowbrook Meadows, whilst I am not that clued up on plants I couldn't help but notice some nice Heath Spotted Orchids there,

Heath spotted Orchid - Shadowbrook 28.05.2015

and down in Dorset in early September there were loads of Autumn Lady's-tresses all over the slopes above Durdle Door,

Autumn Lady's- tresses - Durdle Door

A bit of a random selection of photos perhaps but looking back through them has certainly brightened up a dismal night.

Bye for now,

Neil

[trevor]

Your image of the Pearl Bordered Fritillary works particularly well. I hope the local
colony near me does well this year.
Good luck with an early Red Admiral !

Trevor..

[David M]

Your images are taking on a new and very impressive dimension, Neil.

I love pictures that show a comprehensive context in the background. Keep 'em coming!

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Neil - are you using a different lens for those or a different setting - they are lush

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil, I love the Dingy shots, I like the way the Butterfly blends in with the plant, great shots Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the comments folks, greatly appreciated

Hi Trevor, that PBF shot is one of my favourites of 2015. Good luck with your Pearls this year.

Thanks David, I like to vary the type photos I take and will certainly be trying to get some more in a similar style again this year.

Cheers Wurzel, all taken with my FZ200 which has a fixed lens with a focal range of 25-600mm. Most of my photos are taken at the long end of this range with the most variable 'setting' being my distance and position to take the shot. It is all about being aware of what is behind the subject and trying for a position to get the shot I want. I must admit the variable angle screen on the FZ200 is a great help in this.

Hi Goldie, that was the first time I have ever seen Dingies settling down to roost in the evening which gave me the opportunity for those shots.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Specklies in the garden

One last post looking back at 2015 with some photos of a favourite subject of mine that have mostly been posted previously in this PD but I thought I would put them together as a round up.

Anyone who has followed this diary over the past few years will know that I have Speckled Woods breeding regularly in and around my back garden which gives me plenty of opportunity to observe them and take photos. This is a species that is happy to fly in quite cool and cloudy conditions and they seemed to do well locally in 2015 when there was plenty of that kind of weather.

The first one that I saw in the garden was on 8th April, a male whose forewings had not properly developed but was flying about without any obvious ill effects. Throughout the rest of April and May there was a steady succession of fresh males defending different corners of the garden plus the larger and brighter females that would pass through.

I watched a number of courtship attempts by amorous males that often resulted in the females doing the ‘play dead’ thing that they do to reject the males advances.

I also managed to capture a shot of a female as she was depositing an egg on a blade of grass which I entered into the behaviour section of the UKB annual photo competition and was really chuffed when it was placed second

The first broods disappeared by the first week of June and then there was a slight gap lasting a couple of weeks until their first offspring started to show up. These summer brood examples are noticeably darker looking on average than the spring ones, although all broods can display considerable variation when looked at closely. Numbers then built from the third week of June through July and August when I would often have three of four males squabbling over territories around the garden. I always find it fascinating how the males will pick the same spots, often the very same twigs and branches, as their predecessors in previous years.

As the blackberries began to go overripe in late August and into September they attracted the Specklies to a point where I was seeing half a dozen or more in the garden at a time including one particular pale female that really stood out as looking different to the rest.

After a strong showing in September the numbers dwindled into October with the last one seen in the garden on October 17th.

This means that from early April until mid-October I had the pleasure of seeing Specklies in the garden almost every week through the season apart from the couple of weeks gap in early June. Overall, this is fairly normal for me but with both the first and last sightings in the garden being about a week later than normal and numbers being perhaps slightly higher than usual.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Pauline]

Love the 2 on the Blackberries Neil. Apologies for my belated congratulations on your photo success. I was really pleased to see the result as I knew that shot was a bit special when you originally posted it. Well done

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Pauline, I remember you commenting on that photo at the time. I don't normally go for photo competitions and only decided to go for it partly as a result of a number of comments that it received

Cheers,

Neil.

[David M]

Wow! That's a veritable encyclopaedia of Speckled Woods, Neil, in all manner of forms and poses. I particularly like the dark individual, the like of which I haven't seen before.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Neil. I love all the photos they're great, the one of the Berries reminds me of autumn at Hall-Lee-Brook, I love watching them flying about the Berries, great photos, I'm ready for Spring now Goldie

[Wurzel]

A cracking collection of Specklies Neil - you can really see the variation in the species

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the comments David, Goldie and Wurzel

The variation between individual Specklies is what I use to identify them in my garden and helps me keep an accurate track of the numbers that I get there. Since looking carefully at this species it has also got me looking more closely at other common species and really opened my eyes to how much variation there can be in some of them.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

We have certainly had a bit of a cold snap with frosty mornings around here for the past few days and the temperature on my car display this morning showing -3 at home and -4 out on the A45 between Solihull and Coventry. Still, not quite as cold as the -7 that was forecast.

Loads of bird activity in the garden last weekend with me taking the usual shot or two through the back room window between jobs around the house. I commented a while back about not seeing any Blackcaps and so was pleased to see a pair in the shrubs at the side of the garden with the female making regular trips to the fat block feeder.

Female Blackcap (Redcap) laying claim to the fat block.

The Bullfinches have been regular visitors, their preference being the black sunflower seeds to which the male and female take it in turns to visit.

The male Bullfinch usually has first dibs...

followed by the female, then they take it in turns.

There is also a family of foxes under a neighbours shed which often pass through the garden and one of them wandered into the garden on Sunday morning and just sat there for a while enjoying the sun.

Sneaking through the vegetation.

Enjoying the sun.

It looks like we have rain, sleet and possible snow forecast for the day tomorrow with a snow warning for tomorrow night...in other words a typical February which is often the coldest month of the winter. At least the daylight hours are getting noticeably longer, just a few short weeks now

Bye for now,

Neil.

[bugboy]

I must say you do get an impressive range of birds in your garden. I only catch a glimpse of Bullfinch once in a blue moon nowadays, usually a fleeting glance as it vanishes into the bushes and I don't think I've ever seen a Blackcap in the winter even though they are all over the place on my local patch during the summer!

[Wurzel]

More great shots of the Bullfinches Neil - what are you putting in your feeders? Great MP too

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Love the Fox photos Neil, we only see Bull finches at Penn Flash, I was happy to see the Gold Finches back in our garden though,we'd not seen seen them until the cold snap arrived, roll on Spring, Goldie

[Neil Freeman]

My apologies for the delayed reply to all your comments guys, I was a bit busy last week and then I kept getting kicked out of the website when I tried to log in over the weekend...looks like that is sorted now

Hi Bugboy, the Bullfinches first showed up in the garden three year ago and have been regular visitors ever since. The Blackcaps are more obvious from spring through to autumn but for the past few years have been showing up occasionally all through winter.

Cheers Wurzel, I usually buy whatever bird food I can find on special offer or from the local pound shop, usually a combination of black sunflowers seeds/sunflower hearts, general wild bird mix, peanuts and fat blocks.

Hi Goldie, I don't often get Goldfinches in the garden but often see them around my local sites, especially in the autumn when flocks of them descend on all the seed heads.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Pauline]

How on earth did I miss your wonderful fox photos Neil - must have been whilst I was laid up with flu! The bird shots aren't half bad either