WYR
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Wyre forest |
Nature Diary |
Page 2 |
That's it for now -- Come back soon.
Keep the E-Mails coming
JOHN
ROBINSON@NATURAL-HISTORY-PICTURES.CO.UK
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August 5 Sprained my ankle. Did it trying to
copy Cary Grant in the maize field. Remember it ? North by North West |
July 28
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Garden looking well. |
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| Well, it's been a time since I had the chance to add anything to the diary. Things have been pretty busy, mainly with the fish photography. I am trying to get together a series on British freshwater fish. Getting the different species has been a good excuse to go fishing a lot. The biggest problem has been getting a true bred Crucian carp. Most of the carp family hybridise very readily and so there is every mixture you can imagine available. The other problem is getting one the right size. They need to be about 4 inches long in the case of the larger fish like Tench, or Chub. Problem is, you rarely see them that size, let alone catch them. |
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| Mirror carp - too big for tank! 24 lbs. | |
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The set up in the tanks has to be changed according to the type of freshwater habitat you would expect to find each species in. Then there is the problem with lighting the tanks. I am using twin flash from the top and side, but it's taken a long time to get it right. I'm on my 5th film now and it can prove a little expensive at £10 a time. The reason I am keen to finish the exercise is the fact that you very rarely see photographs of fish the way I am attempting it. Never mind, as my dad used to say, " While you're doing that you're doing nowt else". .The shot on the left is a small mirror carp -one flash at the top and one to the side. Another problem is the bits floating around every time the fish moves it's tail or swims. (Chop it off ?) |
| July 5 |
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The woodpeckers have finally flown - all three. I did not
realise how vulnerable they were when they leave the nest. They can't fly
properly for about three days, and spent the time flapping around in the
meadow going from one tree to another. When they get to a tree - in
this case it was two of the orchard trees,- they sit there all day waiting
to be fed. When alarmed, they freeze and the camouflage is really good.
Their speckled backs blend in with the tee bark |
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The woodpeckers are doing well. There are three young, which is the normal number for the species. It was really good yesterday as the young are starting to stick their heads out of the hole. The noise they make sounds like a seabird colony.The fox that I took the pictures of comes around every night, and it seems odd to me for him to be so tame. I reckon one of those do-gooders has dumped it in the forest. They do that you know. They catch them in Birmingham and then let them go. Click on the pick left. Not bad off video is it ? |
| Well it seems along time since I put anything down, but I've been busy in the pool hide, and with the woodpeckers. I have now got a new digital input board and so the pics off the video will be a lot better. Even though we have had this long hot spell, there are still no butterflies around. It is starting to look a little worrying. The dryness has meant that a lot of stuff has been using the bathing pool. I've got some cracking video. I did 14 different species in one day last week. |
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| June 14 | ||
| Well, it's my birthday today. I got some new socks and stuff. I had a real bonus though. I told someone I was 63, and my wife butted in ( unusual for her- I very rarely allow it), and pointed out I was only- only note- 62! Made my day. She's lovely. | ||
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Any way I had my first session in the green Woodpecker hide today. It's strange how you can normally here most birds coming back to the nest, which gives you time to get ready or switch the camera on. Not these though. They came straight back with hardly a sound, and almost straight into the hole. The chicks are making a lot of noise, but not sticking their heads out of the hole, which is the best time to get pictures. I reckon it will be about Wednesday, so I shall leave it until then. |
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| The male did a lot of alarm calling and I thought it was a fox around or something, but it turned out to be a Buzzard quartering the meadow. I don't know what the Woodpeckers are worried about. I shouldn't think a bird that size could get into the hole. | ||
| June
9 The Green Woodpecker chicks are calling now, but not sticking their heads out of the hole yet. I might try some filming this weekend. The hide is already up so the birds are used to it. The Crow and Magpie saga continues. I managed to get three Magpies today so that should ease the problem a little. I should have done it earlier. Its been a terrible year for butterflies so far - about the worst I've ever known. |
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Went
to check on a meadow today and I have never seen such a show of Orchids.
Numbering thousands, most of them were Heath Spotted, with Fragrant mixed
in. The heath Spotted and Common Spotted are a little difficult to
separate. The shape of the bottom lobe is a guide. The picture is of Heath
Spotted lobes, scanned in. Fragrant orchids like more base rich conditions
and as the name implies, give off a strong scent. |
 Lower lobes off flowers. Note the extension on the bottom You don't only use a scanner for pictures you know. Doing frogs makes the glass a bit messy though. |
| June
5 continued That was quite funny. As I was sat writing this, a Cockchafer, or June bug came crashing through the open window and landed in my plate full of fag ends. He's now buzzing around on his back and getting no where. I shall perform my good deed for the day and chuck him out the window. And I shall try to stop smoking. Oops - too late- he's taken off sounding a bit like a chinook, and got himself tangled up in the fluorescent light casing. |
