Wildlife - Animals, Birds, Insects etc

I will split this page once there is enough good material to make it worthwhile.

Unexpected Autumn guest - unarmed stick insect!

This isn't a very good photo but I wanted to get evidence of this very unexpected visitor. If somebody had have asked me I would have guessed stick insects didn't live in the British Isles; but I would have been wrong. I've seen stick insects that people have bought from pet shops! This one was spotted under the bright outdoor lights at my friends place; it's amazing camo doesn't do it much good against gray concrete! It worked it's way up the side of the house two stories up over night and then was found back down on the steps where it started the following morning, this living twiglet was apparently attracting interest from some garden birds but it hasn't sustained any damage yet.

According to the ERCCIS website there is a population of stick insects living in Cornwall though they also say the green prickly stick insect has been found up here in South Devon before. I'll report this finding to them and also BBC Autumn Watch just as it isn't every day you see one, they may not be that rare as they are well camouflaged but it's certainly the first time I've seen one in the wild. This picture was taken on the 10th of November 2007 in Galmpton, South Devon.

UPDATE: Since posting this on here I've had several emails from residents of Galmpton saying they too have seen stick insects in their garden:

19th January 2008 - "Hi, we read with interest about your findings of the brown stick insect, today we took a picture on my phone of a green one about 4 inches long on the outside wall of my bungalow... we did not realise they lived outside and we are not sure if it is a prickly one, thanks" Chris, Galmpton

9th February 2008 - "My neighbour photograhed a green prickly stick insect measuring about 5 inches long in my garden in Galmpton on the 16th December 2007 when I was away on holiday, and I saw it myself (or another one!) on my window a month later. I've seen several stick insects in my garden over the past 5 years, different sizes from 1 to 6 inches long and either bright green or straw coloured." Jill, Galmpton

If you have seen a wild stick insect in the area let me know and i'll post the info on here, even better send a picture!

Spring is here, the sun is out, and so are many insects!

What more excuse do I need to be outdoors with the camera than a gorgeous sunny spring day. This shot was nothing serious at all; I'd just popped down to Steve's for a coffee and sat in the garden for a while. All the spring flowers are out and summer feels like it is well on its way now.

From what I have read on the web; this is a syrphid fly. Common to our lands but not the kind of thing people take any notice of.

The shot was 1/500th of a second at F5.6 with the standard Nikon 18-55mm lens at 55mm, manual focus. I wasn't doing any serious photography so didn't use a tripod, in the bright sunlight you can always shoot at very high shutter speeds anyway. Click the image to see the full resolution version; straight from the camera except a slight brightening of the levels in Photoshop.

Taken on the 13th of March 2007

Butterflies & Moths

 

Butterflies are one of the most colourful of our common sights in the garden and an obvious target for photography. I have found it difficult to get them so far as they don't sit still for long, especially when there's a wind. This first shot was a bit of a flook really as until I saw this picture on the computer I thought there was only one butterfly in the shot! I've looked them up and they seam to be Meadow Browns which would make sense as they were spotted on the grassy meadow beside Broadsands beach.

A short distance away on the same evening I found these three 6-spot Burnet moths hanging out together, they seamed to be very happy there and hardly moved while they had their picture taken. They are what is known as day-flying moths and look half way between a butterfly and a black beetle type insect. Behind the subject you can see the blurred vision of the woodland and cliffs leading down to the sea near Elberry cove.

Dragonflys & Damselflys

The pond in my back garden has constant activity and is an excellent breading ground for many species of pond-life. In the summer we have a lot of damselflys and also the less common and larger dragonflys passing through, some of the dragonflys have the wingspan of small birds but I'm finding them a bit tricky to get pictures of as they never seam to sit still for long! The quantity of damselflys make them pretty easy to get near as they tend to frequent the same plants and leaves. Also I find them very trusting while I'm slowly edging closer to fill the frame, often to the max of my 18-55 lens so I am considering getting a macro lens to get that bit closer again.

 

Bee's

More colourful shots; bee's gathering pollen on a summers day down at Broadsands beach. I found the bee's to be 'busy' and not aggressive at all, therefore quite easy to get up close to. The hardest thing is timing the shot for the best moment, bee's don't stay still for long so its hard to get the pose right. These were taken in bright sunlight but still only at 400th and 640th of a second exposure respectively. F5.6 for both shots using all of the 55mm lens to get as close as possible.

 

Squirrels

An easy target for me; almost every day I see the local gray squirrels coming to the bird feeders on the trellis work outside my window. Peanuts seam to be a favourite food, either for consumption immediately or for taking away and stashing somewhere in the garden.

^ Taken 28th December 2005 - 1/50th sec shutter speed - ISO200 - F5.6 - Focal Length of 300mm

^ Taken 28th December 2005 - 1/50th sec shutter speed - ISO200 - F5.6 - Focal Length of 270mm

This Squirrel wished to remain anonymous.
^ Taken 28th December 2005 - 1/1000th sec shutter speed - ISO200 - F5.6 - Focal Length of 270mm

Badgers

I guess not many people can say they have been inches from badgers in the wild, and our back garden does count as the wild, just! We have a family of badgers living very near by so our garden is in their territory and we get patrols coming through almost every night. A few years ago I got about half an hour of close up video footage of them eating peanut butter off a stick my mum was holding. Badgers have very poor eye sight and they think with their stomachs so they are relatively easy to get on film or take photos of. I guess they don't have any predators really so they can afford to be a little complacent, except where humans are concerned off course. I have been stood outside and had a badger walk through the garden and around my feet with no knowledge that I was there at all!

 

These shots are not what I would call good at all but still they do show the subject and look ok in web sizes. I started without the flash but its impossible to take well focused clear shots of them without a tripod in which case I wouldn't have the flexibly of movement. These shots are taken from within 6ft of the badgers all around a 30th of a second to try and get the clarity but still having some lighting. The badgers were aware of the camera noises and the flash but I'm sure they just consider food to be the higher priority and continue searching for peanuts! The flash creates that red eye effect but after trying to remove it I decided that it looked un-natural considering the shots are obviously flash lit and opted to leave the red eye there, at least for now.

Birds of Pray

We have a good variety of birds of pray in Torbay's surrounding coastline and farmlands, I'm no expert but I quite regularly see sparrow hawks when I'm out in the nearby countryside and buzzards are a very common sight circling high in the sky's around my home. This shot was taken while rolling down a hill in my car, an opportunity I just couldn't miss! I'll be spending some serious time this summer trying to get good close up photo's of these birds in the wild.

^ Taken 10th December 2005 - 1/80th sec shutter speed - ISO 1600 - F5.6 - Focal Length of 300mm

Duck!

The Ducks are a common sight round here so I guess they are a good target for learning quick reactions and fast motion with the camera. This was taken down at Galmpton Creak late evening as the sun was going down over the river Dart to the right of the picture.

^ Taken 6th April 2006 - 1/50th sec shutter speed - ISO 200, F20, EV -1 step, Focal Length of 200mm