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Textures of Gower
Just had a week down in wonderful Gower, South Wales. It’s got fabulous coastal scenery, wildlife*, and a really wide range of habitats. Being me, as well as enjoying those things I was on the look out for textures and patterns; I found some too. The bus to Rhossili from Swansea has a turning area near the church. It couldn’t really go much further without driving into the sea. There’s a bus shelter there and someone, or something, must have hit the roof of it quite hard as the reinforced glass was shattered. There was a fab pattern of random cracks overlaying the internal wires. A quick move to…
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Spring has sprung
Spring has most definitely sprung here in Worcester, notwithstanding all the rain we’ve had. One thing that’s happened locally is that the Cathedral has restarted tower visits after a four year hiatus. I was the first person to book a tower visit ticket and it’s well worth doing. On the way back down the tower I noticed an overwintered Peacock butterfly that was next to an unopenable window. The butterfly had no chance of getting out without help, so I picked it up between my index finger and thumb and took it carefully down the stairs, through the nave and out into the open. After a minute or so on…
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Up close and personal (Warning – Spiders!)
A while back we had the builders in, so I needed to be around the house all day to answer questions and advise. This meant my photographic radius was somewhat reduced. It was like lockdown but much more expensive and noisier! I could still have a wander round the house and garden with my macro lens. It’s surprising what turns up if you look closely enough. This charming creature is a Box Tree Moth caterpillar. It looks rather like a Large White butterfly caterpillar, but instead of ravaging brassicas it ravages box hedges; it’s an invasive pest. This one was, for some reason, climbing up one of our lounge windows. …
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Just hanging – or waiting – around
In my Close-up and Macro Photography talk I have a few images of spiders. They are fascinating creatures, and contrary to popular belief, most don’t actually hang around in orb webs. Most spiders hunt for their prey using their excellent vision and very fast jumping or running ability. Having said that, the stereotypical spider in the UK must be the Garden Spider. They make lovely webs that are very effective at catching insects. Here’s the biggest Garden Spider I’ve ever seen. She’s a female, and is probably what’s called “gravid” – or full of eggs. She’s caught a common wasp in her web and is finishing off what’s left. I…
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It’s a bug’s life
In the garden we get various critters of various shapes and sizes. On our chive plants I recently saw a green shield bug*. The white painted house wall behind it made for a simple background, so it was out with the macro lens on my Oly E-M5 mk3. All I needed to do was to wait till it was facing the right way… * no stamps were available.