The Wonderful World of Macro

Its dark and gloomy and generally an standard issue November day, so I thought i'd brighten this site up with some shots from bygone days. For those who don't know what macro photography is, its when you try and reveal a level of detail that wouldn't otherwise be seen. I took it up for the first time this June, and its great. Here are a few of the more 'interesting' subjects...

Ah the flesh fly, my mother's favourite! gorgeous compound eyes, one of the reasons I love them.

The meadow brown above is the most common of all the butterflies I find around my house, and the shots of both the eyes and the proboscis are pretty interesting!

The Silver Spotted Skipper is rare in the UK, but common on the continent, so when I went on a 2 week stint there I had more than my fair share of them. Again you can really appreciate those eyes, as well as the unusual way of folding the wings.

This is an Oak Eggar moth, common in Anglesey, but being buffeted on South Stack Cliffs has made this one a little ragged.

Don't know who this is, but its a very attractive insect.

This is a Holly Blue butterfly and is nomadic, This individual was feeding by the side of a path for just long enough for a shot!

The Holly blue's cousin, the Common Blue. A large colony exists near me, so I spent many happy afternoons with them, this male was particularly obliging.

And finally another Blue, this time Silver Studded Blue, this particular species only found on Headlands in North Wales.

What a Month!

October hasn't, in all my whole 2 years taking photos, been productive until now. It may be the mad rush before I start the long haul of revision towards the January exams, a prolonged 'last night of freedom', if you will. Still, its worked! No less than 2 Birdguides notables for me, an achievement in my eyes even if those of no other. One was a Dotterel on the great orme, the other was this...

Never a dull moment with waders. Well, saying that, I had was what was a disasterously poor wader day this month, but I also saw Cheshire's first Red Flanked Bluetail! What a cracker...

The only waders of the day and the prevailing birds of the month were the Turnstone who were very obliging...

And again I saw them on a family holiday in Cornwall, this time I got even closer...

This was possibly my favourite of the month, sheltering from the rain on Perranporth beach in cornwall, this Rock Pipit had only one leg. Still, it still got along OK.



I had a long day up at leighton moss in Lancashire, and was struck by how close this Snipe was getting, a real gem of a bird, and yet another new species in front of the lens for October.

Wirral Waders

Only my second post and already an unholy number of waders! I went onto a beach recently, one of my favourite habitats for photography, with loads of waders at close range, particularly at high tide.

I started on some local marshland, where I found this lovely stonechat, even if he refused to be lit properley...

I was then cut off from walking the scenic route along the coast, so I cut inland, ending at another beach about high tide, with loads of birds massing on the beach. Furthest of the birds are always the largest, in this instance the Grey Plover, this striking summer plumage birds catching the eye.

Its a huge flock, make no mistake! Closest, and the only birds feeding were the Sanderling, my target...

They were moving towards me, and soon I was engulfed in a feeding frenzy...

This flock moved along all too quickly so I moved onto the stationary birds. There were a good c.5000 birds, of which the foremost were Sanderling and Dunlin, but the main body were the more numerous Knot. The wonderfully peaceful looking waders are photogenic in the extreme...

 But its still fun trying to capture stragglers coming in the back...

But possibly my favourite of the day, the Dunlin who likes a wee stretch!

A really enjoyable day out with the waders, I wish I could continue this life of rielly through the winter, but I've got exams, so i'll grit my teeth and resist the temptation.

This is a first- My best so far...

Well apparrently I have a blog. Wow. I once heard blogging described as 'never have so many people had so much to say about so little'. I have too much to say about everything, i'll stick to birding for now. I'm from that lovable little town nestling at the foot of the pennines, Manchester. I try and get out as much as possible as well, all praise the rail network for helping me do so! Therefore, some of my best photography comes from outside my home town. My favourite place?  Scotland, particularly around Inverness, where I have family. However, I thought it'd be best to kick off with some of my best images, which are quite crap considering I only touched a camera less than 2 years ago, and I only got a DSLR in March 2011. Anyway here goes...

I took this in the Farne Islands in May this year, I was sick of all the bloody Puffins! This is RSPB Young Photographer of the year winning photo.

 I said I liked scotland. Taken atop a Munro summit, battling low light and bitter winds, hands freezing up, this is how photography should be.

 I was just lucky with this one. Merlin, Isle of May, sitting 500 yards away on a stone. A long and knackering crawl over and I was within shooting distance! Amazing bird.

I love a good Wader, and this rather lovely individual from the Dee Estuary is just gorgeous. Taken mid-september this year.

Well, I missed them in Scotland this year, so this beaut from the Great Orme near to Conwy was a Godsend. A young bird, with lovely crisp plumage on the back.

Anyway, next time i'll find something actually worth writing about, rather than just a collection of loosely connected images.