Wild Walks
This week I thought I’d share with you a few photos from various wild walks I’ve been on recently. In the spirit of the “30 Days Wild” campaign run by the Wildlife Trusts which starts today, I like to try and get outdoors as much as possible and often for me that means taking myself off for a walk on the wild side. The only problem is that sometimes I don’t get very far very fast because something has caught my attention and then I spot something else a couple of feet away and so the cycle continues.
I don’t always carry my camera with me, I do occasionally feel like a break – it seems that every creature on the planet knows when this happens though and inevitably, they all come out and dance in front of me at the first opportunity, knowing full well I can’t capture any images of the experience! I might complain when this happens but, in truth, frustrated as I might be having tried for so long to photograph whatever it is and failed, I am usually just thrilled by the chance to have such a lovely encounter and not to be focusing on my camera settings etc.
Among my most recent rambles I’ve visited a local meadow, circled some beautiful lakes with friends and wandered alongside a rich hedgerow on my family farm in Worcestershire.
To start at the beginning, the local meadow brought me joy in many forms:
Green Winged Orchids flowering alongside Cuckoo Flower and Cowslips in a riot of colour. I just can’t get enough of these stunning flowers, particularly their paler forms.
The first dragonflies of the year emerging from the pond, in this case a Four Spotted Chaser.
A Turtle Dove calling from the top of the hedgerow, always a delight even if my picture of it isn’t great!
The evening by the lakes was a breezy one and not too warm either. I wasn’t sure that I’d take a single photo when I set out with some friends but a little later the wind died down and some lovely flowers presented themselves:
An alien to our shores but commonly seen, the Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum).
A delicate beauty, Common Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis).
A little further round still, I came across a mass of small spiders in the grass on the lake shore. I had seen them before but not really looked closely at them and they were quite lovely. I identified them on returning home as the Long Jawed Orb Weaver (Tetragnatha extensa).
Lastly, I spent a relaxing weekend with my parents while my husband was away and we took a trip to the family farm. On a walk round a few of the fields I couldn’t help but notice all sorts on intriguing critters in the hedgerow. Taking a break from photographing my Dad’s gorgeous yellow Labrador I snapped a few images of some of these natural curiosities:
The first thing which caught my attention was the fluttering of a day-flying micro moth, the Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana).
On stopping to investigate the moth, I noticed a Black and Red Leafhopper (Cercopsis vulnerata).
Nearby, a solitary bee took a rest on a bramble leaf. I’m not terribly good at identifying bees so I’m waiting on a little help with this one.
On the way back, a blade of grass wobbled under the weight of a Click Beetle (Athous haemorrhoidalis).
So there you have it, a few photos from a wonderful few days and the promise of a glorious summer ahead as soon as this torrential rain stops! I’m sure I will fit some more wild walks in over the coming months and I’ll try to share my photos from them with you.
