Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel, a photo by Linda Yarrow on Flickr.

We had to take our car in for service and MOT so we walked into Poole and took a boat trip to Brownsea Island while our car was being done.  We saw several Red Squirrels about.  This one was quite happy for me to take pictures of it while eating the berries from the Yew tree. 

Adonis Blue butterfly

Adonis Blue butterfly, a photo by Linda Yarrow on Flickr.

Yesterday the Adonis Blue butterfly was out in large numbers on Fontmell Down, Dorset Wildlife Trust nature reserve.  It is a beautiful little butterfly, I took over a hundred pictures of it, chasing them here and there.  I wanted to capture the colour of its wings when the light catches it, turning the blue from dull grayish blue to shimmering turquoise.  Scroll down, you will see in the second picture the colour is a dull blue.  The same butterfly on the same flower, as it turned around on the flower in the third picture, the light catching its wing changing the dull blue to the shimmering turquoise.  These moments are brief, I had to be quick to catch that moment.

Adonis Blue butterfly

Adonis Blue butterfly, a photo by Linda Yarrow on Flickr.

 

Adonis Blue butterfly

Adonis Blue butterfly , a photo by Linda Yarrow on Flickr.

Dark Green Fritillary butterfly

Dark Green Fritillary butterfly, a photo by Linda Yarrow on Flickr.

At long last, a dryer day today with some sunshine.  Went for a walk at Martin Down nature reserve, saw several species of butterflies; Comma, Dark Green Fritillary, Silver Washed Fritillary, Red Admiral, Painted Lady.  Also saw several Scarlet Tiger moths, lovely to watch when they are flying around.  Martin Down is a great place, it has both woodland and chalk grassland, with a wide variety of plants and wildflowers to support several species of butterflies including the White Admiral.

Cowslips

Cowslips, a photo by Linda Yarrow on Flickr.

We went to Fontmell Down today, a reasonbly nice day, cloud and........SUNSHINE:-))))

Surprises Today, The Lovely and The Nasty

White Throat, a photo by Linda Yarrow on Flickr.

I had two surprises today, the lovely and the nasty.  The lovely surprise was while I was sitting in my garden, enjoying the rare sunshine and sipping my tea, a White Throat appeared in my garden for the first time.  This picture I took last year at Durlston Country Park.  Now for the nasty surprise, while I was having a shower this morning, I found a tick on the back of my leg ¦:-{ horrible! I couldn't believe it!  And where the hell it came from I do not know.  I picked it off intact, it was alive and crawling on my hand, well I soon got rid of it :- [

 

Sand Lizard

Sand Lizard, a photo by Linda Yarrow on Flickr.

We went to Higher Hyde, one of Dorset Wildlife Trust nature reserve hoping to catch sight of some Sand Lizards.  We found this one basking on an old tyre.  Sadly this poor thing has got some ticks.  This nature reserve is surrounded by tanks, guns, quarries and their huge lorries, making this reserve not the most peaceful place to visit, particularly with the clay pigeon shot gun club right next to the reserve, guns going off every minute.  This place seems to be the best place to find Sand Lizards as there old tyres and heaps of tiles which these lizards like to bask on, warming themselves up.

Spoonbills

Bitterly cold day, we took a quick dash out to see the Spoonbills, there are eleven of them in Holes Bay, Poole.   There was also a large flock of Avocets, too far away for a good picture.  Numerous of other birds; ducks, geese and waders in the bay also, but it was too cold to stand around for long.

Spoonbills, a photo by Lynmiranda on Flickr.