More From The Campsite

A few more photos from our recent camping trip.  We pitched our tent on a clifftop, on the south of the Island, where we had spectacular views of the English Channel at the expense of feeling the full force of the high winds I mentioned in my previous post.  This Kestrel was a frequent visitor to the skies above our tent, its source of food being a ravine 20 feet in front of our pitch.  Despite seeing it often, this was my best shot.

 When we collapsed the tent at the end of the week, we found this Dark Arches moth in the folds.  It's quite a large moth, with a wing span of 46-54mm.

I found it quite handsome, and photographing it made a good excuse for me to hide in the tent while Rob wrestled the sleeping bags back into their cases.

This Lesser Stag Beetle walked across our path later in the day, fortunately nowhere near our tent, which was now packed away and in the back of the car.  I'm not sure how well I would have handled finding this in my sleeping bag!  In fact, I have a fair idea and it wouldn't have been pretty!  At up to 32mm in length, it's a whopper of a beetle, and those mandibles are very intimidating!

Dragging out the last moments of our little holiday, we stopped in a lay-by for a picnic lunch.  After chucking half the packing out of the boot of our car to find the not-so-cool-anymore cool bag and slapping some, by now, misshaped bread round some warm cheese, I took my camera for one last walk along the hedgerow and snapped this Wasp Beetle.

As the name suggests it is a (long-horned) beetle that looks like a wasp.  These beetles also move and make buzz-like noises similar to wasps, but they are harmless.

Stealth Mode

Something I need to work on is my approach.  So far, I've learnt not to come between my subject and the sun, and that a sudden sneeze is alarming for small creatures.  I followed this Greenfinch around for quite a while, but eventually managed to get a half decent shot, albeit from a distance.

 A little later, I startled this Male Common Blue, as it rested on the path in front of me.  I watched it fly around and land again, then practised my stealth skills.  After one false alarm (I'd crept excellently up to a blue flower that looked a lot like a butterfly) I managed to track it and snap it, resting on some Salad Burnet.

Goldfinch

Behind our back garden is an old boat building shed.  I like it.  The old rusty roof is coloured every shade of red and orange and if you shield your eyes to block out the surrounding houses, it's easy to imagine you are in the country, next to an old farm.  The birds like it too, especially the old chimney, which is a popular perch.

I'm hazarding a guess that this Goldfinch is a male.  The red on the face extends further in males, though not a lot and so identification is hard.  Let me know what you think, in the comments.  Here's a rear view.

Male House Sparrow

At first I thought this was a juvenile, due to the downy look to his chest feathers, and I fancied that he was working up courage to fly back to his nest in our roof.  However, I learned that juveniles are pale, like the females, and do not have the black bib you can see here.  So, maybe this is the daddy?  Perhaps keeping his eye on the babies while he stretches his legs.

Interesting fact:  The oldest known wild House Sparrow lived for 19 years and 9 months.

[source: http://www.euring.org/data_and_codes/longevity-voous.htm]