Fallow Deer

Fallow Doe and Fawn - f/5.6 | 1/1600 sec | ISO 400

I spent a weekend at my grandads house which is very near Bushy Park, so I had the opportunity to see the herds of wild deer there! At this time of year the deer have their young with them so I was able to see some adorable fawns! In this photograph if you look carefully you can see the young one hiding in the long grass! 

Searching for Skylarks

I went on a walk up a hill near my house (possibly the only hill in Cambridgeshire it's so flat!) at this time of year the hill is a giant meadow, with hundreds of wild flowers including lots of pretty daisies. I planned to try to photograph the skylarks nesting there at the moment and managed to get a few nice shots, however it was very tricky as it's risky to get too close because they nest in the long grass where it's difficult to see where you are putting your feet! So I stayed on the path as much as possible to get these images. I also did some macro work and created some pictures of the meadow in all it's glory!

Rabbit

Rabbit - f/5.6 | 1/200 sec | ISO 3200

I went to Fowlmere with a local camera club to visit the nature reserve and work on macro photography at dusk. When we were about half-way round the reserve I spotted this little guy, I managed to sneak up closer to get a better shot as it continued to enjoy eating the grass. 

Some Very Hungry Caterpillars

As I mentioned in my previous post I went on a great walk last week on a cycle path that runs alongside a busy main road and farmland. The main reason for this little venture was to investigate the unusual silken webs covering the hawthorn hedgerow between two of the fields near the road, which I had spotted previously from the car window! The phenomenon stretches over at least 7m of the hedgerow creating a ghostly white impression on the landscape; almost like someone got over-excited with some Halloween decorations but at the wrong time of year...

I went there just after it had rained so found the webs covered in glittering water droplets which helpfully added to the magical atmosphere in the images.

Upon arriving I discovered the thousands of tiny architects who had made the giant webs. This shot depicts one of the numerous caterpillars I found on the web. I think this particular species is the ermine moth caterpillar - probably the small ermine moth which often favors hawthorn as it's food source in the first stage of it's life. The silk blanket covering the hedgerow provides dual protection for both the caterpillars themselves and their important food source as they prepare to chrysalis into moths. The caterpillars were very small only about 2cm in size at the most!

In this photograph the silk is so thick that it looks like clingfilm covered the hawthorn leaves! The web is surprisingly strong enough even to deter the majority of birds and other predators. Due to the web providing protection they tend to pupate in the silk as well where they remain safe as they develop into moths.

Their silk made unusual textures which looked fantastic close up with my 90mm macro lens, the complex array of patterns shows how intricate nature can be! I used a wide aperture to get a soft green backdrop to these shots emphasizing the silken patterns in the photographs.

Bumble Bee

Peek-a-Bee - f/3.5 | 1/250 sec | ISO 200

I went on a walk last week along the main road between two villages. There are many wild flowers and hedgerows between the farmer's fields and they attract plenty of insects. I am glad I managed to get a shot with the eyes in focus, the aperture is so wide that only a tiny part of the image is actually sharp! I took the photograph from above to get the bee's face from behind the blade of grass.

I'll upload some of my other shots from this little trip later in the week!