Shetland Trip 2015 - Day 4 Loch Garten area

Glorious warm weather, lots of  parties of tits mainly Coal but with several Crested amongst them.  No good photo opportunities for birds.

Loch Mallachie Reflections.  Olympus 7-14 f2.8 @ 11mm ISO200 1/1600 f4
 

Shetland Trip 2015 - Day 3 Strathdearn (Findhorn Valley)

Visited Findhorn Valley hoping to see Golden Eagle and was succesful in getting good scope views of an immature bird soaring on the hillside ridge, though too distant for photos.

Sadly this scenic and peaceful valley much loved by birdwatchers is under threat from wind farms and associated cables see http://www.savestrathdearn.com/ for details.

River Findhorn, near Farr.  Olympus 40-150 f2.8 @ 56mm ISO200 1/640 f8

Shetland Trip 2015 - Day 2, Rothiemurchus

A stopover at Rothiemurchus campsite produced good views of  European Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus) and Red Squirrel 
  

 European Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus), Olympus 40-150 f2.8 @ 210mm ISO800 1/125 f5

River Druie, near Coylumbridge.  Olympus 40-150 @ 56mm, ISO 400 1/100 f8

 Eurasian Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) Olympus 40-150 @150mm ISO 800 1/160 f2.8

Shetland Trip 2015 - Day 1, En route County Durham

En route from home to Shetland, my usual stopover produced 42 feeding male Black Grouse at 4pm in the afternoon.

Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 @ 190mm 1/200 f7.1

East Bergholt

Distinctly autumnal feel to the moths caught in my trap last night.  No migrants but The Mallow, Barred Sallow, Feathered Ranunculus and Beaded Chestnut new for this years garden list.


Barred Sallow (Xanthia aurago) Olympus 60 mm micro 1/1.3s @ f11 ISO-200

The Mallow (Larentia clavaria) Olympus 60 mm micro 1/125 @ f7.1 ISO-400

The Mallow (Larentia clavaria) Olympus 60 mm micro 1/320 @ 8 ISO-200

Feathered Ranunculus (Polymixis lichenea)  Olympus 60 mm micro 1/640 @ f7.1 ISO-400

East Bergholt

Quiet moth trap last night but did produce this years first Frosted Orange and a few Angle-Shades



Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago) Olympus 60mm macro 1/13s @ f8 ISO-200

Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa) Olympus 60mm macro 0.1s @ f8 ISO-200

Garden, East Bergholt

MV trap run last night 1 Vestal, several Centre-barred Sallows and Feathered Gothic being the highlights.  Also in the trap a site record of 78 Large Yellow Underwings.

Sunny conditions in the afternoon brought out 2 pairs of Common Darters while 2 Blue-winged Damselflies remain on the pond.

Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba)
 Olympus 60mm macro 1/60 @ f8 ISO-400

The Vestal (Rhodometra sacraria) Olympus 60mm macro 1/1.6s @ f8 ISO-200

Centre-barred Sallow (Atethmia centrago) Olympus 60mm macro 1/60 @ f8 ISO-400

Feathered Gothic (Tholera decimalis)
 Olympus 60mm macro 1/60 @ f8 ISO-400