Paul writes: Recently Mark wrote about the beauty of dandelions and I fully agree with him. As well as brightening up the dullest grass verge or lawn they are great for attracting insects. They are an ideal nectar source for lots of the early hoverflies that are beginning to appear. I found half a dozen…
Category: THE PHOTOGRAPHS: by Tim Melling, Oscar Dewhurst, Paul Leyland, Guy Shorrock, Brian Leecey
Tim Melling – Red Panda (2)
Tim writes: Photographs of Red Pandas in the wild are so rare I have decided to post a second photograph. This one was high in a Berry tree, realising it was a little exposed as they normally feed on bamboo, so spend their time deep in bamboo thickets. They venture out in the autumn,…
Paul Leyland – Eyed Ladybird
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Paul writes: I went to Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire on Wednesday to look for Puffins, Gannets etc., but also kept a lookout for insects. I was rewarded when I came across this beautiful Eyed Ladybird (Anatis ocellata) sunning itself on the timber barrier along the cliff edge. It was extra special because it’s the…
Tim Melling – Robin Accentor
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Tim writes: to British birdwatchers this will look like the result of a unnatural union between a Robin and a Dunnock. But this is actually a high altitude Himalayan Dunnock relative known as a Robin Accentor (Prunella rubeculoides), whose scientific name translates as Dunnock, like a Robin. It looked and behaved just like a…
Paul Leyland – Tree Bumblebee
Paul writes: The Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) is possibly the easiest British bumblebee to identify. It is the only bumblebee with a combination of ginger thorax, black abdomen and white tail. Queens, workers and males all have the same colour combination so it stands out at any time during the season. This bumblebee is a…
Tim Melling – Collared Crow
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Tim writes: the Collared Crow used to be common over large areas of lowland, rural China, just creeping into Vietnam. But its numbers have tumbled over the past 15 years and is now only found commonly in a few areas in its former range. Places that used to support hundreds of birds are now…
Paul Leyland – Orange Tip
Paul writes: Orange-tip is a great early spring butterfly. It is one of the first butterflies to emerge that hasn’t over-wintered as an adult, so is always beautifully fresh at this time of year. In Yorkshire, over the last ten years, the first sighting has ranged from 22 March in 2011, to 23 April in…
Tim Melling – Golden Takin
Tim writes: the Golden Takin is a rare mammal that inhabits the same mountainous bamboo thicket forests as Giant Panda. There are four subspecies and this is the form that lives in Sichuan (Budorcas taxicolor tibetana) with more blotchy flanks than the true Golden Takin (B.t.bedfordi) from Shaanxi, NW China. The remaining two subspecies are…
Paul Leyland – Bloody-nosed Beetle
Paul writes: It’s a pity that the appearance of this beetle isn’t quite as dramatic as its common name suggests. The name comes from the beetle’s defence mechanism, which is that when threatened the beetle releases a bright red fluid from its mouth. It’s a slow moving domed beetle, up to 20mm long, coloured black…
Tim Melling – Merlin
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Tim writes: Photo-opportunities of perched Merlins are few and far between. So I could hardly believe my luck when I spotted one on a roadside post some distance ahead. I took a few record shots then inched closer in the car until it was only about 25m away. It then turned its head and made…