The Best of 2012

 It has been a long time since my last blog; a lot has happened during the last year including quite a bit of travelling around Britain.

Ever since dropping my Pony Watching job with the National Trust in order to concentrate on my degree (that is finally over!) I hadn't really put as much effort into going out to take photographs.

However, I did manage to get some great shots throughout the year:

 

 First off, had a trip to the Isle of Wight which was beautifully hot even though it was relatively early in the year. Sadly I saw no butterflies on the chalk grasslands but it was a little too early in the year; however the flowers had started to bloom especially one of my favourites, the bluebell.

Bluebell-Isle of Wight



Red Clover-Isle of Wight

 The Isle of Wight also provided the best views of Red Squirrels I have ever had; most were bold enough to come close enough to touch and were quite mischievous jumping from their poses as I trained my camera on them. Thankfully there are no Grey Squirrels on the island; although they did have to "compete" for food with rats, a variety of birds and a very nonchalant fox.

Red Squirrel-Isle of Wight

 

Isle of Wight



Isle of Wight

 The Needles, with the great weather and clear sea, looked out of place in a Caribbean-like setting.

The Needles-Isle of Wight

 When leaving the island we took a detour through the New Forest which allowed me to get some comical shots of the very young foals.

I don't think he liked the smell of his foot all that much!



New Forest Ponies- New Forest



While studying in Cumbria I managed to take some time from doing my dissertation to take walks around the forest. While writing some coursework in the forest I once looked up and saw a brown hare not 10 feet away washing its face, completely unaware of my presence (the best close-up view I've ever had except for when I practically stepped on one!). The many trips to the forest also gave me some great views of Roe deer and my first ever sighting of a badger!

Badger-Cumbria



Bracket Fungus-Cumbria



Roe Deer-Cumbria

 In the Summer I also had a trip to Mull which was a great highlight to the year and gave me sightings of animals I had never seen before including short eared owl, Irish hare, hen harrier and the white tailed eagle!

Fingals Cave- Isle of Staffa



Isle of Staffa

 Basking sharks were also a new sight for me and the trip offered may views with some passing under the boat so you could see their gaping mouths.

Basking Shark-Mull



Mull

 My favourite (also a first) sighting has to be the minke whale which surfaced right next to the boat with little warning. It followed for a couple of minutes before diving deep below, disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

Minke Whale-Mull



Minke Whale-Mull

 The trip also offered sightings of a variety of bird species including Arctic tern, puffin (which, by sitting close to their burrows infested me and then the tent with ticks!), shag, razorbills, golden eagle and white tailed eagle to name but a few!

Arctic Tern-Mull



Mull



Shag- Treshnish Isles



Gannet-Mull

 The White Tailed Eagles offered great photos with their close appearances and were also another first for me; they were also another of the highlights of the trip and you really do see how big they are with that seven/eight foot wingspan...especially when you see them being mobbed by ravens!

White Tailed Eagle-Mull

White Tailed Eagle- Mull

 



A Battle of Wits and Battery Power.

After a rather short and lively visit to Cumbria I ended up back in Chester once more. The constant change in weather over the few days I've been back had stifled my attempts at going out for some photography; that is, until today. The sun was out and, although blustery, the temperature still rose to a scorching 24C.

I had missed Bickerton a little while I was away so decided to take a longer trip there than usual. However, after over an hour of searching for the ponies in all their favourite places it seemed as if I was up for a rather disappointing day. Although, even without the ponies Bickerton still has some interesting subjects to photograph; for the moment the butterflies are sparse and in decline. But today a foray of fungus have spread over the entire area so I decided to try my hand at photographing them for a change:

With my camera battery quickly failing (having forgotten to charge it the night before and rushing out without the spare) I only had 15% of power left when the herd of six finally made themselves known nearby the hill fort. The hill fort is usually the outcasts domain; but with the bilberry sweet and ripe for the picking the larger herd have moved in and displaced them:

Fflach and Shy

Mist

Taff

Taff

Fflach

 With Taff and the rest of the herd very close I was quite surprised when I saw Jack on a heathered outcrop only 200m away. With no territorial checks from Taff the outcasts were pretty much left to their own devices so long as they didn't come too close.

Jack

Jack and Col (bilberry markings)

Jack and Col

Jack

 Even though Taff had been calm with their presence today I noticed that Col was slightly lame on one of his forelegs so made it known to the conservation officer. Apparently Taff had been chasing them away all day yesterday trying to move them off the more favourable territory.

Col

New ponies should be arriving very soon so it's going to be interesting to see if Taff manages to keep his dominant role in the near future. Hopefully I shall visit again later this month; but, as of tomorrow, I'm back in Cumbria.

Final Day at Bickerton Hill!!!

First of all, I would like to mention my good friend, Emma. She's a great graphite artist and has also recently started doing photo manipulation projects. She's an amazing artist and has done some great art projects for me in the past- check out her website for a look: http://batty-phoenix.deviantart.com/ 

My final day in Chester has been a busy one to say the least. Being pressed for time I moved at a fast pace, well as fast as possible on uneven ground riddled with tree roots and sandstone slick with rainwater.

After half an hour had passed and with my visit to most of the pony "hot spots" I was worried I wasn't going to find them. Luckily I found a fresh trail of small hoof prints on one of the sandy trails and was able to track their route through the bilberry.

Fflach doing her job, eating the birch.

Ellie, whose leg seems to have healed.

 I had found the larger herd but Taff was nowhere to be seen. After walking to higher ground and scanning the area for any sign of him failed I went back to the herd and waited. The heathland was eerily silent except for the occasional mewing cry of a circling buzzard until angry hoof beats exploded through the bilberry.

Taff was back, but agitated. His legs were dripping with bilberry juice which, for a split second, fooled me into thinking he had cut his legs on the gorse bushes.

Taff

 He started staring towards the boundary fence and for a moment I thought he may be reacting to the cattle on the other side. But then I saw a bright chestnut coat through the trees and a distinctive white blaze and finally knew what Taff was reacting to.

As he started galloping over to the two outcast males I decided to follow and ran as fast as I could through the gorse and bilberry, carefully avoiding the tree roots and rabbit warrens.

 I managed to keep good pace with Taff who looked confused as to why I was following him but showed more interest toward Jack and Col who were now in plain view near one of the water troughs.

Stand off between Taff, Jack and Col

Taff trying to scare Jack and Col away from the water trough.

 With Taff trying to establish his dominance; Jack, the lowest ranking male, decided to try and dominate Col by biting as Taff gave chase.

Col (with a bilberry juice covered coat) being bitten by Jack as they run from Taff.

 After Taff had a drink from the trough, and with Jack and Col making it clear from their constant return that they weren't going to move from the area anytime soon, he decided to gallop back to the main herd.

Taff running back to the herd

Jack and Col

After Taff left, Jack was still biting at Col's neck but whenever Col moved around to kick Jack would soon retreat again. Whether Jack will succeed in becoming dominant male of the outcasts is unclear; however, Col does have a bigger build and tends to be more aggressive but only time will tell.

Jack biting Col

With all the ponies accounted for and clear of injury I started to make my way back to the car park only stopping if something interesting caught my eye:

Tortoiseshell butterfly

Small copper butterfly

Bumblebee

I do hope to visit Bickerton now and again while also finding other interesting things to photograph and write about whilst I'm up in Cumbria.