Thankfully the weather hasn’t been too extreme here in Lancashire these past couple of weeks although we have had some very cold days which without the snow feels a bit like we’ve been ripped off. Last Monday was a case in point where it was so cold the fog was freezing in the air and you could see ice crystals suspended in front of your face. It did look great once I got out of the car in Bolton but [... read rest of post]
What a great job the team at Autumn Watch have done this year. Truly brilliant TV that entertained and informed, giving us insights into the flora a fauna of the UK during Autumn with the right amount of geekiness thrown in for good measure. Good presenters with the ability to explain stuff as well as be humorous backed up with an amazing research team and some breathtaking film work. This type of programme is what makes the BBC worth while and [... read rest of post]
It looks like this weeks gales have removed most of the leaves from all the tree in Lancashire. Last night was definitely one of those evenings where you were glad that you weren’t out sea fishing, or any other kind of fishing for that matter. Waking this morning I was half expecting to see roof slates in the garden but thankfully there doesn’t seem to be much damage apart from a broken fence panel. Hopefully the worst of the wind [... read rest of post]
The weather this week has certainly showed us that Autumn is here. What with gale force winds and some cold frosty morning last week it won’t be long until the first major snows fall (I hope!!!) Personally I prefer it cold and frosty rather than this wet, windy, murky weather but the winds brings the birds over from Europe and if you’re a nature lover you must have noticed in the news that there has been a large influx of [... read rest of post]
The weather this past week has been truly miserable so we haven’t done any type of fishing, indeed it’s been so bad that even getting lunch has been a pre-winter test of my waterproofs. I managed to get out yesterday without getting soaked and during my usual walk round Queens Park I came across this extreme case of pond dipping. I remember using a net to catch things out of a pond but this seems a little overkill… What they’re [... read rest of post]
Late last week I received a copy of “Bye Bye Blackbird – Worlds Past and Worlds Away” by Eileen Berry, a book containing poetry from her memories or Marshide, Southport through to Northern Sudan. Eileen’s editor, Susan, asked if she could use one of my photographs for the cover a few months ago and until I received an email asking for my address I’d completely forgotten about it. My first ever published photo – brilliant! Susan found the photo from a post [... read rest of post]
I’ve given up trying to get a photo of this chrysalis hatching. I’ve been getting to the car park early and visiting it and a few others like it, to see if I can catch a Comma butterfly emerging but I think this latest damp, cooler spell of weather has effectively stopped them hatching until the sun returns with a bit of warmth. Which is a damn shame as I’m going away for a couple of weeks and they’ll have [... read rest of post]
After spotting a Cinnabar Moth a couple of weeks ago I started looking for the tell tale signs of the yearly invasion and today I found the first signs of the annual ragwort decimation by these tiny Cinnabar Moth (Tyria jacobaeae) caterpillars. They were only about 1cm long but they were everywhere I looked, marching over their chosen battleground, leaving no Ragwort plant standing. Were they in Queens Park where I’d seen the adult and been looking all week? Were they hell… [... read rest of post]
Following on from my previous attempts at photographing beetles around Queens Park in Bolton I spotted some small dark metallic blue ones, very similar to the Green Dock Beetles I’d photographed a few weeks ago. I only had the ‘small’ camera, Canon Powershot A640, with me but as it turned out this was far more capable of close ups than my EOS 450D although the fact the beetles were hardly moving and I could get about 2cm away from them [... read rest of post]
I know I go through all sorts of clothing and footwear in my sea fishing and walking adventures and although I like browsing through all the outdoor gear shops it’s a pain sometimes as I live in a village a fair distance from any major retailer. Well this month that all changed as just up the road from where I live a shop has opened called trek outdoors which aims to offer a range of quality technical and casual brands, [... read rest of post]
