Labyrinth Spider at home in the Gorse.

After Tuesdays late night fly fishing excitement Wednesday was another day for walking around the coastal cliffs in our never rending quest for the perfect picnic spot. Point Lynas comes very, very close, no people, fantastic views and blazing sunshine – yep, almost perfect.

Another good excuse to take out the ‘big’ camera where I spotted a few Labyrinth Spiders (Agelena labyrinthica) which people (myself included until recently) mistakenly identify as Funnel Web Spiders. Labyrinth Spiders aren’t harmful – they just look a bit mean sitting in the entrance of their web in the Gorse.

A few photos of the stunning wild flowers around Point Lynas, all taken using the standard ‘mini zoom’ that came as part of the ‘kit’ with the Canon EOS 450D, the Canon 18-55mm IS.

Sea Thrift on the rocky cliffs at Point Lynas, Anglesey

A few half decent shots – now I’m getting the hang of using an SLR again, all be it digital, I’m finding the quality of even the cheaper Canon lens optics far out perform any compact style camera for close up work although I’m still a bit reluctant to take it when I go fishing.

Bee Orchid on the edge of a lake at Mere Beck

The weather here in Lancashire has been truly fantastic this last week and even though we’ve had a few very heavy showers we’ve managed to get out a couple of times. One mini walk round Mere Sands Wood nature reserve where the Marsh Orchids were flowering in the ‘meadow walk’, not much bird activity as I guess it’s too hot for them.

The other trip was last Saturday evening where we went to Mere Beck to have a quick practice with our new fly fishing gear.

With the weather being so hot and humid we were convinced there would be a hatch of all kinds of bugs on the lakes but it was strangely quiet – almost as if it was too hot even for these tiny creatures.

I did spot this beautiful Bee Orchid on the edge of one of the smaller lakes and although I only had the smaller camera with me I still manage to get a pic before the light faded completely.

I’m sure most of photography is being in the right place at the right time – better equipment cannot make an image that you didn’t take, it’s can just make a better image. Obviously there is a skill in ‘seeing’ the image in the first place and the technical aspects of getting the image into the camera but my moto is still “be in the right place at the right time”.

Marsh Orchid in 'The Meadow' at Mere Sands

Not sure what we’re doing this weekend, the paving at the back of the house is almost complete so I’ve the side door in the garage to replace but I’ve a sneaky feeling we may go fishing, just for a change…