Sunday 8th May one day photography course at Tophill Low

There are still some places available for the one day photography course taking place on Sunday 8th May at Tophill Low.  The course will run from 10am to 4pm and there are places for up to 10 people. The cost is £20 per person.  There will be plenty of flora and fauna to photograph on the reserve and any sort of digital slr, crossover or compact camera will be fine.  We won't delve too heavily into theory as the plan is to explore the reserve and review the photographs on the computer later in the day.  Attendees are best to bring a packed lunch.  Normal admission charges to the reserve will still apply, though admission is of course free to permit holders. For further details or to book a place you can contact me by e-mail at info@mauricephotos.co.uk or Richard Hampshire the warden at Tophill Low at Richard.Hampshire@yorkshirewater.co.uk

For information about the full introduction to wildlife photography course please click here.

Grasshopper Warbler

I challenged myself to get some photos of this illusive summer migrant out in the open this year reeling its strange insect like trill and I think I have nearly succeeded - but always room for improvement methinks!  The problem is they only seem to show well when they first arrive back in the country.  Later in the season the birds seems to go deeper undercover and of course the vegetation becomes thicker so they are harder to see, though the strange song can still be heard.

Green Hairstreaks

The Green Hairstreak is one of my favourite British Butterflies as, although tiny, it is so bright and exotic looking. I find all our Hairstreaks quite enigmatic as they can take a bit of tracking down in their own specific environments. The Green Hairstreak is the first to appear each year in April and May, followed by the Black Hairstreak for a brief couple of weeks in June/July, then the White-letter Hairstreak and Purple Hairstreak in July and August with the late summer Brown Hairstreak emerging in August and September. The Green Hairstreak is perhaps the hardiest and could almost be described as a generalist as it occurs in a wide variety of habitats though it does require open grassland or moorland which is extensively grazed. I am used to seeing Yorkshire Green Hairstreaks low down on Bilberry, but I found this small population on heathland in Norfolk over Easter flitting between Gorse, Silver Birch and even alighting on Oak. As they can be found on a variety of soils the Green Hairstreak is still quite widespread, but as you can see from their colour they can be hard to spot amongst the foliage - until they move of course!

The White-letter Hairstreak is completely dependent on Elm, the Purple Hairstreak on Oak usually near Ash and the Black and Brown Hairstreaks require abundant Blackthorn. I look forward to tracking down these specialists later in the year.