Wildlife

I have always been passionate about wildlife and conservation and when not photographing people I can often be found out in the countryside and on nature reserves. Though we have of course lost species, we are lucky to still have such a diversity of birds, butterflies and insects in the British countryside. Many species are still under threat, but it is heartening to have met so many like minded people when out and about photographing the natural world.

You can contact me on 07866 316577 or via e-mail at info@mauricephotos.co.uk

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Some wildlife links:
Michael Flowers birdwatching classes and walks
Yorkshire Butterfly Conservation
Yorkshire Dragonflies
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
Yorkshire Nature Triangle
Yorkshire Mammal Group
East Yorkshire Birding Forum
Birdguides
Tophill Low Nature Reserve
Yorkshire Red Kites
North Cave Wetlands Nature Reserve
The Wild Bird Cafe - North Cave Wetlands
Paull Holme Strays sightings
Potteric Carr Nature Reserve
Hull Valley Wildlife Group
Spurn Bird Observatory
Mike Robinson Bird Photos
Vince Cowell Photography
Steve Mulligan Bird Photography
David Ware - Wolds Birding
Paul Ashton East Yorkshire Wildlife
Wold Ranger
Beetle Boy's Bio Blog
Rory Selvey (age 13) Wildlife Photography
Kill the Badger Cull
The Brown Hairstreak Blog
Africa Gomez Bugblog
Zilch - eliminating litter
Keep Britain Tidy
Plantlife
Buglife

Next Photo Event dates to be announced...

Sunday 29 July 2012

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa)

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female

I had a meander around some local boggy heathland yesterday and was pleased to find Emerald Damselflies in good numbers.  They have an interesting life cycle metamorphosing from egg to larva to adult in one season after a year diapause as an egg.  They prefer shallow brackish water lacking in fish as this cuts down the risk of predation and the larvae then grow more quickly than many other species as they are able to feed at twice the rate.  In flight I thought the males were superficially similar to Blue-tailed Damselflies until they come to rest when you can get a good look at them.  Further down south we also get the Scarce Emerald (Lestes dryas) and the Southern Emerald (Lestes barbarus), but I won't bore you with the differences!

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female


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male


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female


emeraldduo
for comparison male on the left and female on the right

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Little Owls

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Little Owls are generally hard to see, unless they move, as they blend in so well with a tree trunk.  On this occasion I heard the adult bird pictured above calling to the juvenile bird below which alerted me to their presence.  There is a chap who has found over 100 Little Owl sites in Leicestershire so I wonder how many sites there actually are in the East Riding?

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