The Photographer and the Starling

Starlings are such fascinating birds. They fly around in huge flocks and can empty a bird feeder in a few minutes. They are noisy and messy and generally not the most popular of all birds which I think is a shame.

The two things that fascinate me most about starlings are their amazing ability to mimic lots of other birds. I once had one land on the roof of my house and it made a harsh cry that sounded exactly like a magpie. I looked up expecting to see a magpie, one of my favourite birds, and instead this much smaller bird was sitting there. It is amazing how that starling could make such a loud noise when it is much smaller than a magpie and how it could mimic the sound so well.

I have spent ages trying to get nice photographs of s starling with mixed results. These birds are so busy and never seem to be around long enough to get a nice photo. They are also far less confiding than great tits or pigeons, making it impossible to get really close to them.

I have a wonderful 20x zoom lens on my camera that lets me zoom in really close to animals that are far away. The problem with this is that if the animal moves even a tiny bit the result is a blurry photo.

I tried photographing starlings on my bird feeder when they come rushing in to collect a beakful of mealworms. I got some really nice photos but the bird feeder always looks so dirty it spoils the photo. Unfortunately I am a perfectionist.

I decided I wanted a photo of a starling sitting in a tree. There is a nice tree that overhangs my back garden where I knew they would land. I think in the end it took me three weeks of patient waiting, crouching in the garden every day after putting out some mealworms, until I got the shot I wanted. Every single time I tried to take a photo the bird was looking the other way, or it moved. I have a lot of photos of a tree with a bit of tail sticking out and things like that.

I did finally get a photo I was pleased with, although being a perfectionist I would like it if the bird was looking towards me just a bit more, but overall I think the photo captures the beauty of this bird as it sits in the tree and the sunlight shines off its feathers.

The following photo is the one I took. Being a 12mp camera I was able to enlarge the photo slightly when I made it into a greeting card in my shop so the original is a little smaller but apart from that the photo is as it was when I took it.

Starling in a Spruce Tree Custom Birthday Card by Fallen_Angel_483
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Don't pull up all your nettles

In the pursuit of gardening excellence wildlife sometimes gets overlooked. Your own back garden should be a place to support nature and you can without compromising the beauty of your garden.

In a time where more and more gardens are being lost to concrete it is really important to turn your garden into an inviting habitat for wildlife. You can do this and still have plenty to delight the senses.

Here are some tips for supporting your wildlife.

1. Garden ponds are very attractive places. You don't need a huge area of water to support frogs, toads and all sorts of insects like Dragonflies and Damselflies.

2. Rockeries can be made to look very attractive and will provide a cozy hibernation place for newts. Newts are great becuase they feed on slugs and other garden pests.

3. Compost bins are functional and will support lots of invertebrates that will encourage birds to come and forage in your garden.

4. Some of the most beautiful flowers are really helpful to insects. You can plant things like sunflowers, Lavender, Zinnia, Californian poppies and echinacea to attract bees and butterflies as well as making your garden look great.

Leaving a wild little area in the garden is really helpful to wildlife. I have some brambles, dandelions, nettles and wild grasses growing along with borage and Foxgloves. They grow around the compost bin with just a little path left to get to the bin. This helps mask the ugliness of the compost bin and also makes a great area for butterflies.

Without my little wild area I doubt I would have found a Small Magpie Moth in my garden resting underneath a Broccoli leaf. This is a very pretty species of moth that I was lucky enough to find and photograph.

Here are some products you can buy that feature this beautiful moth. The photograph used is my own photo taken in my own back garden.

Small Magpie Moth Macro Print by Fallen_Angel_483
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Small Magpie Moth Keychain by Fallen_Angel_483
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Small Magpie Moth Mousepad by Fallen_Angel_483
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So next time you feel like pulling up those nettles think again and you too could have this little moth living and breeding in your garden.

Hoverflies do not sting and 7 other facts

It is not always easy to tell the difference between a hoverfly (flower fly) and a bee or wasp. There are so many different species of hoverfly and this variety of shapes and sizes adds to the confusion.

I am by no means an expert on these little insects but here are a few things I do know about these fascinating creatures.

1. They do NOT sting

2. They are actually classed as flies, rather than wasps or bees.

3. Many of their larvae feed on annoying bugs like aphids, thus helping the gardener with pest control

4. The larvae form a sort of transparent chrysalis where they change into the adult hoverfly

5. Hoverflies only have one pair of wings, Bees and Wasps have two

6. Adult Hoverflies feed on nectar

7. They pollinate some types of crops and certain tree species

8. They mimic wasps and bees to deter predators from eating them

I had the good fortune to see an enormous Hoverfly on a Buddleia bush near where I live. It was such an impressive creature that I rushed back home to get my camera. Luckily when I got back it was still there and I got my photo.

I also photograph the smaller species that come into my garden. They spend more time hovering about than actually landing on a flower, making them very tricky to photograph. I also look out for their larvae in the hope they will keep pests off my crops.

The larvae are nothing like the adults. Here is a close-up that I took of a Hoverfly larvae recently.

and below are some hoverfly products available from my store

Bye Bye Hoverfly Print by Fallen_Angel_483
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Hoverfly on a Marigold Budget Tote Bag by Fallen_Angel_483
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Hoverfly Greeting Card by Fallen_Angel_483
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Hoverfly Mousepad by Fallen_Angel_483
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Hoverfly Print by Fallen_Angel_483
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Lets give rats a chance

What is it about the poor rat that makes so many people hate it so much? Around the rats are routinely killed in large numbers. In my country we have two species of rat living wild; the rare and very shy Black rat (Rattus rattus) and the more widespread and better known Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus).
So the common perception is that rats are covered in fleas. They live in our rubbish. They spread numerous diseases and last but not least if you corner a rat it will go for your throat. The way people talk about these animals you would think they grow to be the size of cats and run around attacking people!
Firstly a cornered rat is a terrified creature. It does not go for the throat, it aims to jump over your shoulder and run away. Secondly it is now believed that it was actually the smaller and barely spoken about Black rat that carried plague to several countries. In that event it was technically the fleas that carried the plague and spread it. The rats only carried the fleas. There are some elements of truth, however, wild rats do indeed carry diseases and have parasites, as do all other wild animals. Some do live in our sewers and rubbish dumps and some do come into our homes looking for food.
Let me introduce you to the rats I know. They don't live in a rubbish dump, instead they have set up home in some grassland where people don't disturb them.I spent a year getting to know these rats and taking photos of them. They live a totally wild life and were extremely nervous of me. It took me a long time to gain their trust and even then they would keep far enough away from me so they could outrun me if they needed to.
I don't know how many rats there were in this group but there was certainly at least one breeding female, 3 or 4 big males, a group of juveniles and then the youngsters that appeared throughout the summer. The enormous female looked constantly pregnant (and probably was). She was the main food gatherer. I took them cornflakes and bird seed and sometimes some vegetables too.
I noticed how often they would stop to groom their fur. You can see from my photos just how clean they kept themselves. They spent a lot of time eating. They would squabble over food and steal food from eachother but the youngsters were allowed to jump all over the adults and steal their food without repercussions. The youngsters were not allowed to come out of their hole until the adults were happy it was safe. They had a complex network of tunnels with several entrances. These guys were ut every day come rain or shine even the freezing winter didn't stop them. These were intelligent and compassionate animals that card for their young ones, kept themselves clean and learned to accept a human in their world, albeit on their terms. I couldn't be more thrilled with the time they allowed me to spend with them and the photographs I was able to take.
You can find these products and more available for sale in my Zazzle store Natural Beauty

I'm Ratty Today Slogan T Shirt by Fallen_Angel_483
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Young Wild Rat Print by Fallen_Angel_483
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Wild Rat Print by Fallen_Angel_483
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I'm Watching You Rat Print by Fallen_Angel_483
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Wild Rat Field Trip Print by Fallen_Angel_483
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Greedy Rat Print by Fallen_Angel_483
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Rat in a hole Mousepad by Fallen_Angel_483
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Cheeky Rat Mousepad by Fallen_Angel_483
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Ratty cuddles Greeting Card by Fallen_Angel_483
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Now you've seen the real Brown rat will you give them a second chance?

The tale of Horatio the Squirrel Part 2

After a few days with regular and prolonged sightings of "Horatio" at the bird table I noticed I was no longer able to get close enough with my camera to get a good photo. I was just hoping that this was the same squirrel and that it was recovering from its horrific injuries.
A couple of weeks went by and I was starting to think I would never know for sure whether my furry garden guest was indeed Horatio or just another local squirrel. Then, one day, I had the good fortune to spy a squirrel really close to the house. I dashed to get my camera. This time the squirrel was well within range of my zoom lens.
I managed to get a photo that confirmed to me that this squirrel was Horatio. Here is the photo I took, displayed on a customizable greeting card from my zazzle store
Natural Beauty

Squirrel Hungry Horatio Custom Greeting Card by Fallen_Angel_483
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If you look closely you can see that the squirrel has a cloudy eye, the same eye that was badly injured. I think it is likely that poor Horatio may have lost the sight in that eye. The good news is that this brave little squirrel was feeding well and looked otherwise healthy.

That incident was a year ago now and I am happy to report that there are now two squirrels regularly visiting my garden. I hope to get another lucky break and get a photo to confirm that one of them is Horatio but so far he or she (can't tell which but it probably only matters to another squirrel), is proving very elusive and keeping a distance away from the house.

The tale of Horatio the squirrel part 1

As promised here is a story about the struggle to survive endured by a cute little squirrel that has been visitng my garden for over a year now. I knew there was a squirrel about when I encountered some buried Hazelnuts in a flower bed I was preparing for planting up last spring. I decided to start putting nuts out myself to help the squirrel out a bit. I feed the birds in the garden so I figured why not feed the squirrel too.
Of course this little squirrel was so shy I never actually got to see it. Imagine my shock then when one day I noticed this adorable little ball of grey fluff on the bird table. I was so excited to finally see the squirrel I had been feeding for weeks that I dashed to get my camera.
I took a few snaps then attempted to get closer. I was delighted that I was able to get halfway down the garden to get some shots of the little furball. I was somewhat less delighted when I uploaded the photos to my PC. Here are a couple of the photos I took that day.

and over the next couple of days I took these images of the hapless creature.

I hate to see animals suffer and these injuries really looked bad. There was no chance of catching the squirrel and getting it to a vet so I just made sure there was food and water there for it and kept my fingers crossed.
Find out what happened to the squirrel in part 2 of the tale of Horatio the squirrel coming soon.