Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee.

When I’m selling my photos, one comment I get a lot is “Where did you take these? You never see them anymore”. What are they talking about? Butterflies!! It’s certainly true that these winged wonders have become less common in recent years but there are still quite a lot of them flying about if you know where to look.

Part of the problem is obviously down to the lack of meadows nowadays as more and more fields tend to be bought up for industrial or residential building work. Now that we’re in a recession and most building projects have stopped with little hope that they will start any time soon, it will be interesting to see if nature fights back and allows the kind of plants that insects need to grow back.

It’s not just butterflies of course. There is genuine worldwide concern over the plight of bees. The Honey Bee population in North America has declined by about 90% in the last half century and this trend has been observed in other parts of the world as well. It has been calculated that a third of all food consumed by humans is pollinated by bees. Some groups dismiss these claims, but even if they’re only partly true, this still represents an enormous amount of food that needs insect pollination in order for it to grow. Next time you have a salad sandwich ask yourself how much of what’s on your plate is there because of insect pollination. Chances are, all of it!

Fields that are concreted over and crops that are subject to heavy pesticide use won’t help bee and butterfly populations. And everybody can help. If every person in an entire suburb allowed part of their garden to grow wild and allowed the Dandelions, Clover and Daisies that should naturally grow there actually grow, then you would help with this problem enormously. By allowing part of my garden grow wild I’ve reaped the benefits and regularly have Meadow Browns, various Whites, Small Tortoiseshells, Carder Bees and many different species of Bumble Bee pop in for a sip of nectar.

The photos on this blog entry are of a Green Veined White on a Ribwort Plantain and the second is on a Cuckoo Flower. The photo of the bee is on a humble Buttercup. All three are plants that will happily grow in your garden if they are allowed. Not too much to ask then.

Until next week

www.davemcmanusphotography.com

County Clare

I have to say, driving doesn’t make it on to my list of 10 most desirable things to do before I die. I really hate it. Cars are a necessary evil that get me from A to B. I’m used to cycling or walking and being able to stop wherever you want and take in the sights and sounds around you. It’s hard to do that in a car, particularly when you have the eyes of a photographer in your head and you want to stop every time you see something out of the corner of your eye. Coming to a sudden stop while doing 120 on the motorway because a Kestrel is hovering over some poor Field Mouse in the blur of a field you’ve just passed probably isn’t a good idea. I’ve never done that. No, I’m not that bad. But still I hate driving.

It does get you to some lovely places though so I guess it’s worth it. Two weeks ago I braved the elements and headed west. Off to County Clare I went, on the west coast of Ireland. The scenery in this part of the country is truly spectacular. From the barren moonscape like landscape of the Burren to the huge Cliffs of Moher that jut out into the Atlantic.

The Burren is really something. 75% of all plants found in Ireland can be found in the Burren as can all 4 species of Fritillary Butterfly that make Ireland their home. A particular species of water beetle (Ochthebius nilssoni) is known from only 5 sites worldwide and 4 of them are found within the Burren (the other is in Sweden).

It’s an amazing environment to walk around and marvel at, as are the Cliffs of Moher. I had been here before but that was when I was 4 so the cliffs looked a little bit bigger then. Still, at over 200 metres, they’re still a pretty impressive sight. They are an extremely important site for seabirds on the west coast with large colonies of Razorbills, Shags and Puffins.

The reason for going to Clare was as a reconnaissance trip to try and locate some good marks for future photo trips. It worked in spades. I found plenty and am looking forward to a return trip in mid summer. Weather permitting of course. It is the west coast after all and rain is the west coasts favourite subject. But I would recommend a trip to Clare for anybody coming to Ireland for a holiday. It’s a magnificent place and the Burren really does take the breath away.

www.davemcmanusphotography.com

Time to take photos again.

Well, I have to say, that felt like a long difficult winter. I rarely shoot any wildlife photos in the winter time. My sports photography commitments rule out a lot of that, and I rarely do any wildlife work at all before the start of April. Now I’m back in the mix and I can get my blog up and running again.

This past winter has seen some extraordinary weather patterns worldwide, and here in Ireland we didn’t miss out. We got a blast of arctic air at the start of December which gave us 2 weeks of snowfall which brought the country to a standstill. A thaw then set in for about 5 minutes before another belt of snow came and covered us all again until just before new years eve. All that snow and ice has played havoc with the garden. The grass is in bits and I lost a lot of plants that just gave up the unequal struggle to adjust to the minus 8 temperature.

Well, thankfully that’s all behind us and we’ve had plenty of sunshine these past few weeks. Plants are springing up all over the place and when I was in Wexford during the week, there were swallows everywhere. There also seems to be plenty of butterflies already out and fluttering about. I’ve already spotted Small Tortoiseshells, Common Blue, Small Blue, Peacock, Small White and Orange Tip. That surely bodes well for the summer months ahead.

I was out in Howth a couple of weeks ago trying to get sum panoramic photos and I came across my old friends the Black Guillemots. I love these little birds. They always give me the impression that they enjoy life more than any other bird. I can understand that to be honest. A life of fishing and sunbathing would do us all a power of good so I can see why they like it.

The Black Guillemot is a small bird and a very obliging one for the photographer. At least, the ones that frequent the harbour walls in Howth, County Dublin are very obliging. At this time of year their minds start wandering and their thoughts turn towards family planning matters. With this obvious distraction on their minds, they tend to pay less attention than usual to people and this allows you to get a bit closer than normal to these little birds.

These particular birds in these photos were busy calling to each other and jumping off the harbour wall and flying around in circles which meant that I could photograph them without the use of big heavy lenses which is always a bonus. Big lenses may make you look good to the untrained eye but they aren’t always the most practical piece of equipment you can have in your bag. Whenever possible I always try to get closer to the animals I photograph and use a smaller lens. It’s just more comfortable.

So we’re half way through spring and summers around the corner. For the type of photography I do, things will now start to get quite busy. I’ll have to get busy with the blog as well. See you all next week

www.davemcmanusphotography.com