Spring Foraging - April 2017

What a beautiful spring morning it was on Sunday when I went on my photo shoot in dad's garden this week. The bugs were out in force, the birds were singing, and the flowers were doing their best to keep up with the season. As well as birdsong, the multitude of mowers humming away in the background signalled that spring had really arrived.

This busy Bee must have visited nearly every Forget Me Not (Myosotis) bloom in the garden, and kept me on my toes as I got back into the swing of shooting insects once again!

Speckled Wood - April 2017

Despite the beautiful weather, I was really surprised to see this Speckled Wood Butterfly (Pararge aegeria) flitting around the garden.

Pollen Laden - April 2017

This Bee was looking a little drunk on nectar having stuffed his pollen sacks full of the stuff.

Blue Tit - April 2017

As usual, I had the wrong lens on my camera when this obliging Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) stopped by in the Corkscrew Hazel Tree (Corylus avellana Contorta).

Amelanchier Blossom - April 2017

The Juneberry Tree (Amelanchier) was looking absolutely magnificent with its white blossom contrasting beautifully with the blue sky. This is probably the best I've ever seen it.

Flaming Red - April 2017

The Forest Flame (Pieris) bush also looked good, with its red leaves also looking rather special against the blue.

Pink on Blue - April 2017

Not to be outdone, the Camellia bush was still producing flower after flower, and was also contrasting nicely with the blue sky.

Little Beauty - April 2017

The Tulip (Tulipa) 'Little Beauty' were definitely living up to their name, the colours really popping in the bright sunshine.

Hypericum - April 2017

The St John's Wort (Hypericum) bush had just started flowering, the yellow flowers looking like buttercups in the border.

Wet Welsh Poppy - April 2017

Despite being over burdened with overnight raindrops, this early Welsh Poppy (Meconopsis cambrica) caught my eye, as it drooped down under the weight of the water.

Bleeding Heart String - April 2017

Back in my garden I had lots and lots of things going on. The Bleeding Heart (Dicentra) was putting on a fantastic display with quite a few flower branches looking like this.

Open Tulip - April 2017

My favourite Tulip had returned, and was once again looking gorgeous. Unfortunately I don't know the variety, but if anyone reading this does, please drop me a note via the contact me page!

Pink the new Orange - April 2017

I have lots and lots of other Tulips that I do know the name of popping up at the moment, and I'll feature them all in the coming weeks, but I'll kick off with this unusual one, which is Ballerina. I say unusual because Ballerina is usually an orange coloured Tulip, but this year they seem to have come back as pink!

Ballerina Bloom - May 2016

For comparison, here's what they looked like last year.

White Wallflower - April 2017

Moving on, and my Wallflower (Erysimum) has returned once again, and is covered in a multitude of white flowers.

Crown Imperial - April 2017

It was only last week that I showed you a picture of my Crown Imperial Fritillary 'Rubra' (Fritillaria imperialis) emerging from the soil. Well, it has shot away, and is now nearing two feet in height, and has formed these lovely orange flower buds.

Budding Clematis - April 2017

Another flower in bud at the moment is my Clematis 'Montana', and it has lots and lots of buds. I'm hoping it will eventually cover the roof of my shed, but it has just made its way up the front of it for now.

Camassia Bud - April 2017

I'm quite excited about this flower bud as I've never grown Camassia (Camassia leichtlinii) before, so hopefully this will open up into a mass of blue sometime soon!

Sleeping Kitty - April 2017

Finally, what of my furry photogenic feline friend this week? Well, quite predictably, he spent the whole of Sunday morning asleep.

So, this week I chose Spring Foraging as my Image of the Week, mostly because I like the challenge of getting a nice sharp shot of one of our bug buddies, but also because he helped me practice my technique, which is a bit rusty after the winter bug break...