The Magpie's Hoard

Wortley Top Forge

I am currently surveying the flora and fauna of Wortley Top Forge, an industrial museum on the banks of the River Don.

As well as being of historical and ecological interest, the site presents lots of opportunities for photography. I've put some of my pictures into a Flickr set, which can also be viewed as a slideshow.

Blackberry Time

The first ripe blackberries appeared this week. The sight of them prompted me to re-visit the Nature's Calendar website, where I found that Autumnwatch 2007 has begun already!

Perusing the brambles in Walkley Cemetery this afternoon, I spotted this tiny bug feeding on one of the unripe berries. I'm fairly sure that it's the nymph of a green shield bug (Palomena prasina).

The bug was completely preoccupied and showed no desire to move on.  This gave me a chance to try out the extension tube that I bought recently. By using it with the 50mm macro lens, I was able to get in really close.

I'm fairly pleased with the results. I just about managed to overcome the twin difficulties of working this close: camera shake and shallow depth of focus.

One of the most skilful macro photographers I've come across is Brian Valentine, who uses a process called focus stacking to increase the depth of focus. It works a treat!

Peak Malpractice

Earlier this week the RSPB announced that goshawks and peregrines are now extinct as breeding species in the north-eastern part of the Peak District National Park.

From the evidence collected by the RSPB, it is clear that the primary cause of this extinction is illegal persecution, sanctioned by the owners and managers of shooting estates.

The details are given in an update to the RSPB's Peak Malpractice report. You can download the original report in pdf format here and the update here.

If you go walking in the Peak District you can help bring an end to the illegal persecution of wildlife by reporting any suspicious incidents via the RSPB's on-line form.