by David Clarke | Oct 6, 2012 | All, Insects & Spiders, Italy
This elegant lady, a female European Mantis (Mantis religiosa), was checking me out with her 10,000 eyes on the terrace of our place in Tuscany a couple of mornings ago while enjoying the October sun.
According to Mr Wikipedia: ‘Originating in southern Europe, the European Mantis was introduced to North America in 1899 on a shipment of nursery plants. Now they are found all over the north-eastern United States and Canada to the Pacific Northwest. The European Mantis is usually 5–7.5 cm (2–3 inches) in length, and has shades of bright green to tan. It can be distinguished easily by a black-ringed spot beneath the fore coxae. It is one of several different insects for which a name used within Europe to refer to only a single insect species (in this case, “praying mantis”) has become adopted throughout the globe to refer to the larger group of insects to which that one species belongs (e.g., compare “hornet” to European hornet, or “wasp” to common wasp).
Despite being an introduced species, it is the official state insect of Connecticut.’
Although not visible in this image, the black-ringed spot was there in this insect, confirming the identification.
Canon 40D with Canon 28-70mm L f2.8L lens at 70mm. ISO200 1/250 at f10
Original RAW image cropped and processed in Lightroom
Image taken 4 October 2012
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by David Clarke | Oct 4, 2012 | All, Phuket
Late afternoon in the waters off Phuket. After a day’s relatively unsuccessful fishing, the sun sinks into the ocean as we head back to the island.
Canon 40D with Canon 70-200 IS f4 lens at 187mm. ISO400 1/4000 at f4.5
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by David Clarke | Oct 1, 2012 | All, UK, Wildlife
Red squirrels are an endangered species in the UK, their numbers threatened by disease, grey squirrels and habitat loss.
There are still a few places where they are to be found, one of which is the Lake District where this extremely tame fellow lived with a few others in the garden of the house where we were staying.
They all seemed to spend their time collecting nuts from the bird table and burying them around the garden. They certainly had no fear of humans and would join us at the garden table if there was a chance of a nut to be grabbed.
Canon 40D with 10-22mm EFS lens at 22mm; ISO800 1/400 at f4.5
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by David Clarke | Sep 28, 2012 | All, Italy, Places
If you are ever in Florence, you have to visit Giotto’s Campanile, the bell tower that stands next to the Duomo, and climb to the top. Go early and beat the crowds – the narrow staircase is a two-way street and it gets busy.
This shot is taken from one level below the top, the highest level from which you can look down the inside of the building. The tower itself is stunning. It stands 84.7 metres high (277.9 feet), although after you’ve staggered up the 414 steps that take you all the way to the top, it seems higher. Every step is worth it – the view over the city from the top is fabulous. And it’s been standing there in all it’s magnificence since 1359, the year it was completed. Check it out on Wikipedia for more stats and information.
Canon 40D with Canon EFS 10-22mm lens at 10mm. ISO200 1/8 at f10
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by David Clarke | Sep 26, 2012 | All, Hong Kong, Wildlife
‘Don’t you know? There’s no such thing as a Gruffalo.” So Julia Donaldson’s wonderful story goes, but it isn’t true. Here’s proof that the Gruffalo really exists. It’s alive, well and living disguised as a rather scruffy tree in Big Wave Bay Village, Hong Kong. Normally somewhat obscured by the surrounding countryside, I rumbled it on a misty morning when the background vegetation on the hills was less visible. I took just one shot – I wasn’t prepared to hang around having heard about its terrible teeth and terrible claws…
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Canon 40D with Canon EFS 10-22mm lens at 22mm. ISO800 1/400 at f6.3
