Goss Moor field trip

Female Black tailed Skimmer

The fine weather sparked a large turnout for the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Photographic Group field trip to the Goss Moor in mid Cornwall.

There were a few insects to photograph but overall numbers were low due to the long spell of awful weather we've had. A few images follow.

Small Red damselflies paired

Ragged Robin

Common frog

Flowers at Polly Joke

I took advantage of the break in the torrential downpours that have been the Cornish summer this year to pop out to Polly Joke & West Pentire for the Corn Marigolds.

Fortunately I wasn't too late and there was still a great display interspersed with a few poppies and also Borage.

I also found a nice Golden ringed Dragonfly sheltering from the wind at the edge of the field.

Corn Marigolds and Poppies at Polly Joke

Corn Marigolds and Poppies at Polly Joke

Corn Marigolds and Poppies at Polly Joke

Borage (I think)

Poppies at Polly Joke

Golden ringed Dragonfly amongst the Corn Marigolds

Fieldfare in Finland

Fieldfare

Probably the commonest bird we saw in Finland last month was the beautiful Fieldfare in breeding plumage.

They were nesting in the parks in all the little towns we visited and were their equivalent of our blackbird seeking worms on all the lawns around.

Super to see their plumage in summer as oppose to the winter views we normally get.

Fieldfare

Fieldfare

A big brown bear at 03:25 in the morning!

European Brown bear

Very difficult to even consider catching a nap when there are animals like this outside the hide.

This guy was on the opposite side of the pond from us and it was 03:25 in the morning with the light just beginning to pick up a bit.

Even he needed to take a scratch although my shutter speed failed to stop all of the action.

I've also included a shot taken from the hide with a wide angle lens so that it shows how close they came to our hides.

Click here to view many more images on my website.......

European Brown bear

European Brown bear

European Brown bear near our hides

More bears

Just a quick update as I wait in the airport at Oulu for my flights to Helsinki & London Heathrow.

I'll hopefully add some more pictures later.

The last 2 nights we spent 14 hours each night in hides for the brown bears in the Finnish-Russian border areas.

Here are a few pics for starters!

3 hours later.
I'm really bored now  waiting for my flight at Helsinki so have uploaded some more bear pictures but don't dismay as there are still many hundreds still to come!

Wild brown bear

Wild brown bear

Wild brown bear with numerous mosquitoes!

Wild brown bear sniffing the air for food or danger...probably food!

Young bear scratching

At the scratching tree