Photo of the Month - 2021 - Iggy Tavares

[Iggy]

Spring at last

On this beautiful spring day, I spent some time in our garden.
Saw my first butterfly of the year, a young Coma, feasting on goat willow nectar.
In the late afternoon a giant size bumble bee was collecting goat willow nectar too.
Highlight of the day was that this pair of frogs finally spawned.

[Iggy]

POTM April 2021 - Coot and Grebe Face off

I visited South Norwood Lake today on a whim as it was a lovely sunny day.
Just a few Canada geese, mallard ducks, and even a large rat were about.
Fortunately, some sail boats were on the water which gave me something to work with.

I finally found a pair of greater crested grebe building their nest adjoining a coot's nest, surprisingly with no aggravation.
Of course, the metal railing & undergrowth made it difficult to get any clear shots.
10 metres further along another male grebe was trying to establish a territory.
There was the beginnings of a nest but no female in sight.
A male coot strayed in, which had the grebe extend the head feathers of his crest.
The grebe moved forward and dived under water to reappear on the other side.
This diving was repeated a few times with no obvious physical contact between the birds, but the bemused coot moved on.
I managed to get one image of the stand off in reasonable focus!

[Iggy]

POTM May 2021 - Meadow of white cow parsley flowers

Another visit to South Norwood Lake this afternoon proved fruitful as many of the wood glades were filled with pretty white cow parsley flowers.
Also came across a a pair of Egyptian geese with half a dozen day old goslings with the male goose commanding his flock from a tree branch.
Only one pair of Grebes still on nest, but difficult to photograph.

[Iggy]

Little, Holly Blue Butterfly
Our holly tree is currently covered with tiny white flowers.
Yesterday, mid-day, looking at our garden from an upstairs window, I spotted a tiny holly blue butterfly settling on an adjoining bush.
I carefully noted its position and went down stairs into the garden with my trusty Lumix FZ1000.
I found the blue hanging on in bouts of strong wind.
In moments of calmness, I shot some images of the tiny holly blue!!
I surprised myself with the results.

[Iggy]

POTM June 2021 - Long-legged cellar spider

In the shed this week, I came across this rather interesting, long-legged cellar spider.
They live in small colonies of what appears to be a communal web, catching tiny insects.
They are rather fragile and are unlikely / unable to bite me.
So no worries.

[Iggy]

POTM July 2021 - Mobile Phone in Wild Flower Meadow

Yesterday's walk in Lloyd Park on a dull morning meant the there were very few bees or butterflies about.
However, all the wild flowers were in bloom presenting some photographic opportunities.
Additionally, there were some people walking or running through the virtually deserted park.
The guy on his mobile phone, a long way off, was stationary for a while.

[Iggy]

POTM August 2021 - Peacock Butterfly on Cone Flower

Visited Coombe Gardens again, which was ablaze with cone flowers (Echinacea purpurea) and much more.
The cone flowers were attracting various bee species but also dozens of Peacock butterflies.
The fast moving butterflies were nervous of my presence forcing me to keep my distance.
All I had was my light weight Panasonic Lumix FZ 1000 with has a built-in 25-400 mm equivalent zoom lens.
I had many goes at photographing the butterflies and was happy enough with this result in spite of the camouflaging effects.

[Iggy]

POTM September 2021 - Move that Bin!

Yesterday afternoon, I did attend Sydenham Arts Artist Trail.
https://sydenhamarts.co.uk/artists-trail/
I viewed a few of the Artists exhibitions, had a chat with them and took a few photos too.
I also went on the hour long Graffiti Trail Walk that I enjoyed and which offered further photographic opportunities.
It was good to get out with my camera!

[Iggy]

POTM October 2021 - The Walk past on a Catwalk
I have not been out with my camera yet this month.
Instead, been checking my past portfolios for images suitable for CCC competitions that are coming thick and fast.
Unfortunately, the image below is not sharp enough to be of competition quality.
However, I did like its ambiance and hence proceeded with a fair amount of rough tidy up, all done this month.
So with poetic licence, I am using it as my October Photo of the month.
I would be grateful for all comments and suggestions. Thank you.

[Paul Heester]

Hi Iggy

I like this image and the main model looks sharp enough to me but maybe the hi-res version says otherwise. The lines from the background display are a bit distracting. I would be tempted to make a selection around the display and apply a gaussian blur just enough so those lines disappear.