We’ve had a bit of an unusual (for late October) cold spell recently which has brought some welcome rain. I say welcome, from a photography point of view not so, but from a nature point of view, certainly.
It is starting to transform the landscape from dusty and dry to lush and green. Grass is now growing where it has been absent since mid summer.
(all photos shot and edited using Lightroom on my Samsung Galaxy S8+)
The weather forecast mentioned the chance of some clouds early this morning. Well, we had just one cloud, ONE BIG CLOUD. It seems the entire northern Algarve Hills were covered in thick hill mist this morning which has now made way for a warm and sunny day!
My morning dog walk was transformed into a stunning display of water droplets on the many Spider Webs. Armed with just my mobile phone, I snapped a few shots. Oh and whilst we are on the subject of Spiders, the resident Tarantula Wolf Spider now has many hatched babies attached to her abdomen, unfortunately, she is very reluctant to come out of her burrow so no photos yet.
I take a camera along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.
This morning I sat on the river bank letting Wally run around in the water when I spotted a Viperine in one of the river pools (the river is now dry with just pools remaining). I watched it swim to the opposite bank and it eventually climbed out to sunbathe on the rocks.
It was really tough to photograph as there was a lot of contrast between the bright sunlight and the dark rocks.
The Viperine (Natrix maura) is a small snake that spends a lot of time in the water catching fish and although you may think by the name, it is not a Viper. It’s name comes from being similar in appearance to a Viper. It is non-venomous and although when threatened it can act like a Viper and strike, it will not bite. It is Diurnal which meaning it is active during daylight only. In adult-life, they can grow to 85cm long, this particular one was no larger than about 40cm.
I take a camera along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.
The river has now dried up (as normal this time of year) but there are a lot of large pools remaining. I have noticed that the Louisiana Crayfish are spending time out of the water. I was walking down the dried river bed and stumbled across this little fella who immediately went into fight mode with his pincers ready! In the water they can swim backwards extremely quickly, however, out of the water they are slow and clumsy so have to defend themselves. You may remember I took some Underwater Photos of the Crayfish a short while back.
I didn’t take a camera this morning, so the mobile had to do;
You may have heard this spoken many times, “shoot with the sun over your shoulder”, this is so that you get a good light falling on your subject. Of course, this isn’t a rule as such, but often given as advice. However, shooting with the sun at different angles can be creative.
This morning, Wally was taking a drink from the river and he was in direct line of the sun. I took a shot and with some “mood” editing in Lightroom came away with this shot. I love that his tongue is lit.
{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}I take a camera along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.
I was watching some Barn Swallows catching Flies this morning and wanted to grab a quick shot of one with its tail feathers spread wide to show the white flashes. It’s a sight you don’t see very often as they open their tail feathers to turn and it happens so quickly you often miss it.
If you struggle identifying the difference between Swallows, Swifts and Martins, keep a look out for this week’s Algarve Resident. On sale on Thursday, this month’s article is a quick guide on the differences between them. A few days later it will also be available online.
Here is one just about to gulp down a Fly.
