Ascend

.

My entry in this weeks Daily Post photo challenge. Temporary stairs to the Utrecht (The Netherlands) Central Station.

Rhingia campestris – snuitvlieg

This is supposed to be the Rhingia campestris, easely recognizable by his distinctive long snout. So in dutch he is called ‘ordinary snout fly’, but I don’t think that name is used in english as well.

Dit is de gewone snuitvlieg ofwel Rhingia campestris. Gemakkelijk te herkennen aan – jawel – zijn lange snuit.

Best Wishes

A Merry Christmas to all my visitors and a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Al mijn bezoekers een prettig kerstfeest toegewenst en een gelukkig en vooral gezond nieuw jaar!

.

Fences

Wooden fences around building sites are usually covered with advertising and graffiti, but sometimes an effort is made to make them look pretty. The first two pictures I took some years ago in Utrecht centre where the architects visions of what was going to arise were painted on the fences.
.
.
.
The next picture was taken in Utrecht too a few years later. It is a wall surrounding a big shopping centre that was – and still is – being renovated. In my view a clear example of transmogrifity.
.

.
Finally a shot I took in France where someone had brightened up his garagewall. Not as  sophisticated as the examples above bit still a very nice effort I think.
.

Sanderlings – Drieteenstrandlopers

I posted about these birds before. I have to capture them whenever I see them. They are so cute and funny the way they behave. There were hundreds of them at the beach of Terschelling this year running along the waterline looking for shellfish and little crabs to eat.

Ik heb al eerder foto’s geplaatst van deze vogeltjes. Ik kan het niet laten ze te fotograferen als ik ze zie en er waren er honderden op het strand van Terschelling dit jaar. Ze renden langs de golven op zoek naar aangespoelde schelpdieren en kleine krabbetjes.

.

.

They was mainly shellfish and little crabs on the menu.
Er stonden voornamelijk schelpdieren en kleine krabbetjes op het menu.

.

Birdwatch

Saterday  October 1st, while I happened to be on holliday on the isle of Terschelling, it was Eurobirdwatch day, BirdLife’s annual birdwatching event in Europe. Well, on the beaches of Terschelling there were plenty of birds to watch:

Zaterdag 1 oktober, terwijl ik toevallig op Terschelling met vakantie was, was het Eurobirdwatch dag, het jaarlijkse vogeltel evenement waar tienduizenden vogelliefhebbers in heel europa (trek)vogels gaan tellen. Nou op het strand van Terschelling waren genoeg vogels te zien.

.
.
.

Weekly Photo Challenge – Rare

This is my entry in the Daily Post weekly photo challenge of this week.

Usually when I post a picture of a flower with an insect, the insect is the main subject. But this time it is all about the plant. This is a Whorled Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum verticillatum) and very rare, at least here in the Netherlands.
The flowers grow in clusters around the upgoing stem, while the flowers of the much more common Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum multiflorum) in the second picture hang in rows from the underside of the horizontal stems.
.

Meadow or tree pipit – gras- of boompieper

Meadow pipit, or tree pipit – I can never tell the difference – on the lookout. It soon  became clear why: a bit further down the road I spotted two juvenile pipits in the grass.

Gras- of boompieper – ik weet nooit het verschil – op de uitkijk. Al snel werd duidelijk waarom: een eindje verderop zag in twee jonge piepers in het gras.
.
.

Vagrant darter – Steenrode heidelibel

After closely studying these pictures and my dragonfly book, I am fairly certain that this is the vagrant darter (Sympetrum vulgatum). These dragonflies have the habit of often coming back to the same spot. So as a photographer you just stay put and the dragon fly will return to you again and again, thus enabling you to continue the photoshoot at your leisure.

Na nauwkeurig bestudering van mijn foto’s en mijn libellenboek, heb ik geconcludeerd dat dit de steenrode heidelibel (Sympetrum vulgatum) moet zijn. Deze libellen hebben de gewoonte steeds weer terug te keren naar dezelfde plek. Dus als fotograaf kun je rustig blijven zitten terwijl de libelle steeds weer naar je toe komt en je de de fotoshoot op je gemak voort kunt zetten.
.
.
.

Weekly Photo Challenge – Narrow

This is my entry in the Daily Post weekly photo challenge of this week.

It is a picture of the cathedral in Soissons in France. Actually, this place is  enormous, as cathedrals tend to be, but because of its height it also gives a feeling of narrowness.

Fly

Actually this post should have been called ‘Yellow dung fly on nettle’, but somehow I did not think that sounded very actractive, so I decided to keep it simple.

Eigenlijk zou deze post ‘strontvlieg op brandnetel’ moeten heten, maar dat vond ik toch niet zo wervend klinken, dus heb ik het maar simpel gehouden.

 

Rapeseed – koolzaad

Last month the rapeseed in Northern France was in full bloom. Enormous fields, small patches and whole landscapes coloured yellow.

Vorige  maand stond in N.Frankrijk het koolzaad in volle bloei. Enorme velden, kleine stukjes land en complete landschappen kleurden geel.
.
.
.
The last picture was taken through the carwindow while driving on the highway to Paris (I was not behind the wheel BTW).

Deze laatste foto is genomen door het autoraampje terwijl we over de snelweg naar Parijs reden (ik zat niet achter het stuur).

.

Snipefly – snavelvlieg

OK, I admit, I had to look it up. But apparently this is the downlooker snipefly or Rhagio scolopaceus, part of the soldierflies family. He has got his name because he is usually sitting head-down on fence posts or sunny tree trunks. Never knew macrophotography would be so educational :).

OK, ik geef toe, ik moest het even opzoeken, maar blijkbaar is dit een snavelvlieg ofwel gewone snipvlieg, wetenschappelijke naam Rhagio scolopaceus. In het engels heet hij ‘downlooker snipefly’ omdat hij vaak met zijn kop naar beneden op een paal of boomstam zit. Nooit gedacht dat je van macrofotografie nog zo veel kon leren 🙂
.

Italian Striped-Bug – Pyjamawants

Aren’t they pretty these Italian Striped bugs (Graphosoma lineatum) in their black and red striped pajamas, captured here in a romantic setting of tiny white flowers. And wat is more, they were in love … I little later I spotted them on an other plant being united (literally).

Zijn ze niet mooi deze pyjama wantsen (Graphosoma lineatum) met hun rood en zwart gestreepte pyamaatjes, hier gefotografeerd romantisch tussen de witte bloemetjes. En niet voor niets, ze waren verliefd….. Even later vond ik ze op een andere plant druk bezig de liefde te bedrijven.

.
.
.

Midwinter

The winter has become official today, although we have been up to our necks in snow already with temperatures upto -15°C. High time for me to take my traditional winterbreak from blogging. I know you can take awsome pictures at this kind of year, but I am just not that kind of person. When it is this cold I rather stay near the fire with a hot drink. So I wish you all a Merry Chrismas and a very happy and prosperous new year and you will hear from me again as soon as spring announces itself.

Rust, grease and shine

For some shots of the visitors of this event see my blackandwhite blog.

Home

Just a few shots of my home town:

In need of repair

I love old and delapidated houses, or generally all structures that are in need of repair. But I have seldom the nerve te actually enter. There was no need to enter this house though, I could easily shoot through the holes in the wall.

Reflections

Reflections of the little houses near the waterfront turned into an abstract painting by the wind:

Dom

While photographing the beerboat of the post below, I couldn’t resist taking this classic shot of the Dom tower in Utrecht.