Work had me over in Portugal and Spain last week supervising some students collecting mud samples for an EU project.

Took over 2200 photos over the week as many times there were small birds, or birds a long way away, in windy and hot conditions, so I ended up taking 20+ photos of the same thing in the hopes one of them didn't have heat haze or vibration from the wind.


Butterfly 2 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Shrimp by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Resevoir 5 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Flamingos 2 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Linda by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Sluice 2 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Crystalisation 3 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Kestrel 2 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Aslan by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Grass snake eating a frog by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Eagle by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Stilt by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Gecko by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Slender billed guls by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Stork 2 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Caterpillar by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Swift by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


bee eater 2 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Prickly pear by Chris_Moody, on Flickr

A lot of them are a bit grainy, but I'm quite happy with them knowing the conditions I was shooting in. Probably didn't do my camera much good as there were frequent lens changes on dry, hot,windy,dusty salt marshes/salinas.

The whole set is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/sets/72157629353506994/

I've also just realised I've neglected a day we went out and saw loads of birds, including great and lesser bustards

A few more...


Flamingos by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Stonechat by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Curious stilt by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Spoonbill flying by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Red palm weevil 3 by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Wreck by Chris_Moody, on Flickr

I think by the time we found the frog and snake, the frog had been trapped for so long it was too tired to try and escape any more.

Annoyingly this was happening whilst the red palm weevil was crawling across the floor, so I had to decide which to photograph. I opted for the beetle, and by the time I got back to the snake and frog to get a better shot, the other students had heard, come out, and startled the frog into jumping free into the pond.

Surprisingly later that day I went out and the frog was on the side, seemingly fine, with the grass snake swimming around the pond looking for it.

I think by the time we found the frog and snake, the frog had been trapped for so long it was too tired to try and escape any more.

Annoyingly this was happening whilst the red palm weevil was crawling across the floor, so I had to decide which to photograph. I opted for the beetle, and by the time I got back to the snake and frog to get a better shot, the other students had heard, come out, and startled the frog into jumping free into the pond.

Surprisingly later that day I went out and the frog was on the side, seemingly fine, with the grass snake swimming around the pond looking for it.

Dude you should have saved the frog from being eaten Frog Tragedy vs an escaping beetle!

Dude you should have saved the frog from being eaten Frog Tragedy vs an escaping beetle!

But that would have spoilt the balance of nature, anyway, there was no way a grass snake that small was going to be able to eat that frog, it was just being far too optimistic.