Published on 12, July, 2020
Iv decided to do a forum on my wildlife holidays where I can tell you about my holiday rather than just sending pictures
cause iv been on lots of them this year rather than only sending photos. also proper trips il tell you about and add photos to go with it on this post aswell. cause it will be easyer and better for me but is also for holidays cause im going on lots of holidays this year and it deserves its own thread in this sense.
my first holiday I went on this year was Wales. I went to Snowdonia near the national park
we saw a lamma and a pony
with the view we got from the cottage we stayed in was of the sea
Jackdaws perched on the buildings when we watched tv we went for a walk and I got great pictures of the moutains
you could see them on the beach outline at the beach the waves I saw a literally called gray heron fly past
the waves crashed against the rocks and became fully submerged until they broke and forced its way over. my long lens saved my life by getting me up close enough to photograph the waders and I saw Great crested grebes.
back at the cottage herring gulls at Jackdaws
the next day we went to the waterfalls I saw yellow gorse.
the water level was high but not flooded. it was a adventure and the gorse made it look colourful
it was massive then we went down the mountain the next day we went to the sea again and I saw a cormerent. there was lots of bladder wrack which is a type of seaweed.
seaweed are actualy a type of algae. some can surve out the water for a certain period of time. others dont survive as well it depends on the type cause theres different types of seaweed.
this one is normaly mistake for seaweed but is actualy a type of animal instead
in July
im very used to wildlife watching in the uk and while I have been to menorca I havnt wildlife watched there cause I didnt have an interest in Wildlife then so this was my first time wildlife watching in a different country.
I allways have to wear ear defenders when i go to the air port but they had disability asistance. I had to improvise cause the person that supports me that went with me hasnt gone on holiday with me before and didnt know what to say or do with my sensory challanges at the airport. the person that was with me said she thinks il be fine but I knew cause of my autism cant deal with crowds so I said I have autism and I dont like crowds so would it be ok to go where its less busy or quiter and so she took me through. there was a point where we wernt sure if I had to take my ear defenders off at the part where you have to walk through and them see if you got metal on you so I asked the lady there if I could keep them on and she went off to ask the person behind the thing you have to walk through. I was very anxious at this point. it was time to put our items on the coveyerbelt and walk through the metal thing. The person with me for the holiday and me still didnt know so I was panicing inside and i was told to take them off by the person taking me which i was reluctant to do but the plaine lady came over and thumbed up us saying not to take them off and that i can keep them on and we went through. the flight was delayed by an hour. but it was no ones fault cause they had to help somone who couldnt walk onto the plane. so we walked and stopped every 5 minutes so people were joking about that and inpatient at the same time. eventually we got on though at last. I filmed the take off and we went over the bay of biscay on the way to Tenerife
when landing I saw mount tede from above the clouds.
the next day I saw a canarian chiffchaff
and I saw a Spanish sparrow for the first time. they were breeding at the hotel.
but one of my biggest highlights was snorkeling for the very first time
and the dolphins which i got to see for the very first time
and mount tede a active volcano with many species only found on that mountain I saw crystal on a rock
that was the last day. the next day we went on a trip but when it came to packing bags for the trip. I put my bag with the plastic bag on it ontop of my suitcase then gave it to her with the plastic bag on it but took it off and thought that she was going to put the bag in cause it didnt only have my stuff in the bag and as far as I knew the plastic bag was in the boot but at some point in the journey I wondered where the bag was and thought it might be in the boot cause i couldnt see it in the back. we checked the boot and it wasnt there.
my ear defenders got left behind which was problomatic cause the person with me wasnt willing to go back and get the ear defenders and soon we had to go to the air port. I was highly anxious and I found it diffucult getting her to understand the why it is important enough that we do have to go back anf get them we bought some silenceing headphones as an emergancy cause otherwise I wouldnt of been able to get on the plane. we went through disability asisstance. the plane was delayed by a couple of hours and we wernt able to get on until midnight. a teenager had a go in a wheelchair and a little boy was going up and down a slope behind me which i found acted as visual stimulation and made my anxiety worse. it isnt thetre fault its just cause im autistic but thanfuly things did cam down and at 12 o'clock we lined up and got on the plane and came back to the uk by 4 or 5 oclock in the morning.
we left at 10. I went strait to Dorset at 10 it took a couple of hours to get there. Dad got me and Mum lost so they had a few arguments cause Mums sat nav indicated we were going the wrong way but Dad was insistant he was going the right way. and of course sat navs (can) send you in the wrong direction and arnt allways acurate cause of that but this time it was correct. I like maps and im good at finding places even tucked out of the way places and geography so I Iooked at Mums map and the arrow was pointing in the correct direction towards the marker on the beach. we went strait to the Beach. I wore a vest and waterproof swimshorts already under my cloaths so that I can go in strait away. the beach was busy but we found a spot where there wasnt much people. I put my snorkel mask on and went in. I like to (get to know a beach, what the waves are like, how it feels, how clear it is and how it is the same or different aswel as the abundance of wildlife in the water before putting flippers on so I did that. I took pictures with my camara but I only managed to take a few and I couldnt ransfer them to my laptop until I get back. when snorkeling I also swam with my snorkel mask. there wasnt much wildlife under the water but the tide wasnt in so there might of been facotrs responsible for there not being much. there wasnt any fish but as I floated over snorkeling with my face in the water I saw a few crabs well camafalaged in the sand. at first apearsnce they could easily be mistakened for shells. my foot touched the shell before I knew they were there so it just startled me cause it is easy to forget they live under water aswell and not just found on the beach itself but I was fine in fact I tryed to get an angle on them so that I can get a picture of them but wasnt able to cause the gravity of the water kept trying to pull me in different direction and then the clarity disapeared but I saw them after and they moved about abit more. this resulted in a drawing I would do the next day but for now focusing on the present day in the story. I saw sea lettuce and another interesting thing aswell. I got out the sea and took some pictures on the beach aswell
wasps just like bees are important pollinators and there has been a drop in numbers this year so I have been especially looking out for them. 2 mistakened Mums bag for having food in it and competed with one another which I filmed but I also took some pictures
Devils Coach horse Ocypus olens
herring gull on a post
black backed gull on the post
you could also see the other side which resembled that of the white chalk cliff
like the ones in Dover
shells ( live limpits on the rock waiting for the tide to come in )
there was beadlet anemones on the rocks
unfortunatly also litter. near the water so I sneakily took it with me to find a bin cause we have enough litter
and plastic pollution in the sea and the water was comeing over to the beach now to cover the rockpools
sand lyme grass
we went to see my aunty then we went to the hotel and got ready for bed. the next day we went to purbeck nature reserve
we went with my half sisster and her husband her child is considered to be my niece. her husband encourages interest in wildlife and photography by showing her animals she can take a picture of and likes going off on her own to take pictures aswell. she often sees me taking pictures when we see them aswell.
with his dslr nikon camara and she won a photography completion. he photos were of a Robin and of a Bumblebee in flight.
so she took pictures aswell but there on her husbands camara so I cant show you them but they were good.
we went down the trails there
windflower. japanease anemone
there was lots of species of lichen. there was also a species of moss called pincusion moss
Leucobryum
there was also a Robin
we went past the pool
we split up and me and Dad went down the sika trail
Bell Heather -Erica Cinerea
I heard of this the day before we went. they made the what they say is the longest in the Uk
we both crossed the bridge. it was shakey but less shaky when people already crossed it.
so we waited for them to cross and then carried on. I filmed and Dad was
aparantly filming me while I had my camara turned so faceing pool while we cross
while I focus on where im going. I held on while crossing though and we suddenly met up
with the others
cause my half sissters husband was on the other side kneeling down and took a photo
so I had my dad filming me behind me. me filming the pool and crossing the bridge and
my half sissters husband taking a picture from the front but it was a nice view.
more heather. species: (common Heather Calluna Vulgaris
me and Dad went up and I took a picture of a view
there was some signs telling us not to go past these signs but one of them had fallen down
so I stood it up. it was the type that needed to be dug in but I took advantage of my resourcefulness
and pushed mud into the gap and flattened it which kept it upright I hadnt fixed it entriely but
managed to fix it temporarily.
there was lots and lots of heather
later
Male Peacock wondering around. its been a couple of years since iv seen a peacok but the ones I have seen
wernt half as tall and elegant as this one and was the most elegant one iv seen. the way it strutted along past the tree and its body language and posture with its colourful feathers and very very long tail dragging behind it
kids got exited and followed it cause they wanted to take pictures. although they are a popular bird and there common and can be found in places its tameness and the location
aswell as the amount of atention it was getting got me under the suspicion it was here not just to mate with a female
but due to the infuence of visitors or people encourageing them into contact with people in some way. at first
people were chaseing it to see it and take pictures (even when it wanted to be left alone and have its photo taken) which it didnt like and kids had food in there hands trying to feed it which it didnt mind when it was hungry but when it wasnt hungry and didnt want food it got chased around the whole area and disapeared
luckily before that for me I decided to take pictures from behind trees and get more natural pictures of it. I got photos of it walking about naturally not paying atention and walking past the famous lake at the reserve.
when the male came back he came along with a pe hen (female peacock) so I aproached them the same way I did previously and took natural pictures of them both together in the same photo
here is the pehen
I tyed to get a close up of the male and managed take a picture of its feathers
later on I saw a footman moth resting on a bell heather
later on when everyone had luch we went to the pool and the girl showed me where she and my half sissters husaband saw the damselfys and took pictures of them. and there was a few on the ground so I took a picture one of the damselflys
common Blue Damslefly. Enallagma Cyathigerum
after this it was time to say bye to my half sisster and her husband and the girl and go back to Gloucestershire.
I drew this of the beach part of my trip. this is of when i saw the crabs under water on Saturday the day before I went to the nature reserve and I drew this on the way back from the purbek heaths nature reserve also called blue pool island nature reserve on Sunday
the crabs under water
It's great that the water was so clear. I think that I have only ever seen crabs out of the water.
thats interesting
There is a species of Deep Sea Red Crab which are a deep-water species found near the Faroe Islands and Shetland.
They can even be found in water depths from 400 to 2000 metres.
Up to 155 mm may be the width of their carapace.
(Chaceon (Geryon) affinis).