Toni Allen's Blog

[image error]I started writing this blog post about Charlie the cuckoo as part of the #30DaysWild challenge but a health hiccup set me back. Some things had to go and it’s been my blog that suffered while I concentrated on the things I love most, writing and taking photos. This does, however, mean that I have lots of great photos to share and a nearly completed novel. There’s nothing quite like a health scare to make you live life to the full.

To me cuckoos have always been an elusive bird, something that is often heard but never seen. Many a time I’ve caught their distinctive call, looked towards distant trees but seen nothing. Friends and fellow photographers have entertained me with stories of how they saw a cuckoo whilst out cycling or snapped a few choice shots over the weekend. To me the cuckoo was invisible. But that was all about to change.

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Earlier this year my friend and I were out taking photos, the cuckoo called and a passing local asked if we’d been over to photograph it yet. Over where? Where everyone else was going, of course. Apparently twitchers from right across the country were descending on a modest meadow not far from where we were standing and creating a dreadful nuisance in their pursuit of a regular summer visitor named Charlie.

We were informed that Charlie the cuckoo is not tame but easily baited with live mealworms and therefore a photographers dream. A few days later my friend did a reconnaissance ride-by on his bicycle and reported back that the meadow was full of photographers with lenses the size of cannons and not a cuckoo in sight. ‘Mayhem,’ he said and we made plans to visit the meadow on a quieter day of the week when the visiting twitchers were unlikely to be there.

Armed with my Nikon super-zoom, a monopod and a spare battery, we set off to find Charlie. As luck would have it, only one lone photographer was in the meadow, his lens aimed at a post stuck in the ground and his bait wriggling in a small pot by his side. From a distance I caught my first glimpse of the cuckoo, feeding on the ground. Quietly we approached and thankfully the photographer was quite tame too and happy for us to sit and share his pitch.

[image error]In the dazzling afternoon sunshine Charlie was truly magnificent. His wings were the colour of a steely grey sky, shimmering and glistening against his stripy t-shirt. And those eyes! Bright yellow, like sugar coated sweeties. Only sweets don’t watch you and Charlie was very aware of our presence. We were sat on an invisible line and I wondered if Charlie himself had drawn it on the ground because one step closer and he instantly flew away.

We were at least 30/40 yards from Charlie so I was glad I’d taken my super zoom. Even though the picture quality isn’t as crisp as my Olympus I managed to capture some pretty decent shots. The cuckoo is now on the RSPB’s red list of endangered species so never forget to stop and listen to their distinctive call. Who knows, in a few years’ time our woodlands may no longer resound with ‘cuckoo’ during warm summer days.

The post How I captured a cuckoo – with my camera appeared first on Toni Allen Author.

Beach read bundle #12 – 5 CHANCES TO WIN eBooks of CARDS FROM KHLOE’S FLOWER SHOP by Isabella Louise Anderson, THE SINKING CHEF by Sylvia Ashby, and VISITING LILLY by Toni Allen

CARDS FROM KHLOE’S FLOWER SHOP[image error] – Isabella Louise Anderson – 5 ebooks

[image error][image error]As the owner of a successful florist shop, Khloe Harper trusts her instincts. She has a strong bond with her family and friends, but after being betrayed by her last love, she’s kept herself at arms’ length from romance. When dashing entertainment attorney Derek Thomas walks into her store, Khloe’s interest is piqued. What at first seems like a business relationship quickly turns into romance, and Derek slowly plucks away the petals she’s been hiding behind. Just as Khloe lets down her guard, she discovers that Derek may not be worthy of her love after all.

Frumpy Connie Albright has a faux fascination with an imaginary man named Walt, thinking that by sending herself flowers from him she’ll feel less out-of-place with the “mean girls” she works with. When she comes face to face with her possible prince charming and thinking she might have a happy ending, when a truth is revealed, she wonders if she’ll ever have a Cinderella story.

A recently widowed senior, Gabby Lewis, isn’t ready to give up on love—which means releasing herself from survivor’s guilt and taking a chance on finding happiness and companionship again. After signing up for an online dating site for senior citizens, much to her surprise, she’s matched with Harry, an energetic and loving man, who quickly eases himself into her heart. Will Gabby take the leap of falling in love again, knowing it’s possible to have two loves of her life?

As each woman’s story develops through flowers and cards sent from Khloe’s shop during the Fall months, they begin to learn that love can only truly blossom when you trust your heart.

THE SINKING CHEF[image error] – Sylvia Ashby – 5 eBooks

[image error]Bridget Jones meets Burnt in this delightful comedy novel about a talented YouTuber and the guy who keeps trying to bring her down.

In Belsize Park, London, Ashley works hard on her daily YouTube channel “The Sinking Chef”. It’s filmed right in her kitchen, so she doesn’t go out much.

James is a gruff British TV director, turned publisher, who Ashley had a crush on ages ago. She has moved on but when he calls with an offer to take her out to lunch she doesn’t say no. It’s only lunch – what can go wrong?

The day Ashley meets James for lunch and he promises her a book deal, she makes the worse decision in her life – to hide the book deal from her boyfriend, Giacomo. As things progress Ashley’s secrets mount up and other things in her life unravel. Is there a connection? And how is she going to get out of this without losing Giacomo and the life she loves?

Set in the heart of fast-paced London, The Sinking Chef is a charming story of love, recipes, secrets, and the determination to do thinks right by those you love most in your life.

VISITING LILLY[image error] – Toni Allen – 5 eBooks

[image error][image error]Why should a man at a Surrey police station go ballistic because someone tries to visit Lilly, his elderly grandmother?

Detective Inspector Jake Talbot is intrigued, and this little puzzle might serve to distract him from sorrows of a Christmas past. Soon he is entangled with Frankie, an odd young man who claims to have met Lilly in her youth. Talbot dismisses the notion of time travel, but then discovers the Ministry of Defense has been monitoring Frankie since his friend disappeared ten years previously. Forced to work with the MOD, Talbot unearths family secrets and betrayals. The families act ruthlessly to prevent him from discovering the facts, colluding to ruin him.

If Frankie is innocent, Talbot won’t let him be victimized. An uneasy understanding grows between them as they follow the evidence, for only the truth will allow Frankie to visit Lilly.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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[image error][image error]As today, June 8th, is World Oceans Day it gives me a good excuse to share a couple more of my photos from Elmer Beach on the South Coast.

To me there’s nothing more wonderful than walking along the beach on a warm day and watching the sea roll in. I’m fascinated by waves (I can watch them for hours!) but do try and look closer at the marine life around me, including sea birds that rely on foraging for bugs when the tide goes out.

As you saw in my previous post, on Elmer Beach I discovered colourful anemones keeping cool in the rock pools. Their companions were barnacles and more winkles than I’d ever seen congregated in one place, a few of them venturing onto the wet sand and leaving mysterious trails behind them.

[image error]In the photo above the double tram lines are definitely created by a winkle (I saw one making the same lines) but I have no idea what made the small water-filled hole that the tram lines run through. There were lots of them on the beach and to me they remain a mystery.

[image error]We left the beach before the birds started coming in for their evening feed and this lone sandpiper was one of the few sea-birds I saw. I’m calling it a sandpiper because I really don’t know whether it’s a common sandpiper, a dunlin or a sanderling. Or something else. What I do know is that this little fella is precious because someone has tagged him and is monitoring his progress in life and keeping an eye on his wellbeing.

Every time I visit a beach I discover something new to me. Birds, bugs, unique animal behaviour – they all enrich my life and it’s fun seeing these things for myself and not on a TV programme. We need to protect our oceans right now so that those who come after us can experience these things for themselves and not have to rely on recorded images of what has been. After all, you can’t smell the sea while watching it on TV!

Have you visited a beach recently and discovered something new?

The post #30DaysWild – Day 8 – The Ocean appeared first on Toni Allen Author.

[image error]I’ve had a busy day but really wanted to share this lovely family of Mandrin ducks with you. They breed at the same location, Waggoners Wells near Grayshot, Surrey, every year and I’m so excited to see that this year they have six healthy ducklings.

It was a really gloomy day hence the photos aren’t too hot but it gives you an image of the whole family – except Daddy Duck, who was nowhere to be seen.

I spotted the Mandarins just after they’d finished their feed time and needed a rest. Once they get on the water they are so fast, much faster than Mallard ducklings and to my mind much more intelligent as well. With any luck I’d get some photos of them scooting across the water next time I visit.

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The post #30DaysWild – Day 7 – Mandarin Duck Family appeared first on Toni Allen Author.

[image error][image error]When the Met Office predicts gusts of wind up to 40 mph and flags up a yellow weather warning it’s wise to stay indoors and rest on your laurels – especially when trees are falling down and branches are tumbling close to your head.

[image error]I did brave the wild and windy elements but I haven’t downloaded my photos yet, so I’m cheating a bit and sharing a couple of photos of some lovely sea anemones I found last week when we visited Elmer beach on the South Coast. If I’ve got it right these are Actina equine and in real life they are absolutely glorious. You’ll find them hugging the shade in rock pools but you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled or you’ll walk straight past without noticing them (as I did at first!)

Anyone else taken photos of sea anemones for the #30DaysWild challenge? I’d love to see them so please post a link to your photos in the comments box.

The post #30DaysWild – Day 6 – Sea Anemone appeared first on Toni Allen Author.

[image error][image error]When the wind blows and the rain falls the best way to go wild is with one’s imagination. I saw this little fella making his way home, scythe over his shoulder, keen to get warm by the fire.

‘Good day,” he said, “My name’s Cotton-grass Farmer and I farm near the bogs and marshes around Thursley Common.”

“Good day to you, sir,” I replied, “you look very fine in your long white smock. May I take your photo for today’s random act of wildness?”

He stood straight a moment then stroked his beard and went on his way. He might have smiled but his beard was too thick to gauge his expression.

*****

[image error]The fluffy white heads of the Common Cotton-grass can be seen swaying in the wind on the boggy heath along Elstead Boardwalk on Thurlsey Common. It isn’t truly a grass but a sedge. I often think it’s a pity it flourishes too late in the season for most birds to take advantage of its fine strands for nesting material, but I’m sure some do if they have a second clutch.

Do you see people and faces in the trees, leave and grasses like I do?

The post #30DaysWild – Day 5 – Cotton-grass farmer appeared first on Toni Allen Author.

Blue Damselfly

[image error]I spent today chasing blue damselflies in a blustery wind. This probably wasn’t the wisest way to spend a Sunday with my camera because the wind kept buffeting my subject out of shot every time I lined up to go click.

[image error]Watching them was fun but the females proved shy and kept playing that cute game called ‘let’s hide behind this blade of grass every time you point that camera at me.’ They do it all of the time. I’ve been known to chase them round and round the same blade of grass for ages without getting one shot. Crickets and grasshoppers have been known to play the same game too.

Maybe this last one isn’t my best shot of the day but I loved seeing these two males sitting on a grass’s seed head having a good old chinwag. The boys were back in town and eager to share the gossip.

Male Blue Damselflies

The post #30DaysWild- Day 4 – Blue Damselflies appeared first on Toni Allen Author.

Large Red Damselfly

[image error]Today’s random act of wildness was to wait patiently while this Large Red Damselfly flew backwards and forwards trying to catch her lunch. At last she caught it and settled to munch her bug. She kept twitching and the wind swayed the leaf she’d rested on from side to side, but eventually I managed to capture a shot of her spitting out the wings. Yeach, don’t want to eat those nasty wings. I imagine that once she’d also dismissed the black outer wings there wasn’t much left to eat at all. Little wonder she only rested for a short time before taking off to hunt down her next snack.

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I’m not very good at identifying damselflies, but I think this is the female because of the yellow stripes under her thorax. During her after-lunch rest the wind briefly dropped and I caught this full length shot before she flew away.

Rhopalus subrufus

[image error]Yesterday, sitting in my little patch I dare call a garden, taking in the sunshine, I spotted something shiny winking at me from one of my hardy geraniums. Taking a closer look I found these two bugs mating so rushed indoors to grab my camera before they ran off. They were still there when I returned, far too busy to want to fly away – although they did keep moving around when I got too close.

My bug book wasn’t much help at identifying them but a quick internet search turned up a fab website with lots of pictures so I think I’ve correctly identified them as Rhopalus subrufus Thank you http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/ for creating such a terrific resource.

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If I haven’t identified them correctly please let me know. There are many subtle variations on these little beasties so I could well be wrong. When Mother Nature thought these ones up she made the prettiest sparkly jewels that on a bright day shine brighter than diamonds. I think I’ll rename them ‘Little Gems,’ it’s an apt description and much easier to say than their official name.

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Germander Speedwell – Veronica chamaedrys

[image error]This morning I went through some photos I took over the weekend and looked up the names of the wildflowers. The blue flower in the main image I recognised as a Speedwell, but the other two I was uncertain about. Even though they all look remarkably like Speedwells, I couldn’t be certain about the upright specimen because I’ve always associated Speedwells with a low-lying creeping disposition. Add variations in colour within the same variety and it all became rather confusing.

Heath Speedwell – Veronica officinalis

Heath Speedwell

The first ones that caught my eye were the Heath Speedwells, growing in great swathes and forming a purple carpet across the field. Some were very purple while others were much paler as if they’d been bleached a shade lighter. All Speedwells are tiny plants with blooms no more than 1 cm across and these stood no higher than my camera at around 8cm. I’d rested my camera on the grass so that will give you some idea of how small these delightful wildflowers are. Heath Speedwell – Veronica officinalis

Germander Speedwell

Sitting on drizzle dampened ground taking photos I noticed that they weren’t all the same, which is when I recognised the more usual Germander Speedwell (main photo) and here with a bug (yet to be identified!) taking a rest and drinking nectar.

Germander Speedwell – Veronica chamaedrys

Thyme-leaved Speedwell

The last ones I found were an absolute treat because I’d never come across a white Speedwell before. They’re so small I’d probably failed to notice them hiding in the grass. This is Thyme-leaved Speedwell with blooms barely 8mm across and the prettiest little wildflower you’ll ever see. I’m really hoping to see some more on a brighter day when grey clouds aren’t gathering overhead. The insects living on this one are easily identified as aphids and if you know how tiny an aphid is you’ll have a good idea how small and delicate the plant is.

Thyme-leaved Speedwell – Veronica serpyllifolia

You won’t believe that I found all three varieties on a local playing field. I was going to grab a snap of the whole field, but this is England, and this was a Bank Holiday Monday, so of course, the rain came tumbling down. Going wild is one thing, getting wet is something else!

Which Speedwell is your favourite?