Steve Palmer
@stevepalmer
🌿 Nature and wildlife photographer 📸 Award winning glimpses of nature 📷 Sony A7RV 👋 Come explore with me!
Good morning, Mr Magpie, doth my cap! One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret, Never to be told
Photographed at Newgate Nature Reserve, a former landfill now closed and reclaimed for nature, it’s a striking example of how industrial land can be returned to nature. Does anybody know what bird this is in the photograph?
Rosebay Willowherb aka Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) is abundant on the Common and adds a splash of colour. Their nectar-rich flowers are great for pollinators and many invertebrates feed on the leaves #sharemondays2026
A bit of a surprise when I got up early last week to see a heavy mist! Common ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) on Lindow Commons Black Lake
Flowers and sparkles amongst the grass. Nothing like crawling around a damp lawn early morning! This flower was very small and delicate. Does anybody know what species it is? Had trouble doing an ID
Silhouette of a bee at sunset Bees are "hairy" because it helps them effectively collect and carry pollen and the hairs also provide essential insulation to keep them warm while flying!
Green-veined White (Pieris napi) feeding on the thistles on the local patch. Seems to have been a big increase in the number of butterflies this year which is always good to see
A Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) I’ve not seen as many butterflies for a long time and it’s the Big Butterfly count starting 17th July so getting counting #sharemondays2026
Still shooting flowers today! Don’t seem to have improved much either! #film #kodachrome
My first proper “wildlife” shots. Taken on the local river I’ve not seen Water Voles there for a long time #film #kodachrome
I didn’t get the chance to get out last week so a dig in the archive, but these are a bit older than normal. Shot in the 1980’s on Pentax and Olympus cameras using Kodachrome #film #kodachrome
I do like umbellifers, they're an important food source for the non-specific pollinators, such as flies, beetles, moths and hoverflies.
Not much chance to get out last week so this week’s five are from a Sunday wander. Hope everybody is doing well and not melted! #sharemondays2026
Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) is abundant in hedgerows, roadside verges, waste grounds and rough grasslands. As a member of the carrot family (an umbellifer), it displays large, umbrella-like clusters of creamy-white flowers between May and August.
Orange Hawkweed (Pilosella aurantiaca) Also known as the Devils paintbrush or Fox and Cubs this Hawkweed stands out with its colourful flower heads. Although not native to the British Isles, was introduced there at least as early as sixteenth century and has a number of uses in folklore medicine
White clover (Trifolium repens) is a very common plant of all kinds of grassy areas in the UK. Through a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria, it extracts nitrogen from the air and converts it into a usable nutrient for plants. Not just a pretty face!
Bramble (Rubus fruticosus) is a rambling plant with delicate white or pink flowers which are followed later in the year by juicy blackberries. Bramble bushes were once planted on graves to deter grazing sheep but also for magical and ancient hopes of keeping the Devil out and the dead in
Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsia) grows in many different habitats, including woodland, roadside verges, hedgerows, old quarries, sand dunes and marshes. This orchid is especially attractive to day-flying moths, which play a key role in its pollination. #sharemondays2026
The BWPA is auctioning the exhibition photo of my highly commended Fishing For Breakfast image (amongst others) on eBay starting Sunday 21st June 2026 at 6pm. All profits go to the Wildlife Trust. See BWPA website for more details
They are tied to a tragic love legend: The famous English name stems from a Medieval German folk tale. A knight, while picking the blue flowers by a river for his beloved, fell into the water. As the current swept him away, he threw the blooms to her and cried out, "Forget me not!"
Their botanical name means "mouse's ear". The scientific name for the forget-me-not is Myosotis. It comes from ancient Greek words referring to the plant's soft, oval leaves which look like the ears of a mouse
They smell best at night: While they might seem scentless during the day, these flowers release a very sweet, noticeable fragrance in the evening. Their botanical name means "mouse's ear"
They change color as they bloom: The petals of many forget-me-not varieties start out as pale pink and gradually transition to a vibrant, sky-blue as the flower matures
Forget-me-nots are legendary, tiny blooms known for their five-petaled flowers and symbolic meaning of true love and memory. Though famous for their striking blue hue, they hide several fascinating secrets—from changing colours to their surprising nickname as "scorpion grass
#sharemondays2026 A crawl around the lawn when we got a bit of nice light at the end of the day