Gerald Clarke - It all begins with an idea.

Being mid summer, l was keen to explore the Caen locks to the west of Devizes. They are a series of 29 locks, 16 form the steepest flight, with a rise of 237 feet over 2 miles. The locks are a scheduled ancient monument, and were built in 1810 to complete the route from Bristol to Reading. Alongside the flight of locks is the recently planted Diamond Jubilee wood. Each of the 16 locks has a side pound, a pond of approx 40m by 30m,  relatively undisturbed for fish, wildlife and birds. It was around these side pounds that l went looking for butterflies, dragonflies and birds.

Having seen herons, moorhen, swans, damsel and dragonflies l found this common blue butterfly resting, soaking up the warmth of the sun. Usually in the warmer part of the day, butterflies will fly off when sensing your approach, so l was more than happy to have the time to take a few images of this beautiful insect.

The camera used was a Canon 90D, with a 150-600mm lens, at ISO800, f/16, 1/250 sec.

The things I definitely do not leave the house with out are spare batteries, spare capture card, lens wipes and phone.

Back to About Us.