Field Notes 2022
Field Notes From Wakatobi and Buton Island, Indonesia – October/November 2022
The Autumn of 2022 saw our long-awaited dive trip to Wakatobi in Indonesia eventually become a reality having waited 4 years, 2 years of which were attributed to the Covid pandemic.
It was nice to be diving again after the long hiatus caused by everything going on hold, and we soon got back into it.
Our first week was onboard the Pelagian liveaboard which we thoroughly enjoyed despite me contracting a stinking cold that I struggled with for the entire trip, making the dives difficult for equalising my ears. The Pelagian’s itinerary included some of the further flung reefs within the marine reserve (from the Wakatobi Resort), with the highlight being our visit to Buton Island for some great dives. Especially memorable were the muck dives.
After the liveaboard week, we enjoyed a second week of diving based out of the Wakatobi Dive Resort itself, where we enjoyed seeing and photographing the prolific reefscapes of the marine reserve.
With both of us suffering with our ears at the tail end of the trip after all that diving, we enjoyed a rest at Ubud back on Bali before returning home.
Photographically, we captured some pleasing images, though as is normal in hindsight for me, I felt I could have achieved more.
The Wakatobi reception kindly displayed x 3 of my images to greet new arrivals, which I appreciated, and several were also used for our 2024 Diving Dreams Calendar. – JC
Field Notes From The UK’s Butterfly Sites – March – August 2022
During the Spring and Summer of 2022, Fuzz worked on the final species from “our project” of seeing all 59 of the UK’s Butterfly species, plus the Large Tortoiseshell.
Our travels took us to some new areas including Fineshade Wood in Northamptonshire for the re-introduced Chequered Skipper, Monks Wood in Cambridgeshire for the Black Hairstreak, Cumbria for Mountain Ringlet and Northern Brown Argus, Whixall Moss in Shropshire for the Large Heath, and to verify a couple of the Skippers, to Tout Quarry for the Lulworth and Salisbury Plain for the Essex.
As with the previous two Summers, I continued to use my 40mm macro lens, and also a 28 to 300m zoom.
I was generally pleased with the results, and had enough images to work on an annual Calendar, which I duly published. – JC