Rain in Cambridge At Last

Although it led to a change of plans for a CCC outing, we were very pleased to get some rain yesterday in Cambridge after weeks of hot dry weather. The visitors to Cambridge had dusted off, borrowed from their hotels or purchased umbrellas and filled the streets with colour but I had already decided on a monochrome day so here are some of the images (For my records! Fuji X100V set to Acros film simulation and LR imports the profile). I have  not yet been tempted to view the underlying colour images.

Hot Day in the Garden

A few more images from time spent sitting in the shade by my pond watching the insects visiting or living on the water. Honey Bees were the most frequent visitors drinking at the water surface to stay hydrated, feed larvae and regulate temperature to maintain optimal hive conditions, especially during hot weather. Worker bees collect water and spread it on the walls of wax cells, then fan it with their wings to create evaporative cooling, effectively air-conditioning the hive, crucial for brood development and preventing wax from melting!! Wasps similarly collect water and spread droplets over the nest structure, then fan their wings to promote evaporation   which lowers the nest’s internal temperature, protecting eggs and larvae from overheating etc They also need water to mix with chewed wood fibers to create a pulp that hardens into paper-like structures for their nests. Not many other insects showing themselves in the garden - mostly Shield/Plant bugs and Spiders!

Paxton Pits - Rain At Last

In other years, the camera would have stayed in the camera bag with light levels as bad as they were yesterday morning, but the first rain into Heronry Lake at Paxton for many weeks had to be recorded!! The two Great Crested Grebe chicks are now as big as their parents but still being fed by them. They spend a lot of time in the shallow water - a good tactic to avoid the Cormorants. All the usual 'players' visited - Gulls, Gadwall, Coot, Heron, Egrets etc. 

Swallows Fledging

Yesterday morning our telephone wire to the house was suddenly occupied by a dozen or so Swallows, many of them young fledglings calling to be fed. I found the second image in my archives; it  was taken on August 5th 2008 and I thought about all the generations that would have visited Toft since Swallows used to nest in our garage (now our bedroom!!). They nested in the garage every year from when we moved 'up the road' in 2000 till the garage was converted in 2013. Since then, there have always been Swallows in the small holding up Mill Lane. After about an hour, they all flew off going south so I guess are starting the long migration.

Hidden in the Seedheads etc

A few photos of the very small garden inhabitants including many different types of gall and parasitic wasps etc that can't be identified fully from photos plus spiders etc. ID list at the end.