Antigua - Day 2 Morning Around the Resort

I was not sure what to expect in the way of wildlife numbers as there are few tourist reports that include any details but delighted with our first day here. I use my Blog entries while away as a record of what I have seen both for friends at home but also to help me remember what I have photographed so excuse any repetition as hopefully get better shots of species. The Banaquit is the most abundat bird. Also shown Brown Pelican, Great Yellowlegs, Black Necked Stilt, Bahama Teal and one of several local Pigeon species. Add to this insects and reptiles = plenty to photograph!

 

Our Caribbean Home for Next 10 Days

We are spending 10 days in Antigua with Peter and Holly (their half of the exchange of favourite places, having done my Wengen last year). We arrived about an hour before sunset so not  much time to explore. Our little cottage among the date palms is already proving good for wildlife with views in the setting sun of mongoose, hummingbirds etc. The pools and sea all a beautiful turquoise with the moon and Venus finishing the scene once the sun was down.

 

 

Our Leaf Insects Close Up

Back in the summer, I acquired five very small leaf insect nymphs. Only two survived for long but these two are still developing well and, fortunately, we have a female (1) with broader abdomen and short antennae and a male (2-8), which is quite slender with long antennae. The male shed its skin yesterday and then proceeded to eat it (a common occurrence perhaps to recover the nitrogen). The first five images are all with Fuji 80mm macro, 35 stacked images processed with Zerene Stacker while the last three are single images on the Olympus with supermacro setting and in-built LED light.

Cambridge Botanic Gardens Glasshouses

I took my Olympus 'tough' compact camera to the Botanic Gardens yesterday to familiarise myself with the custom settings etc that I have set to do macro shots on our forthcoming trip abroad. It has various modes and lighting systems to aid close-up work. These notes are really for my benefit so I can look them up if, as is very likely, I forget what I have set! 

Images 1 and 3-6 are in-camera focus stacks of three images (F2.3) using the 'microscope' mode with LED light on; number 2, 7-9 taken using the super macro F9 and autoflash (C1 custom setting) and number 10 on Aperture priority mode for general use. The focus-stacking mode give three images - the middle JPEG and Raw and the stacked JPEG. 

Last Minute Win for CRUFC

Cambridge Rugby Union Football club left it till the last minute to score the final try needed to overtake Canterbury in a tight game with 4 trys each. Weather cold and very dull so 2000 Iso and 1/640th was the best I could get at f5.0.