Drought Conditions at Paxton Pits

The temperature at Paxton Pits was bearable yesterday for a work session in the morning clearing round the Dragonfly Pond and the Bee banks. I made a circuit of the reserve in the afternoon hoping for some good macro subjects for the camera. Certainly my favourite Jade Hoppers were there hiding in the grass plus Robber Fly and a couple of  Hemiptera. Common Darters and Ruddy Darters are fairly abundant but otherwise very few insects found at all with so few flowers and foliage left. 

Macro Session at Paxton

The sky was cloudless on Thursday morning for our macro photography session at Paxton so I decided to go for dramatic portraits and therefore  look for situations where the subject was lit against darker backgrounds (normally I would be looking for even lighting to bring out as many details as possible for identification!). The Jade Hopper is always one of my favourite subjects (except it is very small!!). There were plenty of Grasshoppers/Crickets and other Hoppers though the Wasp Spider was catching as many as it could. Close ups of  Darters and Norfolk Hawker faces gave some good macro practice as they rested on sunlit branches.