Wet Insects at RSPB Sandy

We hoped for a fine sunny day to photograph solitary bees, dragonflies and butterflies in RSPB Sandy's grounds but had light rain most of the day. However, we found plenty of interesting subjects  covered with rain droplets, including this Common Wasp, Hairy Shieldbug and Green-eyed Flowerbee sleeping attached to a twig by its mandible.

Butterflies etc at RSPB Sandy

Wednesday stayed cloudy till lunchtime so any butterflies we found were resting like this delicate Essex Skipper with its ink-dipped antennae When the sun broke through the lavender revealed Large Skipper and Small Skipper along with Brown Argus. Wonderful to see Gatekeepers and Large Whites in good numbers along with an obliging Purple Hairstreak on an Oak branch and two moths - a Mint Moth and a Scarlet Tiger. There were also lots of Emperor and other Large Dragonflies - too fast to capture in the lens and so I finish on two Blue-tailed Damselflies from the morning's dull and sometimes rainy conditions.

RSPB Sandy Heathland Fungi etc

A somewhat reduced party explored the heathland at Sandy in the afternoon and spent a couple of hours happily engaged with a large variety of species including this very impressive slime mould (many images are jpeg out-of-the-camera stacks as limited time to process at the moment). I also include a species sheet for the day

Birds Nest Fungi etc RSPB Sandy

A very enjoyable day at RSPB Sandy hunting for fungi on a dull but dry day with RPS and CCC members. We were delighted to find Bird's Nest Fungus - these are very small but perfectly formed nests with 'eggs' - this one is one a bracken stalk for scale the group were on a piece of bark. While photographing a small Mycena species growing out of a fallen branch, I realised there were small objects in the frame - a group of slime moulds. My focus stack for this one was not optimal so there is a bit of shadowing but pleased with the detail. I think the following image is also a slime mould. Otherwise a mixture of small, medium and large species to challenge our photographic skills.