Infrared at RSPB Sandy

Friday was a great day to use infrared with the clouds constantly changing and the very clear conditions helping definition in the foliage. Taken with converted Sony RX100

Bees and Wasps on a Sandy Heath

The Beewolf Wasps come to the end of their season but there are abundant other Hymenoptera feeding, mating and nest building. I think the bandied mating bees are the Heather colletes, Colletes cunicularius, and the very pale bee may be its cuckoo bee, Epeolus cruciger . The other parasitic species, the Ruby-tailed wasp Chrysis ignita, were present in large numbers  

A Good Year for Bluebells

The Bluebells in the Cambridgeshire/Bedfordshire woods are very impressive this year. Here a few from recent visits - mostly taken with the Olympus legacy 50mm 1.8mm lens so manual focus only. I varied the aperture in some shots and really like the softness of focus and colour that this lens produces.. The last image is with a modern Fuji 80mm macro - the glass results in much more contrast and saturated colours.

Colours of Autumn

We had a very enjoyable walk with Jonathan round RSPB Sandy woods and heathland. I decided to play with the autumn colours using multiple exposure in camera - here are a few of the results from the vibrant compositions of beech leaves, grasses and bark to the monochromatic images in the pine woods.

Flies and Fungi

The Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) gets its name from the tradition of using this mushroom as an insecticide. In some European countries, caps are crumbled up and placed in saucers of milk to attract house flies. The flies drink the milk, which contains ibotenic acid that not only attracts flies but also poisons them. Certainly in the field, I haven't seen flies visiting Fly Agarics while other species are a great attraction. Sandy RSPB reserve had abundant fungi yesterday, including some very magnificent Parasols in the large meadow by the house.