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.

RSPB Sandy Bugs, Fungi and Hobby

Yesterday was the RPS Nature Group outing to RSPB HQ at Sandy. It was postponed from previous week and the weather was slightly improved as largely dry but still windy and cool. However, we did manage to find a good selection of plant bugs, crickets, butterflies and  dragonflies.  Mike and I took an early morning walk round and spotted a Hobby and quite a few unseasonably early fungi.

Wicken Fen (NT) in the Summer

An attempt to show the essence of  Wicken Fen on a sunny day. The stars are the White Water lillies at their best in all the Lodes. Large numbers of Willow Emerald Damselflies and Ruddy Darters as well as larger species such as Emperor and Brown Hawker - too fast to capture. Birdlife fairly limited and the heat produced too much haze for clear shots across the water. Common Blue and Argos Brown butterflies photographed

 

Paxton July Survey Butterflies and Dragonflies

Saturday was our monthly survey at Paxton Pits of butterfly and dragonfly numbers. Here a few of those recorded - Small Copper, Green-veined White, Small skipper, Essex Skipper, Ruddy Darts, Migrant Hawker, Blue-tailed damselfly, Emerald Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly and Scarce Chaser 

Bedfordshire Damsels and Dragons

We spent a very enjoyable day photographing Banded Demoiselles (males shown first then females), Large Red Damselfly, Ruddy Darter, White-legged Damselfly  and Blue-tailed Damselfly. I was trying to get flight shots which proved very difficult - I will share a few in a future post.