Lackford Lakes Action Shots

A very enjoyable day at Lackford Lakes yesterday in near perfect weather - sunny but not too hot and light winds so plenty of insect activity  as well as a very obliging Great White Egret that hunted in front of one of the hides. Only disappointment was not seeing the Camberwell Beauty that was around in the afternoon. Two plus Hummingbird Hawkmoths on the Buddleia kept us entertained for a couple of sessions along with Hornets, which are too fast for me to capture in flight unless coming into land or weighted down by a bee prey. Migrant Hawkers and Darters ruled in the Dragonfly sector. Macro session of other insects to follow!

Update from Paxton

Today I did a recce with Ann and Mike for the Macro Session with the RPSNature Group on Sunday at Paxton Pits as I was apprehensive with the drought conditions that there would be enough to photograph. In the morning we walked in the fields and along the Meadow trail with macro gear and found enough subjects to keep people happy for one session. In the afternoon, we photographed along the Haul Road where there were lots of hunting Dragons  including Migrant Hawkers. Later in the Cobham Hide there was a Brown Hawker laying and plentiful Darters for long lens work. Good to see the Great Crested grebes still have their two chicks - fingers crossed for their survival!!

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