My 3000th Post - Migrant Hawkers and Hornets

This is my 3000th post since I started a blog in September 2008 - it works out at around 250 per year so not  one a day but pleased to have reached a milestone.These were taken at Fenstanton RSPB reserve . As well as the Migrant Hawkers, I photographed Willow Emerald Damselflies and Hornets.

Marbled Whites - Dawn Focus Stacks and Windy Evening Shots

The advantage of having Marbled Whites almost on the doorstep is that I can photograph whenever the conditions look right for interesting shots as with these dawn shots after a heavy dew. They are Focus stacks of 30 images done as a focus bracket on the Fuji X-T2 with a tripod and stacked with Zerene Stacker. I was using an 80mm macro lens with 2X converter at f2.8. Similarly for the Southern Hawker emerging from our pond but here no tripod so have missed the front focal plane of the shed larval case. Other images for my record of species and dates were from last night in a stiff breeze but good to see male and female Marbled Whites, an Essex Skipper and a Ringlet sheltered in the foliage - all single shots with 100-400 mm lens. 

Paxton Pits; Macro in the Reserve

One of those days when the weather forecast got it wrong, at least at Paxton as three of us from the previous RPS session had a great walk round the Pits with only a light sprinkle of rain and lots of warm sunshine. Here are a few finds from the morning including a Migrant Hawker, Little Egret, Hornet-mimic Hoverfly, a Bee-mimicing Hoverfly, a very large Araneus quadrata with grasshopper prey, and Ruddy Darters laying in puddles along the track.