Dorset 17 When Camouflage Does Not Work

On the morning of our last full day in Kingcombe, we stayed around locally in the morning and were both delighted and dismayed to find a Peppered Moth (and a Lobster Moth) to photograph. Having recorded it on the window sill, I thought it would be good to show how well its camouflage worked on the wall but immediately a False Widow Spider shot out of a hole and in seconds had subdued it with venom and started to wrap it in silk. The fourth image is a focus stack at F22 which demonstrates what our eye sees and just how good the camouflage is. Rest of post shows a few more species recorded during the morning.

 

Insects at Whixall Moss

In the afternoon at Whixall, most of the group on the RPS outing concentrated on the abundant wildlife around the pools by the canal at Whixall. My highlight was this Blue Shieldbug laying eggs on a piece of roof felting used as a ground shelter for reptiles etc. 

Outing to Kings Cross 3. The Environs including Nature Reserve

Our route on Saturday took us through Coal Drops Yard - now a fashionable place to shop (and hold Hen Parties), past the Gasometer apartments and Garden and then back along the Canal to the London Wildlife Trust Reserve where we were captivated by the hundreds of Ermine Moth caterpillars that had stripped the spindle trees and were descending on silk threads.

Lakenheath Minilife

I decided to give my Zeiss Touit 50mm macro lens an outing on Wednesday at Lakenheath reserve. Here a Scorpion fly, Common Froghopper, Spiked Shieldbugs, small ichneumon wasp, Robber Fly, Hoverfly, Angleshades moth and Comma butterfly.

 

Elephant Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Always exciting to find these very large caterpillars in the garden - feeding on the Greater Willowherb. I decided to practise my focus stacking on them. I used pegs to hold a branch of the plant upright and away from the plant to give a simple background. The first stack is 30 images with an LED continuous light at the front - not enough to have the flower in focus as well the caterpillar; the second is 45 images and has the light a bit further away and from the top so the stem is now defined

Chalkhill Blues

This appears to be a good year for Chalkhill Blues judging by the numbers at Sharpenhoe and Royston. Here a mass of butterflies visiting ?Badger droppings for minerals, some studies of the males and females plus a couple of Six-spot Burnet moth with cocoons.