Wider Angle Macro

 As my 60mm macro stopped focusing suddenly and seems to be permanently, I tried my 18-45 mm lens with the Raynox close-up filter. Here a few examples of what is still active in my Cambridge garden. Most taken at the 45mm end but the Cricket and Flower spider were at the 18mm end.

Garden Snails

Making a start on identifying the snails in the garden with these species that were on the move yesterday morning after a damp night. 

Paxton Snails

On Monday, I spent the day with Richard Preece at Paxton surveying some of the molluscs that live there. We only managed two areas but from that Richard identified 31 species.  The Caddis Fly that inhabited this case obviously had a liking for snails' shells - many might still have been alive when added and carried around. Some of the snails had very interesting origins such as image 4, a very small snail with a very long name Potamopyrgus antipodarum an immigrant all the way from New Zealand, and a bivalve (no.5) spread here from Asia. The grid is 5mm so you can see how small some of these were.

Pasque Flowers for Easter

The Pasque flowers are out early on Royston Heath and are there in large numbers. It was a bit windy today for flower photography but I enjoyed trying a few different techniques and also finding some mini creatures - spiders, snails, fly, caterpillar and a Red-tailed Mason bee that makes its nest in snail's shells!

'Signs of Spring' Survey at Paxton Pits

 Our first survey of the year at Paxton is always along the main Heron Trail recording any wildlife (plants in leaf/flower, birds, insects). This is a useful year-to-year comparison. Despite the cold and blustery conditions, the sunny intervals brought out quite a bit of insect life. My favourite was the Simulid midge - minute but amazingly sculptured - it is on a nettle leaf so the stinging hairs give scale!!. We were pleased to see our new bee terrace being used - Andrena bicolor was the commonest bee recorded there.