Lakenheath Beetles

With a rise in temperature and even some watery sun, there were abundant insects and other small creatures to photograph yesterday at Lakenheath Fen. Here a few of the Beetles - the Coleoptera is the largest of all Insect orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms. The largest family is the Curculionidae (weevils), with some 83,000 member species. Here a small Weevil about to take flight and a Click beetle launching. Otherwise a selction of the many species found and photographed with varying success on depth of field etc.

Playing with Lighting at Brandon

A third visit to Brandon, this time in the company of several CCC members and an attempt at some creative lighting. I was using a continuous LED light and, by accident, discovered different colour beech leaves make excellent colour filters brown, green and yellow. Some good species found including a very pristine Death's Cap.

Lakenheath: Colour Harmony and contrast

On out visit on to Lakenheath on Wednesday, we found a good range of insects and spiders to photograph and, at the time, I was taken with the colour harmony of the Speckled Wood on its grass. Other subjects showed this harmony (Long-Jawed spider, Green shieldbug, Willow emerald, Migrant  Hawker and Spider Araneus quadratus) while some showed colour contrasts (Spiked shieldbug,  Spider Araneus marmoreus and Drinker moth caterpillar

Lakenheath Birds

My first visit to Lakenheath in 2020 and such a pleasure to be reunited with some of the birdlife including this chirpy Wren in the reeds, several Hobbies very busy hawking the abundant dragonflies or playing with the Jackdaws and an ungainly Heron. Lots of activity at  the feeders including an aberrant Pheasant, Greater Spotted woodpecker, Goldfinches and all the expected members of the Ttit family

Second Day at Brandon in Continuous Rain

After a morning walk with Peter, Holly and Bracken, I changed my already sodden coat and spent a few more hours finding and photographing fungi. Many of the colours were much brighter in the wet and low light conditions. I was pleased to photograph good specimens of the Amethyst Deceiver, ??, a Collared Earthstar, False Death Cap (Amanita citrina) and a Ramaria coral fungus