Action at Lackford Lakes

A very enjoyable day at Lackford Lakes with CCC Nature Group. I concentrated on two 'projects': macro with wide angle lens (to follow!) and action shots of birds and insects. The Dragonflies and the Hummingbird Hawkmoth were taken at 1/4000th except the first image, at 1/1000th - surprised that there is little difference in wing movement (the Darter was on electronic shutter and shows the bend in the wing). The Migrant Hawkers were hovering for quite extended periods in the strong breeze! The bird were at 1/2000th - I do like the levitating Nuthatch. The Hummingbird Hawkmoth was quite worn around the tail area but was still very manoeuvrable. The eyes are wonderful - I am on an insect vision project at the moment so very useful captures.

Lakenheath birds I

Great to visit Lakenheath yesterday on a chilly but mostly sunny day and to meet up with John and Christine. We were greeted in the car park by the sound of bugling Cranes and had two different sightings of pairs of Cranes. The Coots were definitely paired with no squabbling but the very pristine Great Crested Grebe did not appear to have a mate. More passerines to follow.

Lackford Lakes - Water Birds

Yesterday was cooler but bright and sunny in the morning for a trip to Lackford Lakes. We spent some time in one of the hides overlooking water - the Little Egret was the star of the show (certainly his large yellow feet) though the Cormorant and Little Grebe fishing added to the enjoyment. Lots of Snipe and Greylag Geese together with all the expected duck species.

Brandon CP in the Rain

Although rain arrived in the afternoon at Brandon, we continued with our exploration of Brandon and found quite a few more fungi to record. There were lots Fly Agarics, but mostly already eaten by slugs etc, and also the Aniseed Funnel, with its amazing jade colour. Other finds were the Yellow Stagshorn, Death Cap and the Purple Jellydisc.

Lakenheath Spiders

There were plenty of spiders at Lakebheath with some very colourful species including three species of Araneus  - A. marmoreus, A. quadratus and A. diadematus 

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.