Life Among the Thistles and Nettles

We spent the afternoon at Lark Rise Farm Barton looking for butterflies but, as these were keeping their heads down in the strong winds, I photographed some of the insects on the nettles and thistles along the field edge protected from the winds using 100 mm macro 25mm extension tube and small flash. These are in order Dolichopus spp., Thaumatomyia notata, Green bottle (Lucilia sericata), Scorpion Fly, Lygocoris pabulinus (Green capsid), Deraeocoris ruber, Soldier Beetleswith 14 spot Ladybird (Propylea 14-punctata) and finally a bug with splendid antennae (Heterotoma planicornis)

Royston Kite Festival

After all the windy days, Sunday was a calm day for the Kite Festival which was a shame as many of the displays lacked the usual excitement. I am posting the original raw file and the quick adjustment in the Raw Converter (Lightroom 6) to show the benefit of shooting on Manual mode and exposing correctly for the Kites (or Birds). Although the original looks greatly overexposed, the sky detail is still there and can be brought back easily.

Lackford Lakes - Birds and Butterflies

The Little Grebe at Lackford looked a lot happier than the fish it had caught while the Heron stalked around for a long while without catching much and the Kingfisher didn't catch anything. At last a slightly warmer day brought out the butterflies at Lackford, Painted Lady, Small Skippers and Brown Argus shown. 

Clare College Gardens - Cam Card Holders

Disappointed to discover that Clare college no longer allows 2 guests on the Cam Card (Cambridge Graduates) - I hope this is not going to spread to other colleges! When the Gardens are open then it is certainly worth the £3.50 for Phil but is a bit steep just to enjoy the walk through and over the Bridge.

Bees etc at Cambridge Botanic Gardens

Not the best of weather for our club outing to Cambridge Botanic Gardens to practise some macro techniques as it was windy and overcast. We spent a lot of time in the flower beds in front of the glasshouses that have been laid out specifically for bees. A lot of the Bunble bees are infected with mites as in the first image but they seem still to be functioning. 

I also tried some focus stacking changing focus ring manually on a tripod (last two images) but will need to give less exposure next time (I had set half stop over) as the highlights are generally burnt out in my images.

Hall Place, Bexleyheath

Hall Place is a stunning Tudor house with magnificent gardens sitting on the banks of the River Cray in Bexley, run by independent charity Bexley Heritage Trust. Not great light for general photography and very windy for macro but a few shots to show the extent of the venue. 

Hunstanton After the Storm

There was a beautiful sunset on Saturday evening  before yet another band of rain moved across.