After the Rain at Pensthorpe

 Unfortunately it rained at Pensthorpe until the last hour but then all the birds were keen to have a wash and brush up to get the waterproofing back on their feathers. There were young Bearded tits in the aviary with their black eye markings. Last image to remind me not to use the electronic shutter!

Thompson Common Norfolk - Dragons and Damsels

Thanks to John and Christine for introducing us to one of their local reserves. Great variety of Dragon and Damselflies - Emperor, Common Darters newly emerged, ?Ruddy Darters males (haven't checked the face but have the bulge on abdomen tail), Emerald Damselflies, Blue-Tail Damselflies and Red-Eyed Damselflies. Also Brown Hawkers but I was not fast enough to photograph them.

Bedfords Park Essex

Bedfords Park, a former mansion, is run as a nature reserve by Essex Naturalists Trust. A new reserve for me, it had an abundance of wildlife including these grumpy Red Deer, lots of butterflies including White-letter Hairstreak, Small Copper, Small Heath and Comma. Also lots of Hoverflies for me to identify! It commands superb views over much of east London and into Kent. The last photo looks towards Woolwich with Shooters Hill on the skyline - where I learnt all my wildlife as a child!!

Macro: Comparison Insects Taken with 50mm and c200mm Lens Systems

I used two different lenses while in Austria to record the insects - the 50-140 mm Fuji lens with 1.4 converter allowed insects to be photographed at a distance and gave some very sharp results. For smaller insects, the 50mm Zeiss Touit lens with the Metz ringflash permitted smaller insects, often only 5-10 mm, to be recorded. Need to test whether taking at f22 reduces the sharpness of the 50mm macro.

Austrian Mountains in Monochrome

The thundery weather that we had during our week in Austria resulted in some wonderful cloud formations. Perfect for a bit of Monochrome therapy even if three weeks late!