Rain Stopped Play at Lakenheath RSPB

The first part of the day was fine and very good for insects as virtually no wind so lots of damselflies (variable and azure shown here), Hairy Dragonfly, Crane flies and Emphid flies. The Hobbies were busy catching the insects but unfortunately too high and the sky too grey by the time I dragged myself away from the insects and spiders. The rain arrived around 1 pm as these wet Goldfinches show.

Thirty Dragonflies Emerged and Counting

Over the last few days, there has been a steady emergence of  Four-spotted and Broad-bodied chasers from our pond plus Large Red Damselflies. They are using all possible vertical surfaces including the inside of Marsh Marigold leaves. Not easy to photograph the emergence as lighting often harsh and the greens so vibrant early in the morning.

 

  

Green-Winged Orchids Early This Year

The Green-Winged Orchids near Wymondham, Norfolk are at their best at the moment. Too bright light for capturing the full beauty of the flowers bur here a few shots, first two with 50-140mm lens and rest with 50mm macro.

Broad bodied and Four-Spot Chasers - Testing Aperture

Broad Bodied (first three images) and Four-spot Chasers emerged from the pond yesterday giving an opportunity to test what aperture would work best for this size of subject. The apertures were f5.6, f5.6, f2.8, f14, f20, f7.1, f7.1 - generally if I could get parallel and at the same level as the insect then the shallower depths worked best but often the podition required the greater depth of field

Damselfly and Dragonfly Emergence Begins

Our first emergences from the pond yesterday with several Large Red Damselflies and two Four-spot Chasers. I wonder if we will get the 100 Dragonflies we managed last year. Garden is also full of Hairy Shield Bugs at the moment and Green Fly.

Paxton Pits: Goldcrest and Great Crested Grebes

After taking part in the May Breeding Bird survey at Paxton Pit, we walked around the pits and watched a Goldcrest going in and out of the mossy nest, a Great Crested Grebe catching small fishes and another bird that found a very large fish and swallowed it in one gulp.

 

Garden Activity is Hotting Up

I took advantage of the numerous Green Shield bugs in the garden to try and perfect my macro technique. The Green Shield Bug was once restricted to southern England but with warmer conditions, they are now common and widespread across much of England and Wales, and spreading ever northwards. The adults overwinter and emerge in spring, laying their eggs on the undersides of leaves. Using a Metz ringflash, fuji XT1 and Zeiss 50mm macro. The optimum aperture seemed to be F16 to get all the insect in focus but still with a diffuse background. At F11 (last image) theDOF didn't quite extend to back of insect.