Southern Hawker

Every year, several Southern Hawkers emerge from our pond and then a female is seen laying on the edge. This time, with the water level a bit low, she was laying onto dry moss. Apparently, Southern Hawkers will lay in vegetation above the water so hopefully these eggs will be ok - the book says the eggs don't hatch until the spring.

Misty morning in Toft Wood

Continuing with my project to photograph Toft wood (our local wood that I helped plant in 1995) through the seasons, these were taken before the strong winds arrive and show the beauty of the wood in early morning mists. 

Damsels and Demoiselles in the Sunshine

I spent a wonderful but wet afternoon in a small river near Willington in Bedfordshire among the Banded Demoiselles and White-legged Damseflies. I like the graceful curves on the wings in the first shot but I think it is the effect of the electronic shutter! 

 

 

  

Annual Homage to the Bee-Wolf Wasp and Friends

I always enjoy a visit to the Bee-Wolf Wasp colony not just for the challenge of getting them in flight but also for the abundant behavioural observations and the rarer species that you find there. The Fuji XT-3 is a great camera for this job with very fast autofocus and low contrast images in the bright light. There was a confrontation between a Common Wasp and a Bee-Wolf Wasp and a strange ant-like creature which turned out to be the nymphal stage of a plant bug Alydus calcaratus. Final two images of a female and male bee commonly known as the Pantaloon bee! 

Tuesday's Visit to Barton

Tuesday was a better day weatherwise as it stayed dry till we had finished in the afternoon. The wind was just right to hold the Emperor Dragonflies in a hover so I got a few flight shots. Otherwise two favourite butterflies the Brown Argus and the Small Copper, a Long-winged Cone-head, a Straw Dot Moth and Meredith's froglet friends.

Monday's Visit to Barton

With an inclement forecast for Tuesday, I ended up running two trips to Barton for CCC Members to photograph the abundant wildlife there but there was something new to see with every visit (and, of course, it rained on Monday instead!). Here convergent evolution with a Hover fly (Chrysotoxum) and a Conopid fly (Leopoldius) both mimicing wasp species and a Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) that has a clear bat image on its thorax. At the pools, it was a bit windy for lots of flying but added Black-tailed Skimmer and Ruddy Darter to species photos.