Bedfordshire Damsels and Dragons

We spent a very enjoyable day photographing Banded Demoiselles (males shown first then females), Large Red Damselfly, Ruddy Darter, White-legged Damselfly  and Blue-tailed Damselfly. I was trying to get flight shots which proved very difficult - I will share a few in a future post.

Lockdown Ballet Classes

Bourn School of Ballet have been having their classes outdoors on a hard tennis court (with suitable matting!) to comply with social distancing. Oonagh needs some photos for the new website she is having so yesterday I spent some time in the bright sunlight taking photos of the girls going through routines. Very difficult backgrounds and lighting - all previous shoots have been in a white walled sunlit hall giving beautiful pastel shots - so I have made more use of shadows and contrast in these few out-takes. In the finished images all the backgrounds will have to be taken to black or the subjects transferred to white settings so quite a task!

Return To Lackford Lakes

Lackford Lakes Nature Reserve run by Suffolk Wildlife Trust is open to visitors though not the Visitor Centre or the Hides. It was good to visit yesterday - our first for 2020 - and to meet up with Sarah. There was a great deal of insect and spider life around. Here is a small selection.

 

 

Banded Demoiselles Enjoying the Sunshine

Several male Banded Demoiselles chased around waiting for passing females in the bright sunshine at Byron's Pool in Grantchester.

Roosting Marbled Whites and Meadow Brown

I have been recording first sightings of Marbled Whites in Toft since their first sighting in 2012; this year a few days earlier than previous records and a month earlier than the early year. Unfortunately there are not many this year so far (8 in yesterday morning's count) - a reflection of the shorter grass or perhaps the very enthusiastic and early summer mowing last year since they are a species that lays their eggs in long undisturbed grass. Bonus yesterday was the dew on the wings - especially impressive on the Meadow Browns. I hadn't taken a tripod so not able to focus bracket successfully but they give the feel of an early morning meadow as the sun came up (5-7 am).

 

My Latest Project - the Toilet-Tent Hide

I had long planned to set up a hide in the garden to photograph birds at our feeder but couldn't afford the prices of professional hides, so here we introduce you to the budget hide - a pop-up toilet tent (£18) with some old camouflage netting to cover the lens window. The birds are amazingly tolerant of its presence - even the very wary young Jackdaws.