Insects Toft Churchyard March 15th

A project for this year is to record the wildlife, especially the insects, throughout the year in Toft churchyard. Here is the record from Tuesday's visit. I will attempt to repeat at regular intervals in equivalent sunny conditions. The stars were these minute mating Weevils on Daffodil. There were 5 species of bee: Red- and Buff-tailed bumblebees,  Hairy-footed Flower Bee, Honey Bee and male Andrena bicolor, plus Rove Beetle and various flies. Last image a Sawfly I think!

Grebes, Goosanders and Gadwall

Really beautiful light for the Grebes early on Monday morning at Stanwick Lakes. Great to see a pair of Goosanders on the lake at Stanwick with the Grebes. They were a bit distance when they decided to fly as were the Gadwalls and Grebe eating a Perch.

Sunrise in the Nene Valley

I was out early on Sunday to witness the sunrise through the mists in the Nene Valley - a magical experience shared with a Great Crested Grebe pair, Geese, Swans and a Grey Heron. The landscape panorama (23mm lens) and the telephoto closeup (400mm) were taken at the same time and show different aspects of the lighting.

Summer Leys - Great Crested Grbes

One of the targets for our RPS trip to the Nene valley reserves was to photograph Great Crested Grebes, hopefully displaying but also to admire their wonderful breeding plumage. These are from Summer Leys reserve and from another site along the River Nene where a pair were already busy nest building.

 

Birds From Summer Leys

The weather was not great yesterday for our visit to Summer Leys but we did manage to pick out and photograph a few of the many species that live there: Widgeon, Shoveller, Redshank, Lapwing, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Brambling, Reed Bunting and Long-Tailed Tit with very large feather.