Macro World in Our Cambridgeshire Garden

I am aiming to record the invertebrate life in our garden this year as fully as possible so I spent an hour lurking in the undergrowth today seeing what was living there. I now realise why the Frog Hopper is so named - it is responsible for the Cuckoo Spit foam on plant stems around its young (green nymphs). The Shield Bugs and Scorpion fly were good finds with several other species of fly not yet identified. I hope to get identifications and then post them on my Toft Invertebrates Blog.

Shoreham-by-Sea Sussex

Very pleasant weekend in Shoreham - thanks to Stephen and Lesley for the loan of their flat right on the sea front. Great collection of beach huts,fishing boats and house boats - a photographers' site par exellence. The shingle beach is covered in flowers, some introduced like the Valerian around the beach huts but also lots of Yellow Horned Poppies and Viper's Bugloss. I spent quite a bit of time under the bridges over the Adur

Nymans Gardens Sussex

Nymans,  West Sussex, is an impressive garden developed by three generations of the Messel family, from the late 19th century, The garden reached a peak in the 1930s but in 1947 there was a fire in the house, which now survives as a garden ruin with the surviving rooms now open to the public. The quality and range of plants is phenomenal but not that of the statues etc! Testing 55-210mm on Sony Nex  - the two images chosen are of a Hoverfly and the Honey Bee that it mimics.

Grantchester River Walk

A dozen CCC Members had an evening walk along the river at Grantchester in search of roosting insects. It was such a warm evening that the Banded Demoiselles were very much still active as in the first pair of images where a female has captured and ate a Mayfly. We also found a Mullein moth caterpillar and abundant Crane flies. Finished with a cooling drink in the Red Lion.

Birds of Prey Workshop

 I booked into a Raptor workshop mainly because I wanted to practise taking birds in flight using the AF Back button to hold focus etc.Unfortunately the original falconer was ill so all the birds were static, which was annoying to say the least as we could have been notified of this beforehand. However it was ab enjoyable day just observing and photographing these magnificent birds - Peregrine, Barn Owl, Golden Eagle and Snowy Owl.

Northumberland in Monochrome

The very mixed weather that we had for our week in Northumberland presented some wonderful opportunites for sky and water images. 

Swaledale

As I broke my journey back from Northumberland at Scotch Corner last night, I decided to make a quick visit to Swaledale - Gunnerside and Muker - before continuing back to Cambridge. The fields were full of buttercups and other meadow flowers. By the river,  I witnessed a strange battle between three Common Sandpipers. Lots of Mayflies had emerged leaving empty larval cases on the stones. I think it is a Tree Pipit that was busy collecting food and bringing back to the nest.