Kingcombe Meadows

 Kingcombe Meadows Reserve is still managed as a working farm, grazed by cows and sheep, using traditional methods without artificial fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides.  The result is a patchwork of fields and unimproved grassland, rich in wild flowers and insect life. This year everything is late so there were many fewer insects than on previous visits, in particular no butterflies and very few grasshoppers. The orchids, buttercups and ragged robin were at their best.

Insects and Spider Feeding

The insects that we found exhibited an amazing variety of feeding mechanisms from tubes that remind me of our new Vax carpet cleaner to long poles with claws on the end like a litter picker. The Cucumber Orb Spider was very intent on his dinner munching away with some very powerful looking jaws.

Abbotsbury and Kite surfers

 The numbers of swans on the Fleet lagoon peaks around now as swans gather for the annual moult.
Kite surfers are particularly difficult to photograph as there is such a gap between surfer and kite.

Kimmeridge Bay

 A very windy day at Kimmeridge Bay getting up to gale force in the afternoon. Several wind surfers braved the wind but they found it very difficult to turn at the ends of the runs so spent as much time in the sea as on the waves. I tried some slow shutterspeed images both for the waterfall and seagulls on the beach and later for the windsurfers. The waterfall images were not successful as a 300mm lens on a not too sturdy tripod in a strong wind does not allow  sharp images of the rocks at 1/5sec!!.

Powerstock Common

 
 A humid and still day for a visit to Powerstock Common produced a reasonable number of insects but the numbers are far fewer than on previous visits. Many unidentified flies and a first instar long-horned cricket.The orchids were better than previous years - marsh , spotted, butterfly (shown) and  bee orchid. Several spider species, large red damselfly, azure damselfly and four spotted chaser (not shown). The Marsh Fritillaries reluctantly took to the wing in the afternoon.