Dragonfly Emergence in Toft Pond

Over the last few weeks, we have had dozens of Dragonflies emerging from their larvae in our pond. Yesterday saw four ?Common Hawkers which are great subjects with their very impressive exuviae. The other images are of Four-spot Chasers, which have been emerging daily. Even with their abundance, I still haven't achieved the perfect shot in situ as it is often too dark for natural light and the flash does give a harsh feel. Work in progress!!

A Sea of Red Poppies, Cambridgeshire

Some of our local fields are awash with poppies at the moment. I tried different lenses, positions and even a double exposure or two to try and capture their vibrance.

Strumpshaw Fen on a Warm but Windy Day

It was a bit too windy for insect photography today but managed to snap three of Strumpshaw's special species: Scarce Chaser, Norfolk Hawker and Swallowtail Butterfly. Also Red-eyed Damselfly, Marsh Orchid, Heliophilus pendulens, Eristalis species, Tortoiseshell feeding and Nursery Web Spider

Toft Church in Infrared

A clear evening with great cloud formations tempted me to use my infrared camera on an outing round Toft with our local Photogroup. We had for topics to illustrate: blue, old, closeup and glass; a picture of the stained glass window seemed to fulfil all these.  The Dryads Saddle fungus was in great condition -  a single one larger than a dinner plate and a whole cluster on the tree trunk.

Orchids at Kingston Reserve, Cambridgeshire

The orchids are at their best at the moment with dozens of Pyramidal and Common Spotted Orchids, some of them white. There are also a few Bee Orchids hiding in the longer vegetation together with Twayblades. Insects are a bit more numerous now; the Great Pied Hoverfly (Volucella pellucens) was the most common hoverfly and the smallest identified insect was a Picture-winged Fly, Chaetorellia jaceae. Orchids taken with either 100-400mm lens or the Zeiss 50mm at different apertures to try to get enough depth of field for the flower without too distracting background.