Paxton Miscellany from Egrets to Hornets

We visited Paxton Pits today on a beautiful warm Autumnal day partly because I wanted to see if there were more dragonflies and damselflies around than on our survey morning on Saturday when it was cold and wet or whether the season was over early. There were Migrant Hawkers, Ruddy Darters, Common Blue Damsels. I had my 140mm insect snapping lens so birds were a bit distant but good to record Little Egret, Great Egret, Kingfisher, Cormorant with Pike plus Ferruginous ducks and Black-headed Gulls pirating the Cormorant. On the macro side - Eyed Hawmoth Caterpillar, a pair of mating moths and Shieldbug. Spent a bit of time at the Hornets nest but need longer lens and flash system.

CCC Points of View Photography Day

Saturday was our Annual Points of View Day when we are given 5 subjects to photograph within a certain area (this year Newnham area  of Cambridge) in a certain time. The weather was wet, windy and very poor light. Here are some of my not-quite-made-it images - certainly reflect a very wet day in Cambridge.

1. An image from Paradise Nature Reserve. 

 2. Architecture in monochrome

 

3. An  image where water is the principal subject matter

 

4. A candid shot of another photographer

(she has a very small phone camera)

5. Something not usually observed

Welney Provides a New Damselfly - Willow Emerald

The Willow Emerald Damselfly has been gradually moving north so delighted to find iton Friday at Welney  sheltering on the leeward side of one of the banks along with Migrant Hawkers and Ruddy Darters. Single individuals of the Willow Emerald Damselfly were recorded in 1979, 1992 and 2007. In 2009 there was a sudden boom of 400 records of the species  in SE Suffolk and NE Essex. Since this time, the Willow Emerald has spread rapidly across the south-east of England, gaining footholds in new counties on a yearly basis. I also spent a long while photographing the species in a rotten tree stump including a Jumping Spider and German Wasp.

Welney WWT Birds in High Winds

As it is only 20 mins from March where I had been staying overnight after talking there in the evening, I decided to visit Welney WWT Centre partly to see if I could spot the Pallid Harrier that is residing there at the moment. No luck on that one but good views of Cranes - parties of 3 and 4 seen. A very ginger Marsh Harrier kept us on our toes but definitely no white rump.

Cambridge Watercolours Compared with Today

The Museum of Cambridge has set our camera club the task of photographing some sites in Cambridge that were painted in the 19th/20th Century as they are today. Not an easy task and it certainly shows how much artistic license was used in creating the watercolours - for instance St Johns Chapel appears to have been repositioned in the first painting.