Good Year for Bee Orchids

We visited a local site to see how the Man Orchids were doing this year and the answer was not well. With the very dry conditions, all the flowers appeared to be suffering and we only found a couple of very small specimens in the main site and a single Tway Blade. However, we did find a better group in a moister area under a hedge. In contrast, there were numerous Bee Orchids in good condition and plenty of Common Spotted Orchids.

Progress Report 3 on Wildlife Garden

The wild roses are coming to an end in the garden - a good month ahead of most years and the Yellow Irises have also just about finished. Elsewhere the garden is showing an abundance of summer flowers from Corn Cockles to large areas of Ox-Eye Daisies to Foxgloves and Hogweed in the shadier areas. I grew a couple of new plants this year from seed in the old vegetable plot area -Phacelia and Echium - both very attractive to bees.

Further Ultramacro Experiments - Extension Ring

I have been trying different setups for extreme macro and this is the simplest - using an extension ring on a 50mm macro lens. Images here taken from  f2.8 to F16. 

Infrared Views on a Hot Sunny Day

 I was taken with the silhouettes of the golfers while walking beside the Bourn golf course. A few infrared images during a walk from the Kingston Nature Reserve across to Caldecote on a bright sunny day.

 

Peregrines in Cambridge

For the fourth (?fifth) year, Peregrines are nesting on one of Cambridge's tall buildings. Such a treat to see them at relatively close quarters even though action photography is difficult in the confined space of the narrow streets and the light direction. We mainly watched the female at the nest site and then flying to nearby buildings but also had a view of the male (second image with a leg ring), which is a smaller bird with whiter white on the side of the nape. They seem to have two young which are pretty well feathered now.

Looking to the Skies Versus Bee Mimics

I took a circular walk around Lark Rise Farm in Barton, an organic farm run by the Countryside Restoration Trust, with the view dominated by the Radio Telescopes at Lord's Bridge quivering in the heat haze. However, I spent my time looking downward at the insect life and became aware of a number of Hoverfly mimics of the Bumblebee species (shown in pairs with hoverfly on the left). There are some wonderful meadows there - how English Meadows should look with lots of Damselflies and Banded Demoiselles.