Welney Wildlife 2. Spiders and Snails

This time of year is always great for spiders and Welney vegetation teemed with different types. Not yet identified them, but did enjoy the antics of the male spiders in trying to get close to the females in the first two shots. As it had been raining there were also lots of snails on the move. 

Great Variety of Wildlife at Welney 1. Insects

Having rained hard all night, it stayed dry during our visit to Welney and the banks were teeming with insects, spiders and snails. Here some of my favourite insects including a hoverfly lookalike, Stomorhina lunata and a beautifully illuminated Marmadale Hoverfly. A small orange fly (Scathophaga) was enjoying a Chironomid midge for lunch, and numerous others including an elegant Willow Emerald Damselfly, a 22-Spot Ladybird, an Angleshade Moth, a Cereal Leaf Beetle, a Green Tortoise Beetle, and a Dung Fly complete the cast.

Sunflowers in Early Morning Light

We have a few small fields in Toft of sunflowers sown together with Flax and Millet, presumably as game bird feed. I photographed them yesterday morning in bright sunlight. Taken at various apertures etc all with the 23mm lens on the X100V compact. The last couple are using the most powerful of the inbuilt HDR modes 

My 3000th Post - Migrant Hawkers and Hornets

This is my 3000th post since I started a blog in September 2008 - it works out at around 250 per year so not  one a day but pleased to have reached a milestone.These were taken at Fenstanton RSPB reserve . As well as the Migrant Hawkers, I photographed Willow Emerald Damselflies and Hornets.

Many Shades of Green at Byron's Pool

We took an amble along the river at Byron's Pool in Grantchester yesterday in bright sunlight giving great intensity to the colours.

Sandy Heathland - More Interesting Inhabitants

Thanks Richard for the information about the Ivy Bee colony at Sandy - we spent a fascinating couple of hours there watching the amazing number of bees digging (females) or just hanging around waiting for a female to emerge (males). I didn't manage a mating ball so I may have to return!! Perhaps even more interesting for me was the Digger Wasp that caught a fly and then flew off with it, a Broad-headed Bug (Alydus calcaratus)  and also one lonely Bee-wolf Wasp.