Two New species in One Day

 I was lucky enough to see and photograph two new species on Sunday - the White-faced Darter and the Raft spider. The latter is an impressive spider with a body length of 2 cm and very long legs - I had difficulty even with focus stacking getting all the body and legs in focus so went for a head-on shot. There are three different Raft spiders shown. It was a cool and windy day so the second dragonfly failed to expand the wings perfectly but it managed to fly.

Woodland Birds Take Two

Is it safe to dive? A second attempt at capturing the birds coming to a woodland clearing for scattered food, again with very diverse lighting. 

Beetles and Butterflies

This amazing Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris) was photographed at Eardington NR - this species is mainly nocturnal so a very lucky find. Supporting cast  are a Scarab Beetle and Green Nettle Weevil. Surprisingly no Ladybirds seen. Male and female Orange Tips, Green-Veined White and Comma are from the Severn Valley.

Bees in Eardington NR and Severn Valley

Eardington Nature Reserve have done a lot of work to attract solitary bees to the site which is a disused quarry with sandy soil so excellent for the ground nesters like Colletes cunicularius (image 6). They also attract aerial nesters like these Red Mason bees (Osmia bicornis) with lots of 'bee hotels'. There were many mating pairs - the males differ greatly is size but that doesn't seem to matter to the females. a few fights developed. Other bees, photographed in the Serverne Valley NR are Andrena haemorrhoia, Bombus pascorum, Andrena minutula and Bombus hypnorum

Lake Vyrnwy Birds

 Although I didn't see any of the birds that I hoped to (Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Wood Warbler), these photos remind me of a very enjoyable day walking around the visitor centre and up to the waterfall, especially the Red Kite hunting the hillside. It was a very cold day with occasional hail storms and snow visible on the hills so not surprising that the summer visitors were silent and stayed in shelter. Other birds shown - Meadow Pipit, Siskin, Nuthatch, Dipper, Common Sandpiper, Chaffinch, Dunnock

Lake Vyrnwy Spring Colours

The spring colours are at their best at the moment. Here a few images taken on the around Lake Vyrnwy and the walk up to the waterfall.