Local Spiders

This year is an exceptional one for wasp spiders (Argiope bruennichi) in our area but there were several more species during recent visits to Barton and Paxton including Araneus quadratus, the Garden spider (Araneus diadematus), Pardosa sp. and Tetragnatha striata

Insect Diversity Paxton Pits

 On Saturday, I helped in a survey of part of the Great Meadow at Paxton Pits and was surprised at the numbers and diversity of the invertebrate species recorded as well as the flora. The area had been flooded for several months over the last winter but is now fully drained except for a bit of water in the deepest ditches. Here are a few of the many insect species that I photographed (not shown to scale) - Braconid Wasp, Hairy Shieldbug, Chalcid Wasp, Ivy bee, Leaf Hopper, Bishop's Mitre Bug, Dasysyrphus tricunctus, Green Shieldbug, Crane Fly, house Fly, Leaf Beetles, Ground Beetle

Grantchester with Nicky

We spent an enjoyable morning with Nicky (Miles' sister) yesterday, exploring the church, having coffee in The Orchard Tearooms and walking by the river. She was staying in her camper van locally.

Favourite Local Walk

Yesterday, I decided on doing what has been my favourite walk for over 50 years from when I came to live in Toft. It involves no roads but does include hills - a relatively rare feature in Cambridgeshire. The first image is near the start and the furthest point is the top left edge of Hardwick Wood then round to Caldecote Church and back. The sunflowers in the set aside field are looking good this year and the willows along the brook show their silvery foliage in the overcast conditions.  All taken with HDR mode on X100V which produces a raw file for further processing

West Cambridge Site

11 members of Cambridge Camera Club met yesterday evening for a wander round the West Cambridge Site, which is dominated by the Schlumberger Building, here lit up as we finished our trip. It is a Grade II* Listed building by Michael Hopkins Architects opened in 1992. I mainly concentrated on multiple exposure shots as the light was very dull on a particularly grey day. I intend a return visit fairly soon as planning permission has just been approved for a complete makeover for the site with many new buildings including Cavendish III Laboratory (West Cambridge |)

 

Diversity in Garden Insects

The diversity of insects even in a relatively small garden is huge. Here two families -  Bees and Wasps and Hoverflies. The Hornet is our largest visitor to the garden - at the moment enjoying rotting fruit, with the Lasioglossum bees some of the smallest (here inside a single floret of Ragwort). The Hoverflies have all types of mimics including the Hornet mimic Volucella zonaria