September Dragonflies at Paxton

Saturday was our monthly Dragonfly and Butterfly survey at Paxton - it was sunny but quite chilly so we were not expecting a large number of records.There were lots of Common Darter and Willow Emeralds, Speckled Wood and Small and Large Whites. 

Points of View in Histon

Every year, our camera club has a day of photography projects set by the 'winner' of the previous year - the aim therefore is to avoid that first place!!. Penny set the topics in her home village of Histon and our topics were Creatures, Pub Life, Trees, Entrances and Colour. Here some images taken on the day that either did not fit any category but I couldn't resist or are 'rejects'.

Paucity of Garden Insects etc

There has been a much more rapid fall-off in the numbers and species of invertebrates in my daily garden recording this month than previous years. This would normally be a very busy time for spiders, bugs etc. Here almost the total species from September 12th (also Bumble bees - mainly Carder Bees, Green Bottles, Flesh flies etc). The Chalcid Wasp (?Torymus auratus) which is a parasite of  Oak Gall wasps, is my favourite - very small (3mm) but eye-catching metallic green with ruby eyes 

Paxton Pits Birds

 While the numbers of birds and species on the water at Paxton Pits yesterday were impressive, the song birds were almost entirely absent during our Third Thursday public walk with the only sightings being a flock of blue tits and long-tailed tits and a friendly but not very healthy-looking robin. We watched several very confiding young Grey Herons, one with a damaged bill, around 30 Little Egrets, a Great White Egret, numerous Cormorants, Gadwall and Black-headed Gulls, Wigeon, Great Crested Grebe, Lapwing and Kingfisher. White balance control was made quite difficult by the very reflective green algae in the shallow water and the overcast conditions .

Sunflowers in Morning Mist

My daily morning walk in our Cambridgeshire village covers about a mile of very varied 'views' and is rarely the same from day to day. Sunday's walk was in thick mist so the colours in the fallow field with its sunflowers, and the hedgerow leaves, fruits and dry grasses  made great subjects against the muted backgrounds.