Dragonflies

 I went to Burton Mere RSPB reserve thinking that with the promised good weather there would be some nice opportunities to observe and photograph some birds. I did see some Egyptian Geese, some other wildfowl, a Great White Egret and even a Peregrine Falcon as well as various waders. However the light was awful and photo ops were very limited so I had to change tack and switched out my long telephoto zoom lens for my 100mm Macro lens instead,

I got a few strange looks from other visitors to the reserve who were looking to the sky and across the reedbeds and scrapes as I was crouched down peering into the reeds and thistles along the edge of the path. A few stopped to ask what I had found and some even seemed interested when I said I was photographing bugs.

I managed to get some nice shots of some small pollinators which I can share another day but I am too excited about this selection to leave these images for another time.

It is quite late in the year to see dragonflies as in many places they are coming to the end of their life cycle but in various parts of the reserve there were still a few to be seen. The Common Darter which is in the last few pictures was actually the first one I was able to photograph as it was resting on a leaf in a secluded pond sheltered from the wind.  Those shots were taken using my long lens and  from a fair distance so they are not as sharp or detailed as perhaps I would like. They're pretty good all the same.

The images I am most pleased with are of course the Southern Hawker in the first selection. This is a female and I had been told by another photographer that he had seen her trying to lay eggs on a particular section of path. It was on my way back to the carpark so en route I paused at the spot her had mentioned and waited. Just as he said it wasn't long before this little beauty flew out of the reeds and started to try laying eggs between the planks on the path and other places nearby, and although it was quite wary of me at first, after a few minutes she seemed more relaxed and came to rest a couple of times so that I could get right in close with my macro lens. 

It was very windy at times so the reeds were constantly moving, as I have mentioned the light was poor and lying down on the walkway was quite uncomfortable but regardless of this challenges I am really happy to have managed to get these shots. I hope you like them as much as I do.

Southern Hawker

Common Darter

Fun Times with Fungi

 This is going to be another one of those times when I post a load of photos from one day's shooting because if I don't who knows when I will get round to it. 

When I was last at Martin Mere I noticed quite a few different fungi but I didn't have a tripod or macro lens with me so I didn't try to photograph any of them. However this is the perfect time of year to get out into your nearest woodland and look for  some of our fabulous fungi. So taking advantage of a few free hours and some dry weather I headed off to Thurstaston Common to see what I could see.

I hadn't gone very far before I spotted something and from then on I found loads of different species and I only stopped searching because I needed to go back home for some lunch. I should have known that I would get absorbed and taken some snacks along with me.

Anyway below is a selection of images from todays wanderings. I won't pretend to know what most of these fungi are called, I know there are a couple of shots of some small Jelly Ear Fungus and a couple of Fly Agaric, but not in the vibrant red you might expect. Many of the others were very small and hidden away. When I say small I mean the heads were   a lot smaller than my small fingernail and the stems no thicker than a blade of grass. Such small and fragile plants that do such an important job in our woodlands and heaths. Some of these may be edible, but as I told the various dog walkers who stopped to ask, I have no idea which ones so unless you know its safer to get your mushrooms from your preferred retailer.

Our natural world is full of wonder and beauty, so scroll down and take a look.

Dangling Marsh Lover

 

I wonder what you imagined this post would be about when you saw the title...

The Latin name for the hoverfly in the first three images is Helophilus pendulus which means "dangling marsh lover". It is the most common species of hoverfly and has quite striking markings with bold colours.

The eagle eyed visitor to this page will have noticed that the fourth image is of a different variety of hover fly (I cannot specify which) which is busy sucking up nectar from the tiny flowers.

Digging Deep

 I have sorted through my bug pics from last week so will be drip feeding them here over the next couple of days. Some are much better than others but I was working against the elements much of the time with strong winds and rain which made hand held macro shooting something of a challenge. The ISO on this and most of the other pics I will share was between 1250 and 5000 so I have had to do some noise reduction in the edits.

I had a couple of shots of a damsel fly resting on a nettle but to be honest I wasn't at all happy with them.

This is a Common Red Soldier beetle, it was really going to town, digging deep into the flower to get the juiciest nectar. I think it is pretty cool.

Here Comes Summer

 After a mammoth load of pictures yesterday I have settled on just one photo for today; a beautiful bee hard at work gathering pollen from a buttercup. There are so many different varieties of bee that I cannot say which variety this is however as you can see it is living up to the reputation of being busy. As summer approaches and more flowers come into bloom this is the perfect time of year to spot some of our spectacular and incredibly important pollinators.

When Skies are Grey

 I have been working from home today, and all day long the sun has been shining and there has hardly been a single cloud in the sky. So, I was looking forward to finishing work and getting outside for a nice evening walk along the sea front. But as I turned off my work laptop I realised that the sudden gloom in my  home office is not because the nights are drawing in (we have past the summer solstice after all) but because there is a weather front coming in and the sky is now heavy with dark grey clouds.

As an antidote for that I thought I would quickly post some beautiful, bright and colourful shots of some flowers taken not so long ago in the gardens at Erddig. Hopefully these images will give your day a little lift just as they have mine.

You're welcome.

Winter Jasmine

 It is ages since I have been out with my camera and I have been a bit stir crazy. I was pleased the other day when my neighbour told me she had some beautiful winter jasmine flowering in her garden and said that if I wanted to photograph it I was welcome.

Although this flower has no scent it is certainly beautiful and is a welcome splash of colour when everything else is dying off.

Poppy

The  other day my neighbour called to say that the poppies in her front garden were fully opened so i nipped round to get a few shots.

They are really beautiful specimens with vibrant colours and light delicate petals.

As well as the poppy there was a lone dandelion seed head and lit from behind by the evening sun I think it looks stunning.