Dragons and Bugs at Aldford river Dee june 2014

A quick  trip down to the river Dee at Aldford to see if any Clubtail Dragons can be found ,   i think they are quite ugly for a dragonfly but they are elusive and always nice to see.  my last trip failed to see any so i dont really expect to find any but its always worth a walk :)

Walking onto the river side path just past the Blue bridge i start to look in the first fields edge and amazingly i have spotted a female Common Clubtail , cant believe my luck sometimes :)  unfortunately its starting to spit with rain and the light levels are very low but i will do my best in the breeze to get a sharp image or 2 .

 as its cold i have moved it onto a plant for better picture but with the wind movement i just cant get a sharp image, so will try a finger shot............

 There are a few Banded Demoiselles but as usual i just cant get close to them , this is the best i have managed  today.

Continuing down the river there are hundreds of Scorpion flies , but the light is not good enough to get any decent sharp shots.   this is only one i have managed but it is not very sharp , time to put the mpe-65 lens and flash on now

                            That's better :D                   an  Aliens  head lol

Now i will just shoot a few flies then head off home.  loads of Doli flies   love their green eyes :)

these tiny flies are so difficult to photograph, they seem to react to the cameras pre flash and move before the image is taken , it is quite a common problem but i have managed a few good shots.

                                                                                just a fly 

                          a Clegg Horsefly , amazing eyes they have , so beautiful but deadly  lol

                                                              a focus stacked portrait

                that's a great way to finish the morning just as its started raining fairly heavy now.

Dragons and a Surprise 22nd Aug 2012

I thought a quick trip was on the cards today, after all the long ones i have recently been on.  so up the motorway to visit 2 nature reserves, the first is Risley Moss near warrington, the second will be Rixton clay pits which is only about 10 minutes away. i have not visited them for many months but at this time of year Dragonflies will be the main target at Risley, the first stop .

                                  here is a picture of a giant wooden newt near the visitor centre :)

 

a quick 5 minute walk to a small oval meadowey area that sits next to the path , it is full of wild flowers, thistles ect and being full of insect life  the Dragonflies make it their home :D

This is Black Darter country , there are probably about 30-40 of them in this 60 ft x 40 ft area!  all different shades of black and orange.as they get older they darken in colour.

                                                             and as usual, on my finger :)

among the darters i have seen a few emerald damselflies , here are both male and female as a comparison.    Male first.

                                                                                Female

Most of the flowers have faded now , but in the sunshine a freshly emerged Peacock has been fluttering around , and i have just managed to get a few images :)  they really are a stunning species:)

                                                         another male black darter

                                                  and one last female black darter :)

Time to move on to Rixton clay pits now, i can only spend about an hour shooting these dragons before getting fed up  lol     but as i get near the visitor centre, by the small pool on a long curved wooden seat i find a few darters sitting in the sun.  time to get the mpe -65 macro lens out and try some portraits :)

                                                    here is a Black Darter portrait :)

a 10 min drive over to Rixton now,  i wont spend too long here , just a quick look around to see what i can find :)     walking down the steps i almost tread on a toadlet ,  mpe time again  lol    

near to the lake i have just found this flower beetle feeding on a dandelion flower,  tiny little things about 5 mm in length , shooting against a bright flower i dial in +2/3  flash exposure compensation to compensate for the bright background.

                                                                  and a fly:)   lol

                                                                and a resting Horsefly !

walking down to the lake along a wooden boardwalk , i suddenly spot a large butterfly flitting over the mound and settling on a thistle flower, it appeared to be a Painted Lady. i cant believe it!   haven't seen one this year, and only one last year , so i have got to get a shot of this i thought !

after about half an hour chasing this Lady up and down the path and the mound as it fed on thistle flowers i eventually manage to get a few decent images :)   Yay!

Beautiful species that are migrants from abroad, some years they are very common, but not this year so i am very lucky so shoot this one:)   This is the mound on the right , i must have climbed up and down it about 20 times chasing this one butterfly, think its as tired as i am, as it rests on the wooden boardwalk :)

                                                        and off it goes again, Arghhhhh

That was the end of another good trip with numerous species shot , and on way back to car i finish with another Peacock :)

My next trip will be climbing in the lake district, so it will be a nice change from shooting bugs :)

Grafton Wood in search of Butterflies and Bugs 20th aug 2012

It was now time to head off in search of my favourite butterfly , the Brown Hairstreak. it is later than i saw them last year and virtually no sightings had been reported at Grafton Wood in Worcestershire, but since it was going to be a nice day it had to be worth a trip as there are plenty of other things to shoot :)
arriving about 9.30am in the village of Grafton Flyford and parking by the church, i made my way through the farmyard and down to the wood.  the fields around the wood are mainly blackthorn, this is where the female Brown Hairstreaks will be seen.

Searching all the way along the only butterflies i have seen so far are meadow browns and this Gatekeeper.  not a sign of a hairstreak, but it is a little early for them, 11 - 2 pm best time so there was still a chance yet :)

continuing into the "orchard" area i first found a Large Horsefly perched on a fence post, i really love their eyes, so beautiful but deadly  lol  this portrait is shot with canon mpe-65 macro lens ,5 frames focus stacked to increase depth of field.i placed a green leaf behind to prevent a black background .

                   one of the many Meadow Browns feeding on a Teasel head , looking a bit tatty now !

after a good search though the orchard i have spotted a few migrant hawker dragonflies , and managed to get this image.  they have been a species that eluded me , often seeing them flying but never perching for a photo :)

I have decided to now walk through to the small pond just inside the wood ,near to the corner of the orchard , but suddenly spot a beautiful yellow crab spider waiting for a meal  , so on with the mpe again to shoot her :)      i cant hold a leaf behind to give background colour, so i shoot at higher iso ,  800 in this case,  to balance natural light with the flash preventing a complete black background.

after shooting her i walk down to the small pond , loads of migrant hawkers, common darters and a few ruddy darters are flying around but not perching!    also 3 hornets are hunting bees and i watch these for about half an hour, awesome to watch but they just don't settle for a pic unfortunately.  i do however find loads of Dark Bush Crickets , here is one image .

Time to look through the wood now, there is a central path right through the middle which i take , about half way along i turn left to go search for Brown Hairstreaks on the outer edge blackthorn.  i have always wondered why these two trees are out in the middle of this field?  strange

unfortunately no Hairstreaks are spotted , so back to the main path in the wood where i find in one very small area 6 newly emerged Brimstones .  i have never seen so many together before!

walking down the path there are loads of hoverflies and Bees feeding , a fox darts in front of me into the undergrowth! that's a pity, would have like a shot of one  lol    then while watching hovers i notice a bright blue flash!   it is one of the most beautiful flies there are , if you can call a fly beautiful haha  it is Phasia Hemiptera i very rarely see these , almost 2 years since i shot my last one so just have to get a shot this time.  luckily after a few moments i spot it feeding and get this single image  .

nearby there are more Dark Bush Crickets , and luckily i find this one perched on a single grass stem, superb perch for composition :)    this is my best image of the day!

down near the end of the main path is a large clump of flowers that in previous years male Brown Hairstreaks have been known to feed on , so i make my way to have a look.    unfortunately again no sign of any, but i did shoot this common darter dragonfly with long lens .

its been a long day of walking and searching , no sightings of my intended species but a good day none the less.  on the way back i shoot one of our most beautiful butterflies, the Peacock

                                                                   and a Small Copper

the end of another trip, i will be back in a week or 2 to hopefully see and photograph the Hairstreaks but it has been a good day.


                 all images shot with canon 5d2,100mmLmacro and Mpe-65 macro lens