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.

Return to Wyre forest Butterflies & Others june 10 th

Another trip to the beautiful Wyre forest, weather was looking quite warm and sunny!  the Wood whites will still be showing But, Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries have started emerging so a hunt for those  will be the starting point .  The marshy areas down by Dowles brook will be the best place to search.  
Straight away Demoiselles could be seen flying , both Banded and Beautifulls , but i only managed this one shot of a female banded Demoiselle.

walking though the meadow there were loads of peal bordered but could not see any small pearls unfortunately:(       i used my canon mpe-65 macro lens to shoot this Dancefly feeding.

                                                        a speckled bush cricket nymph

                       Then on a wooden fence post , two different species of shield bugs:))))

These meadows where alive with insects of all kinds, some i had never seen before but didn't really spend time shooting them as i wanted to find the small pearls hopefully at the Hurst coppice area .
on the way back through the meadow to the car park i found this crab spider which had just caught its meal:)

I now drove back to the other end of the forest , and started walking down the track to Hurst Coppice , there were Dor beetles everywhere on the track.

                                                       Time to get the mpe out again :)

  i made my way down past the pigs and down to the area i was in last week where all the wood whites were.straight away i found a few either feeding or perched up :))

                 I had a good search for small pearls but only spotted Pearl bordered :(

                                                        and a very early Large Skipper :)

But on the sandy ground i noticed a beautiful black & white Bee burrowing ,a Ashy Miner bee  Andrena cineria .    i set up the mpe again and waited for it to emerge from its burrow :)

One final Wood White image

That was enough for today ,but while walking back up to the car , i found this wolf spider with her babies being carried on her back, mpe time again :)

Stopping off at another site on way home, i shot these Grizzled skippers

                                               and a longhorn beetle Agapanthia villosoviridesce

The end of another good days shooting , but still haven't managed to see small pearl bordereds yet!

         Next trip is to the cumbrian mountains for a good climb and to see butterflies too :)))

Dragons & Damsels on the river Dee May 27th 2012

The weather this year has been really bad so far , hardly any dragons or damsels around. the common Clubtail dragonflies should be emerging now, so a quick trip down to Aldford near Chester on the river dee is a good place to see them.  i always think they are an ugly dragonfly , with broad eyes and head! lol

any how , i arrive in Aldford and make my way down to the river,  here is the bridge over the river.

It is fairly bright with sun and a slight breeze but still quite cold as i start walking along the path from the bridge.   the first field is always a good spot to find Banded Demoiselles and straight away i find 2 or 3 males perched up!  but they are very flighty and are proving a bit tricky to get near, also the bright conditions make shooting good exposures on these dark mettalic species a nightmare!!!!      but!  i manage this shot :)

Plenty of flowers along the path , but strangly very few insects around!

I continue down the river looking for clubtails but not a sign of any, quite a few damsels around but not being very obliging  lol.   managed to shoot this female banded demoiselle :)   but look at her dented eye!!!

i have just found this female nursery web spider with her egg sac ,  tried my best to get a good image!
                                      but failed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   arghhhhh 

Getting near the end of the stretch and still no clubtails!!   but found a few more banded Demoiselles

                                                                                take off!!!!!

    Then a freshly emerged Damselfly , time to get the mpe-65 macro lens out for a portrait on my       
finger :)                                       wonderfull subjects to photograph :D

                                  A quick shot of a cat feeding on nettle, probably smll tort

Making my way back now, given up on seeing any clubtails when suddenly i spot one perched up!    3 quick frames  and it was gone!!!!!!!!

The end of a short trip, a few shots taken  but not the numbers i was expecting.  really do need warmer weather!!