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.

Whixall Dragons and Bugs 18/19 th May 2014

Time for another bug hunt, Dragons hopefully this morning , Whixall moss in Shropshire is my destination and i should be able to see the rare White face darters :)
 parking at the Roundhouse car park i make my way towards the White face darter pools , i soon spot a dungfly which i shoot with the mpe-65 macro lens and then come across.......................

A cold Bee :)     it quite happily warms itself on my finger while i take a series of shots, again with the mpe, resting the lens barrel on my fingers in front of the Bee.

                                             Yay   my first Dragon   a four spot chaser :)

                                        and another one!   they look fairly freshly emerged .

         I have spent ages watching the Dragons flying around the White face darter pools but not managed any pictures of them , until i spot one on a walkway

          another one perched way out in the pool , had to crop heavily even from a 400mm lens shot

i have not seen much else this morning so will go home and go out tomorrow down to the river Dee in search of Demoiselles .


                Early Monday morning i have driven to just upstream of Chester to Aldford on the river Dee , i might find a Clubtail Dragonfly if I'm lucky but its quite windy and think shooting anything is going to be a challenge today!          passing the beautiful bridge, while keeping a look out for the resident Kingfisher i walk down to the field side path ..

          A female Banded Demoiselle , they are really skittish and i just cant get close to them

there are quite a few but i am not getting anywhere near them today :(       a long leg Orb web spider hides under a nettle leaf.

                                                   and a pair of Sawflies mating

I have given up, will drive just down the road to Churton to see if any Hairy dragonflies are in the pool , crossing the field i soon spot a newly emerged Four spot chaser

                                       and then my target species,  Hairy Dragonfly :)

                                 an interesting two mornings shooting Dragons