Whixall Moss Bug Hunt April 10

Today i decided to do some macro, not really shot much this year, so off to Whixall moss in Shropshire in the hope of finding something to shoot!   brimstone,orange tip and holly blues where seen last week, but the weather has turned since then and was not looking great for today either.
I decided to take the main path across the moss then walk down the canal towpath where there are plenty of dandelion flowers which always attract bees and hoverflies :)

                                                                     This is the main path

As you can see it is bleak, wide open peat bogs but attracts plenty of bird species along with large numbers of insects!         i didn't find anything along this section so made my way quickly to the canal. almost straight away i found this tiny ichneumon wasp , which happily climbed on my finger presumably to get some warmth!   as it was quite cold this morning.  this was shot at about x4 magnification with mpe-65 and is 3 frames focus stacked to increase depth of field.

Continuing down the canal i noticed dozens of ladybirds, most of the plants had them on, but noticed alot had damaged wing cases, very strange!  this one appeared to be sleeping  lol

       Next to be shot was a tiny Weevil, about 5mm long this one, again this is a 3 frame focus stack

As soon as i came across the first of the patches of dandelion the sun came out and hoverflies were feeding in Ernest:)

                                                          and another one resting on a leaf!

Yet more ladybirds , this one has something on its head , appears to be fungus or something similar!

Just before i went back onto the moss, i found the first of the days Miner bees feeding on a dandelion, it crawled on my finger almost straight away to warm itself :)     they cannot fly when cold !

I took the path back onto the moss to look for green tiger beetles which can often be found down by the old peat workings!   but i looked everywhere and could not find any!  the like it dry and hot to hunt on the  peat .  this is the old works.

Any how, back towards the canal in search of more miner bees :)   look at the sky now!  perfect to bring the bees out to feed!

Back on the canal , a beautiful hoverfly :)  again 3 frames focus stacked .

Miner bee time!   loads of them feeding , so here are a few images , all single frames shot with mpe-65
they are about 6-7 mm in length .

just love this!  even though cant see its head  lol

The clouds were starting to really build now , so a hasty decision to head back to the car!

there is a wooden bird viewing platform , and i noticed this small fly sitting in the warm sun!

I made my way back across the mosses , and just near the carpark, noticed this small miner bee in the shade on a wooden post rail! obviously too cold to fly :)

And finally , i shot it looking up towards the blue sky for the background, using full flash with a higher iso400 to allow more natural light into the exposure to prevent a black background from the flash fallout!

it worked perfectly!  i focused on the jaws as they are the most prominent focal point :D

                                                    The end of another good days shooting :) 


    all shots taken with canon 5d2 and mpe-65 macro lens  ( except landscapes HTC phone )

First day of summertime! Bugs and Butterflys at last march 25 2012

Today is the first day of bst, clock went forword an hour, the sun was shining and it was Hot!!!!!!!!

So off i went , firstly to Moore nature reserve at Warrington .  hoping to see butterflies for first time this year, but just being out on such a wonderful day was enough!
first up, a Wolf spider!  i very rarely shoot these, dont know why as they are so interesting.  shot at x3 magnification with mpe-65 macro lens

I then soon afterwards spotted my first butterfly of the year, a Peacock , very ragged specimen so not worth shooting!   a single Speckled wood was seen also but didn't land !
Nothing else to be seen i made my way over to the second nature reserve,  Rixton clay pits which i knew would give more photo opportunities :)
15 minutes later i arrived and almost straight away saw 3 Peacocks Yay!    any way first image was to be a Fly, yes very common but at this time of year anything will do lol

and a zebra jumper, love shooting these , but so fast !

The resident pair of Buzzards were very active in the thermals today, fighting with the crows at one point!  managed this shot with my 300mm. not great though!

Any how, back to the bugs! 

an alder fly , not the greatest pic, but good to see different species at last after the winter!

I soon found loads of Peacocks feeding high up in the sallow catkins, great to get good colour into the background for a change on a butterfly shot :)  shot with 70-300 is   and cropped a bit .

          My first butterfly image of the year,:))))  very good condition for an overwintered butterfly!

in all i saw 21 Peacocks at Rixton, along with a single flying Brimstone. Love the light in this image!

On the wooden fence rail i found this tiny Weevil!  shot at x4.5 mag, 4 frames focus stacked to increase dof.

and finally another Peacock image to finish off a really great day!   Really enjoyed being out today in the sun.  Saw great crested newts, kestral,buzard,long tailed , coal , great tits, chaffinch and a lesser spotted woodpecker among other things:D

                               all images shot with canon 5d2, mpe-65 & 70-300 is f5.6

Ryton Wood and Country Park sept 25th

A return visit to Ryton wood the following sunday,  i wanted to have a good look around the wood and the country park which i didn't manage to do on the last "fun" trip!  lol
I started off walking into the wood area along a narrow path with loads of devils bit scabious flowers, so should find something to shoot.   the weather was not great , overcast with drizzle so didn't expect to find many insects on the flowers early on , but to my surprise i found a large bumble bee feeding.  i did not recognise this species and had not seen one similar before.  the light was not very good so had to shoot at iso 640 and f5.6 to get a decent 1/160th shutter speed. 
This bee has been identified as a Tree Bumble Bee   bombus hypnorum , a species that was only found in this country i believe in 2001 in the south and has been spreading northwards.

As i walked further into the wood  pictured below,   not knowing where i was going   lol

  I managed to find a few ladybirds to shoot,  here is one i found on a dead tree stump and had to bury the mpe lens into the moss to get a nice low angle to get a nice composition!
This is a single frame at f13   full flash  mpe-65 at about x2 magnification full frame 5d2

It was while i was shooting this image i received a text from Gill , she had arrived at the car park and obviously having seen my car and wanted to know if i was here and where i was!!!
 Stupid question i thought at the time, especially because i was by now completely LOST!    yes she thought that was hilarious!     she still hadnt given me a map! lol    i would meet her later on in the country park where she was continuing the brown hairstreak egg survey.

Here is another shot taken from in the wood., this particular area is where i will find my first ever purple hairstreak eggs a couple weeks time.  another blog to be written!

This is where i found a my second acorn weevil,   after finding one on the last trip to ryton meadows.

here is the cute tiny weevil on my finger !

and on a leaf!

I eventually found my way out of the wood after about an hour!    and walked into the country park to find Gill,  just moments after she had found a triple brown hairstreak egg cluster on the blackthorn.

Here i am shooting the egg cluster [ photos shot by Gill  ]

As you can see, i am holding the stem in my left hand while resting the mpe lens on same hand, if my hand moves both camera and stem move together so stay aligned when shooting the individual frames for the focus stack.

Here is the resulting finished focus stacked egg image, each egg is approx 0.7 mm diameter!

After shooting this we spent all afternoon having fun searching the country park and surrounding area for more eggs,while getting slashed by brambles and spiked from blackthorns  lol   it is actually great fun, believe me!!!!!!!

later in the early evening i shot the trees that had just started to change colour ,and then...

Gillian kindly let me shoot her portrait in the beautiful warm evening light !

She thinks the colour is too strong, but i think this represents the light perfectly , when compared to a shot taken a few minutes earlier which looked very cold !

a perfect end to a great day :)

all shots taken with canon 5d2, 100mmL macro and mpe-65