What a great week I have had photographically wise... the sun has been warm and finally plants and insects have joined forces in a riot of vernal exultation... I have been shooting on the fen, in an ancient meadow and an old woodland; I have had a booking confirmed for July and finally it seems we have found a house to live in... one that will be great in which for Quinn to grow... and it has a swimming pool... Midsummer Party anyone?
The week started with a meeting at Wicken Fen NNR where I am to conduct a dragonfly survey this summer - a pleasant walk along the lodes yielded my first Odonata species of the year and some nice images...
Large red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) - newly emerged - what a great colour...
a leaf beetle... still more great colour...
Red-eyed damselfly (Erythromma najas) - this is a teneral example - which means it is newly emerged and as yet hasn't developed any pigmentation... when adult the males spend their time sitting on floating vegetation, and yes their eyes are a similar colour to the body of the large red damselfly... very striking...
another teneral red-eyed damselfly... I love the way they just skulk in the undergrowth...
In addition to invertebrates there are plants of course... this is a water crowfoot (Ranunculus omiophyllus) - a member of the buttercup family; they grow in and on water and many have two different forms of leaves - one set strap-like and submerged and the other entire and floating... a great little group of plants and worth looking for when you are near pollution free water bodies...
One of my favourite plants - water violet (Hottonia palustris). Its leaves are submerged but in the spring the plant throws up these beautiful spikes of pale mauve flowers...
And that made a great start to the week...On the Tuesday, thanks to a tip from a friend I sought out a local nature reserve and SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and went in the search for orchids...
orchid meadow...
Green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio) - an orchid of old, unimproved meadows, which are sadly becoming a thing of the past...however, on this site near Ely the site is full of them!
A bit of a play in Lightroom yielded this... I like the dream-like quality of this shot...
A selection of close-ups of individual flower heads...
Also captured in the meadow...
Common vetch (Vicia sativa) and creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens) - I loved the juxtaposition of these two plants plus the great bokeh of my Tokina macro lens...
Whilst processing this image I found this small detail and was taken by the shapes and colours...
Common vetch... standard plant portrait... Don't you just love the colour here and the shape? Lovely plant...
Could the week get any better? Well I wandered out into the garden and found these...
A ladybird larva...
A sloe bug (Dolycoris baccarum) - great colours, shapes and form... wildlife is just brilliant!
After that...well I paid a visit to the Devil's Dyke... a Saxon earth works and now a SSSI for its chalk grassland... great site - loads of potential for later in the year... but last week I captured...
Common blue (Polyommatus icarus) - don't you just love the blues...
Mother Shipton (Callistege mi) - a day flying moth - so named as the pattern on the wing is said to resemble the profile of a well known witch... I'm sure more images from the site will follow...
Did it end there? Nah... weather was much too good, so I went back to the fen on Friday - looking for dragonflies and anything else really...
Froghopper...
Soldier beetle...
Wasp beetle...
In addition I have had some insurance claim shoots in this week and a booking confirmed for July...it would e nice to keep those coming in...
I think I will leave it at that... this weekend's jaunts will be in next weeks edition... but you can keep up HERE or HERE but I hope you enjoyed these images as much as I enjoyed taking them...
TTFN...
The week started with a meeting at Wicken Fen NNR where I am to conduct a dragonfly survey this summer - a pleasant walk along the lodes yielded my first Odonata species of the year and some nice images...
Large red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) - newly emerged - what a great colour...
a leaf beetle... still more great colour...
Red-eyed damselfly (Erythromma najas) - this is a teneral example - which means it is newly emerged and as yet hasn't developed any pigmentation... when adult the males spend their time sitting on floating vegetation, and yes their eyes are a similar colour to the body of the large red damselfly... very striking...
another teneral red-eyed damselfly... I love the way they just skulk in the undergrowth...
In addition to invertebrates there are plants of course... this is a water crowfoot (Ranunculus omiophyllus) - a member of the buttercup family; they grow in and on water and many have two different forms of leaves - one set strap-like and submerged and the other entire and floating... a great little group of plants and worth looking for when you are near pollution free water bodies...
One of my favourite plants - water violet (Hottonia palustris). Its leaves are submerged but in the spring the plant throws up these beautiful spikes of pale mauve flowers...
And that made a great start to the week...On the Tuesday, thanks to a tip from a friend I sought out a local nature reserve and SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and went in the search for orchids...
orchid meadow...
Green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio) - an orchid of old, unimproved meadows, which are sadly becoming a thing of the past...however, on this site near Ely the site is full of them!
A bit of a play in Lightroom yielded this... I like the dream-like quality of this shot...
A selection of close-ups of individual flower heads...
Also captured in the meadow...
Common vetch (Vicia sativa) and creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens) - I loved the juxtaposition of these two plants plus the great bokeh of my Tokina macro lens...
Whilst processing this image I found this small detail and was taken by the shapes and colours...
Common vetch... standard plant portrait... Don't you just love the colour here and the shape? Lovely plant...
Could the week get any better? Well I wandered out into the garden and found these...
A ladybird larva...
A sloe bug (Dolycoris baccarum) - great colours, shapes and form... wildlife is just brilliant!
After that...well I paid a visit to the Devil's Dyke... a Saxon earth works and now a SSSI for its chalk grassland... great site - loads of potential for later in the year... but last week I captured...
Common blue (Polyommatus icarus) - don't you just love the blues...
Mother Shipton (Callistege mi) - a day flying moth - so named as the pattern on the wing is said to resemble the profile of a well known witch... I'm sure more images from the site will follow...
Did it end there? Nah... weather was much too good, so I went back to the fen on Friday - looking for dragonflies and anything else really...
Cardinal beetle...
Froghopper...
Glow-worm (larva) a new species for me...
Soldier beetle...
Wasp beetle...
In addition I have had some insurance claim shoots in this week and a booking confirmed for July...it would e nice to keep those coming in...
I think I will leave it at that... this weekend's jaunts will be in next weeks edition... but you can keep up HERE or HERE but I hope you enjoyed these images as much as I enjoyed taking them...
TTFN...
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