Garden spiders
Plenty of garden spiders around at the moment, so while in Wat Tyler Park I decided to get a few shots of some with my wide angle and my macro.
Wasp spider wide angle
A wide angle of a wasp spider from a couple of days ago.
Pirate spider close up
Some photos taken using my photographic aquarium of a pirate spider Piraticus sp. This spider can be found around and sometimes on the surface of ponds. This one was flashing its fangs while on the water. This species should not be confused with the much larger raft spiders. This is another species to blog in…
Spitting spider
On Friday evening I spotted a spider in the bathroom. On closer inspection I realised it was a spitting spider. These are described as uncommon and this was only my second ever one, the first having been found in my house also. They are called spitting spiders because they catch their prey by spraying it…
Variable damselfly and Nuctenea cornuta spider eating blue tailed damselfly
On Sunday I popped to Stodmarsh NNR in Kent to see if I could see any hobbys or variable damselflies. I didn’t see any hobbies but I did see this pair of egg laying variable damselflies in tandem: I also spotted a Nuctenea cornuta spider capturing blue tailed damselfly pair As I watched it first…
Stretch spider Tetragantha extensa
Some from last year: Stretch spider Tetragantha extensa It was eating a midge.
Water spider, small red damselfly larva and palmate newt tadpole
When at thursley common back in June I tried some pond dipping off one of the board walks. When filling the tray with water before using the ent I scooped up a water spider, which is rather excellent considering Ive only ever seen 2 before. I caught quite a few in the end, they seeme…
Wasp beetle and common crab spider
Back in May a wasp beetle was found and I got a few photos. It is a type of longhorn beetle that mimics a wasp to fool predators into thinking its dangerous. Also found was this common crab spider.
Pirate spider – Pirata piraticus
In June there were a number of pirate spiders Pirata piraticus living on the surface of the ponds so I caught one and placed it on the water surface in a photographic tank. I then got as low angle as possible to maximise reflection and impact of the image. This was the result:
Common lizard, grasshopper and nursery web spider
The day before visiting Rainham we went to a few other sites in Essex. We started in Epping Forest where we found some common lizards. Along with some meadow grasshoppers. This one started stridulating.. There were loads of migrant hawker dragonflies hunting over the scrub and heath, but none posed for photos. We then moved…