Hawthorn Shieldbug
Ive had a number of hawthorn shield bugs Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale in my garden recently. This posed for a few photos
Rheotanytarsus sp midge larva case
When dipping the river at Bellever on Dartmoor I found a strange looking tube made of sand. I turned out to be the case of a Rheotanytarsus sp midge larva. Sadly it didnt seem to be occupied, but a new one for me anyway.
Water scorpion Nepa cincera on white background
Some more white background photos, this time of the aquatic predator, a water scorpion Nepa cinerea.
Screech or squeek beetle Hygrobia hermanni on white background
A quick 1 photo post. A Screech or squeek beetle Hygrobia hermanni taken in my photographic aquarium
Beautiful Demoiselle nymph from Bellever, Dartmoor
Another thing that turned up in my river sampling was this beautiful demoiselle nymph. I placed it in my photographic aquarium and managed some close ups of this alien look creature. In this photo you can see the large ‘horn’ behind the eye which distinguishes it from the related banded demoiselle. I found it among…
Best of my pond creature photos
To celebrate the launch of the Freshwater Habitats Trust, I thought I would do a ‘best of’ my pond creature photos (some of which are being used by the FHT). These are a few of the nicer shots I’ve taken. First up, the first photo I was happy with of a four spotted chaser dragonfly…
Phantom midge larva
Today I’m off to the Launch of the Freshwater Habitats Trust, formerly known as Pond Conservation. I hope to Tweet this evening from the meeting and blog after the event, but to celebrate the launch, here are some phantom midge larva photos. I blogged some of the fascinating things about these brilliant creatures here:
Migrant hawkers in flight at Rainham Marshes
On Sunday I popped into RSPB Rainham Marshes in hope of finding some water voles. I had no luck but did find a couple of cooperative migrant hawker males. Sadly the light was not so cooperative m, with the sun increasingly dissappearing behind clouds, and doing so as the dragonfly hovering in front of me!…
Migrant hawker, Black necked grebe and clouded yellow at RSPB Dungeness
While at Dungeness on Saturday I came across a migrant hawker that had settles on a gorse bush. It stayed still while I got some close ups too. I also came across this clouded yellow butterfly. A kestrel posed, though a little distantly. A keeled skimmer sat on the path. A black necked grebe (as…
Small tortoiseshell, gatekeeper and common blue butterflies
Some butterflies from the weekend before last, taken in Wat Tyler Country Park and RSPB Vange Marsh. A small tortoiseshell butterfly. The numbers of this species are noticeably higher than the last few years. I’ve seen a lot more common blue butterflies this year too. And a gatekeeper, which always seems to be common!