3 spined stickleback close up
Some close ups of a 3 spined stickleback I took last year.
Mallard and redpoll in Wat Tyler Park
On a quick walk this morning, the first one with sun for a while, I spotted this mallard on a pond. I rather liked the reflection. Another nice surprise was a few redpolls, something I had never seen in the park.
Water measurer Hydrometra stagnorum
A few recent shot of the pond surface dwelling Water measurer Hydrometra stagnorum. These were taken with my photographic aquarium.
Darter dragonfly nymph
A few shots of a darter dragonfly nymph (Sympetrum sp.) I took back in July with my photographic aquarium set up:
Colymbetes fuscus and Rhantus frontalis diving beetles
A few shots from July, taken with my photographic aquarium set up, of a couple of medium sized diving beetle species. First up Colymbetes fuscus. I also photographed this smaller Rhantus sp. probably Rhantus frontalis.
Backswimmer nymph and smooth newt tadpole
A couple from back in April. Thus smooth newt tadpole was fully developed so must have overwintered as a tadpole. There were also a number of small backswimmer (Notonecta) nymphs.
Southern Hawker Aeshna cyanea dragonfly nymph
Some more photos from the aquarium set up in October, this time of a Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) dragonfly nymph.
Smooth newt tadpole Lissotriton vulgaris
A few shots from last October, of a a nearly full grown smooth newt tadpole. I placed some leaves in the aquarium and let it move around, and got some pleasing shots.
Haliplus water beetle larva and phantom midge larva
A couple of Pond creature photos, taken with my aquarium set up a while back. Both of these are under 1cm long and required the use of extension tubes for grater magnification. First up this Haliplus water beetle larva. And a couple of phantom midge larvae close ups
Migrant hawker Aeshna mixta in flight
After all the excitement of the rare southern migrant hawkers, it seem that only the migrant hawkers (Aeshna mixta) are still on the wing. I had a look at West Canvey Marshes on Sunday and there has been no sign this week at Wat Tyler CP. The week before last I came across a migrant…