The Lesser backswimmer Plea minutissima is often overlooked, being quite small (about 3mm long), resembling and often mistaken for a small nymph of the ‘greater’ backswimmer (Notonecta sp.). They are a real pain to photograph, rarely stopping long enough to find such a small creature in the frame, let a alone focus on them! I…
DetailsOn couple of days ago, on a warm morning (before the horrible bitter cold wind returned), one patch of nettles near a large pond was teeming with invertebrates. Among them was my first Azure damselfly of the year. I also saw a number of red damselflies there and throughout the day, with 12+ seen around…
DetailsAnother creature I photographed in my macro session was this Rhingia campestris hoverfly. It has the long ‘nose’ due to its extra long mouthpart which can reach down into flowers to get nector other hoverflies can’t reach. I need to find or think of a common name for this beast to tell the children I…
DetailsSome more photos from the Loch Garten Car Park, where I spent all day waiting for some crested tits to pose for photos. I got some nice shots, thanks to some excellent help from my friend Ian, who also lent me his Canon 7D and 600mm L lens to use!
DetailsI had a number of sightings of goldcrests in the Loch Garten Car Par, but they never really posed for a photo in a near enough or clear enough position. The best I managed was probably this
A couple of quick photos of great tits, taken in the RSPB Loch Garten Car Park back in March.
While in Kent a wood pigeon kept coming down to the garden bird table. It seemed relatively tolerant so I crept in towards it for a close up…. …and got one! I managed a shot of it on the fence waiting to come down. And later flying around in the trees. I got another nice…
DetailsA couple of more macros from yesterday, of a green veined white butterfly.
I had a nice half hour or so of macro photography this afternoon, despite the blowing gale and sporadic sun! In a relatively sheltered spot I spotted a male orange tip patrolling, feeding and sun bathing around the garlic mustard. A bit further along I spotted 4 large red damselflies as I walked along the…
DetailsHere is a video I filmed on my Pentax K5 DSLR of a marsh harrier feeding on a dead rabbit, while being harassed by a number of crows. Be sure to click on the expand video arrows/button to view full screen! feeding marsh harrier from Neil Phillips on Vimeo.
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