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.
Black tailed godwit at Limosa limosa Oare marshes
A few photos form back in March taken at Kent Wildlife Trust’s Oare Marshes Nature reserve. The reserve is a fantastic place to see birds, but they are rarely close enough to get a decent shot, even with a 500mm lens, as it is very busy and a lot of the folk there have dogs…
DetailsHydrophilidae larva, backswimmer, pond skater and scarce emerald damselfly nymphs
A few more pond creature aquarium photography shots.
First up this small (1cm) Crawling water beetle (Hydrophilidae) larva.
The nymph of a backswimmer.
A pond skater nymph
And a close up of a scarce emerald damselfly (Lestes dryas) nymph.
Shore bug – Chartoscirta cincta
Along with the semi-aquatic true bugs the pond skaters, Water crickets and water measurers, there is another type: the shore bugs. These are the least aquatic of the semi aquatic bugs, often found in the marginal vegetation around water bodies. I caught this one in a reedy pond and photographed in my photographic aquarium It…
DetailsMigrant hawker and common darter dragonflies at London Wetland Centre
Some more photos from the London Wetland Centre, this time of the dragonflies. There were loads of migrant hawkers about.
Also I photographed this common darter.
Moorhens
Last weekend I popped into the London Wetland Centre in Barnes. There were lots of captive waterfowl to see as ever, but also lots of moorhens running in and around the enclosures. One was on the wall of the eider enclosure Before jumping down. There were plenty feeding around on the grass and I got…
DetailsEider
Back in March I popped into Seahouses on the way back from Scotland, to photograph the resident eiders there and got my best shots yet of this species.
A male posed nicely in the harbour.
And a group came close outside the harbour wall.
The female posed nicely too.
Striped emperor dragonfly nymph and Water stick insect close ups
Yesterday I had a aquarium photography session. A 4mm long emperor dragonfly nymph turned up with this rather nice striped colouration. I have only seen this colouration once before, again it was an emperor, but that one was over a cm if memory serves. The one yesterday let me get one good side on shot.…
DetailsMagpie, Crow and Jay
A few shots from back in the summer. Some bread had been thrown on the floor and I noticed some magpies hanging around. So I settled down in the shade nearby and waited. Corvids are usually wary and there is no exception at Wat Tyler Park so I had to stick on the teleconvertor and/or…
DetailsCommon sandpiper and sandwich tern in Puerto del Carmen marina
Some more Lanzarote photos, this time from Puerto del Carmen marina.
On the rocks I spotted a common sandpiper.
Collared doves were all over the island, but only a few posed for me.
There was a sandwich tern hunting over the marina too.
