Framedlight

I had an excursion to Fermyn Wood with Jane, whose butterfly friend said that this was the place to see Purple Emperors. This involved driving to the wood which is close to Corby, parking on the side of the road and then walking a mile or so down a forest track to an area known as Lady Wood. I had not realised that it was a longish walk and had brought old dog Hettie along, so the going was slow. Jane who regularly walks 20 miles or so must have found this a tad frustrating. Once there we met up with a number of butterfly maniacs who pointed out the faintest whiff of a Purple Emperor 40 foot up a tree. I only saw it when it took flight. The sun was out for a while in the morning but clouded over into the afternoon, and had it been warmer there may have been more action. Jane suggested a pile of dog pooh might do it as the emperors are very partial to dung and rotting fruit and meat. Hettie did not oblige! However we had fun photographing silver-washed fritillaries and the rare whi

Last week the Cambridge Camera Club had a trip out to Paxton Pits in Little Paxton, Cambridgeshire. This is a nature reserve based around some old flooded gravel pits next to an active quarry. The weather forecast was originally sunny, but by the time the day came, it had changed to cloudy, although dry. The hoard of insects we were hoping to see were all deep in the bushes waiting for the sun to come out and so the pickings were rather mean. We also hoped to see wasp spiders which had been reported on the reserve but these too were not around. The pictures are of a more common variety of insects - a damsel fly, frog hoppers, a bee, garden spiders and a hunting spider.They were taken using the 105mm Nikon macro lens.

Alan cycled over and met me at the fen and we had a walk along the Lode. Seeing the windmill reminded me that I had always intended to snap it with the Holga. After lunch the sun was really burning and after the frustrating effort of trying to photograph the dragonflies in the dipping pools I walked back and spent my time by the river. I took a couple of Holga shots and then some macros with a variety of lenses and extension tubes. The first yellow flower picture is of the bladderwort growing at Wicken - a rare carnivorous plant and I was rather taken with the dandelion table with the 4 dining hoverflies. It was Saturday and as it was so fine Wicken became exceedingly busy. As the heat intensified I realised it was time to go home. Thanks to Ann for arranging and hosting the outing.

Last weekend I went to Wicken Fen in Suffolk as part of a trip out with the RPS Nature Group, led by Ann Miles. The weather was overcast and cool in the morning but in the afternoon the sun came out and it got very hot and humid. Good for the dragonflies in the dipping pools where the group was mainly stationed and during the afternoon some effort was put into trying to photograph the brown hawkers who were doing aerial displays back and forth on a swift, tantalizing, zigzag path. Ann managed to get a couple of very good shots but all I saw was a small blur passing the lens and never even managed to press the shutter! Here are a selection of the pictures I took in the morning when the light was even and the dew still on the reeds. I was using a Nikon 105mm f/2.8 macro lens on my D800e body

At the end of last month we went for a walk round Fen Drayton Lakes in Cambridgeshire. It was a very hot day and the insects were out in force feeding from the thistles, which were plentiful. There was also an egret and a heron on the small lake. We saw a fallen willow tree, entirely covered with web from ermine moth caterpillars. Egret Common blue damsel fly Common blue damsel fly Web from ermine moths Common blue damsel fly Peacock butterfly Peacock butterfly Scarlet darters mating Comma butterfly Ermine moth tent Brimstone butterfly Ragwort field Reeds