Messin' about

Nothing much to report owing to work and fishing. At least the fishing was slow, allowing me to play around with some 'selfies' and other stuff for a bit of fun. Taking photographs in the dark certainly finds the limitations of your gear and my fishing DSLR is a bugger to focus with when there's barely any light. For the first shot I hung my head torch on the brolly, zoomed in on it using live view and focused manually. I used a radio remote to take the shot.

In daylight things were easier, except for some reason the camera used face detection to pick the focus point - even with the distant face - when I wanted the reels sharp. Once more the best shot of the bunch was the one with the dodgy focus and the ones where the focus was on the reels were rubbish because the light had changed.

Next time out I tried some light painting using my head torch as an experiment to illuminate the rods. Difficult to pre-visualise the results at first, but I find it far easier than using flash. You might think that spending twelve hours in one spot trying to catch fish would mean I had a high boredom threshold, but I gave up on the photography long before the moon moved round to the perfect place in the frame because it became tedious!

At dawn I spotted (ho, ho) a four-spotted chaser waiting to dry off and warm up before taking flight. So I pestered that with both fishing cameras. The best results coming from the compact. Not great by most standards, but acceptable for unplanned pictures. Especially as the only flash I had was the one built in to the camera.

Using the flippy screen I was able to get better angles than the awkward ground allowed. I'd have got a dunking had I tried to use the viewfinder for framing. Rather than go for the usual out of focus background I was trying to make environmental pictures. Even so I could have cleared some of the dead reed stems out of the way as the insect wasn't going anywhere. Again I gave up before I got a really good shot. I don't have that urge to pay attention to every detail and strive for perfection. Story of my life really. Near enough is good enough for me most of the time!

Despite this lackadaisical attitude I have learned a few things. So maybe one night, or day, I'll be able to get some better results from the gear. If I do some pre-planning. Which is unlikely...

Indian summer

It's amazing the things you see. Out for a wander with the camera I saw a kestrel go down on the ground and start squabbling with another one when a pair of pheasant's emerge from the grass and the hen joins in the fight!

The pheasant gave up but the kestrels carried on until one won out.

The next time I was out and about I found some late dragonflies that a mate had spotted the week before. There were plenty of common darters around, many paired up and some were seen ovipositing. I managed to creep up on one pair coupled on the ground in a 'wheel'. Unfortunately the sun was behind them and I wasn't able to get around to benefit from its light. Still, the camera's built in flash made a reasonable job of a fill light.

I also tracked one of the migrant hawkers that were on the wing to its landing place where I was able to get in close, in an awkward position on a sloping ditch bank, and spend some time getting shots. Some of which I am pleased with.

Undeterred by wandering round with lenses of varying longish focal lengths I have been trying a few landscapes in the autumn sun. I'm not sure this one really came off, but the contrast of light between near and far was what caught my eye. It also shows man's impact on the landscape, which is something that interests me.

Winter Hill from Bretherton Eyes

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The fat lady has yet to sing

With warm sunshine forecast to disappear in mid afternoon I left it a bit late to head north in search, obtusely, of southern hawkers. My delay was caused by a family of coal tits hanging around in the garden visiting my hemp-filled seed feeder and one of them discovering the niger seeds I'd placed in a teasel head that I had stuck in the ground hoping to get goldfinches in a picturesque pose.

First off I took my camera in the garage while I did some work, and when the coal tit landed on the teasel I stopped work and did my best with the lens available.

With the work finished and the coal tits still around and not disturbed by me moving around the garden I set up the tripod and remote release, pre-focussing the 70-300VR on the seed feeder. Not all the shots were in focus - the feeder swings as the birds alight. A couple were both in focus and showing the bird with its head out of the feeder! For a first and brief effort I was quite happy with the results.

Setting off around ten I would be at the dragonfly site well before lunchtime if all went to plan. It didn't. I hit a traffic jam and after a u-turn and following an alternative route I hit another. I hadn't even reached the motorway. When I did I was lucky not to turn down the slip road, which was solid like the motorway. Not being too far away from, and heading in the right direction to, a disused quarry I went there for a mooch.

The hoped for peregrines weren't in evidence. Not visually. There were some raptor-like calls echoing round the cliffs, but nothing I could pinpoint. The usual jackdaws were there in numbers, and the pair of ravens. On the water were three or four dabchicks among the coots and mallards. Standing high on the cliff looking down into the clear water it was fun to see the little grebes diving and swimming out of sight in their search for food. So high above them was I that even at 300 the lens was pretty useless to capture these small birds. A longer lens and a polariser might get some interesting results on a sunny day though.

Other bird life seen were jays, and heard were numerous tits in the birch scrub. There were plenty of toadstools around, most having been chomped by slugs or well past their best. I spent a few minutes trying to get a decent pic of a small clump, but a tripod would have been beneficial even with flash. Fungi are more difficult than birds to photograph!

Given the location it seemed a good idea to take the short drive to the hills and the hilltop quarry where the black darters live while the sun was still shining and warm enough to let me leave the sweatshirt in the car.

The recent rain had changed things up there. The small pool wasn't so small, and it was hard to get around with leaky boots on my feet! There were a fair few black darters around, but all in the rushes that had been dry last time I was there, and not as many as earlier. The big pool was a different matter. Far fewer darters, a couple of emerald damsels, and some hawkers. There were at least two common hawkers laying eggs in the marginal rushes. A tricky place to try and photograph them from dry land. A pair of waders would allow a better angle, but being in the water might prove more likely to spook the hawkers. They are spooky enough.

My first efforts were with the 70-300VR, but I wasn't happy with them, and at one stage a hawker came far too close for me to focus on it. The Sigma 70-300 would have been okay. You can't have everything.

It was fascinating watching the dragonfly at such close quarters, twisting its abdomen into all sorts of shapes as it sought out stems to insert its eggs into. Once they are in that mode they become more approachable, but sudden movements make them fly off.

I switched to the macro lens and flash set up, hoping I could get another chance at a real close look. I wasn't quite so fortunate, but I did get some shots where the hawker wasn't partially obscured by juncus. I also got a very wet foot as I inched close enough. A small price to pay.

Activity slowed and I called it quits. On my way home the sky began to turn grey and the rain wasn't far behind. More rain and cooler temperatures are supposed to set in. The fat lady may sing this week after all.

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Last chance dragons?

This morning I was photographing my friendly robin, singing his head off again, when a coal tit landed on a feeder, grabbed a seed and flew off to deal with it in the hedge. This rarely happens when I'm in the garden so I stationed myself as close to the feeder as I dare and focused on it. It needed a heavy crop, but I managed a half decent pic (within the limits of the crop) of this frustrating little bird.

A fleeting glimpse...

I hadn't gone looking for dragonflies this afternoon and was surprised to see a few common darters, including a tandem ovipositing pair, and a brown hawker at the litter pit. Because I wasn't expecting them I hadn't taken the macro lens, so it was a good chance to try out the 70-300 on them. It proved less than ideal on the darters, not too bad on the hawker which landed on the grass. What did I say about the browns settling high up? Shooting without flash the depth of field wasn't great, but it was okay.

 Tatty wings are to be expected in late September

With a few dragonflies on the wing I set off for the dragonfly pond, only for the sun to dim. A solitary male common darter was spotted. So I took a photo of a toadstool which had an appealing colour and texture before leaving for home.

If the sun shines tomorrow I might go take a last look for southern hawkers. Then again, I might not.

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The kindness of strangers

The interweb is a great place to find information. Some of it hidden away like the file name of a photo that revealed the location of some apparently obliging dragonflies. On Sunday I went to look for the pool and found it easily enough. The guy with the camera on a tripod pointing at a plant was a give away. Two others were pointing their cameras at vegetation too. The pond was so small there wasn't much space for me! I soon spotted something, got my camera from the car and set about staking a male ruddy darter - the first I'd ever seen. Quite obliging it was. In short order it had my macro lens in its face.

Although that was something I had hoped to see and photograph what I really wanted to get a shot of was a southern hawker. The ones I'd seen elsewhere were not in the habit of settling. I was assured they did so at this location. When the sun was shining and really quite warm they were hawking round the pond, inspecting the human intruders into their domain and chasing each other. When a cloud passed in front of the sun they disappeared. The original couple with cameras were replaced by another pair, and one of them soon spotted a resting hawker. Obviously more attuned to their habits than I. Southern hawkers perch closer to the ground than I had expected. Brown hawkers seem to perch higher, head high or above and I expected the southern hawkers to do likewise, but they were all alighting around knee level. Eyes down for a full viewfinder.

After he had taken a few shots of the first hawker to be spotted the original photographer on the scene let me have a go. The insect was completely unperturbed by our attentions.



After this yet another photographer arrived. Making it three grey-bearded men poking camera lenses in the faces of insects. Only one of them being daft enough to lay on the damp ground exposing his bare arms to the nettles...

One of the blokes pointed out some shield bugs. There were a lot of them about, and different species too. When you get a real macro view of them they are intriguing little bugs well worth seeking out with a camera.

There being only so many ways to photograph a perching southern hawker, and with my mission achieved, I headed on over to the nearby nature reserve where I fully intended to cough up the fee to use their hides. However, hardly had I crossed the car park towards the visitor centre than my Tourettes kicked in and I began mumbling obscenities to myself. There's something about clean walking boots, spotting scopes and Berghaus jackets that raises my bile. I availed myself of the toilet facilities, thumbed through a few books in the shop so I could choose which to buy off Amazon, and left.

Rather than hang around I took a very scenic route home, stopping off in a pay-and-display (without paying or displaying) to listen to the final overs of the one day cricket international. Then it was home to stick my pics on the screen and see what I'd got.

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Still a few about

Unexpectedly the sun shone. I'd promised myself another trip to the moorland quarry in the hope of finding some inert hawkers. Climbing the hill I saw that one of the cows was not as other cows. I retraced my steps and clambered over the fence into the next field. Although the bull looked placid enough and was in with plenty of cows I wasn't in the mood to find out.

As soon as I approached the first pond I saw hawkers and copulating black darters on the wing, and a few emerald damsels in the rushes. They were all rather difficult to pin down. I tried a few fungus shots but really needed a tripod and gave up. Wandering around I tried some spider shots that I was too idle to put the flash on for. While I was doing this I hard a rustle of dragonfly wings and expected it to be a common hawker nearby, so the light insect that settled on my right hand I assumed to be afly of some sort. When I looked it turned out to be a male black darter, and it wasn't for moving either!

As usual I disturbed hawkers, commons in the marginal rushes and the surrounding heather. When I saw one settle it would fly off before I got close enough for a shot. It was quite sad to see a pair of black darters wasting their time laying eggs in a puddle on the path. That's nature for you though.

Hearing a whirring in the margins I crept as stealthily as I could towards it. A common hawker flew away but three emerald damsels remained. One male clasping another that was clasping a female in a wheel. I saw this earlier in the year with banded demoiselles.

At the smaller pond there were plenty of black darters in the air, some paired up, and some paired hawkers that I couldn't get an ID on. With the sun shining brightly it was warm enough to strip down to the t-shirt. As soon as the sun went in it was cool enough to require the replacing of the fleece. Then it rained. Heavily. I took shelter in the wood where I took a lazy pohoto of a fungus of some sort. Lazy because I used the in-camera flash. It turned out quite reasonable considering.

It was a passing shower and I was back out again. It continued to prove difficult to get any decent dragonfly photos. A pair of hawkers settle on a vertical rock face, but my stalking skills let me down. I tried some less flighty subjects. Lichen are really fascinatingly shaped creations when you look closely. Static they may be, but they're still tricky to photogtraph. Practice is required, and probably a tripod.

There were a fair few grashoppers around, and they were quite approachable. Not always hopping off when I prodded them. I assume the rain had cooled them down a bit. They can be kind of cute! More time should have been spent with them in retrospect.

Another shower passed over as I was taking a walk away from the quarry. Only a light and brief one. Then it came warmer than ever. A final look around the ponds revealed nothing that I managed to capture with the camera. A couple of hawkers, possibly migrants, patrolled the large pond  and clashed, wheeling away together noisily over the heather clad slops around the pool.

Rather than brave the bull I took the longer route down the hill, then had a wander round the overflow from the reservoir, and along it's banks. By the time that was done I was about beat - and hungry. Interesting though, as I think I found a spot roe deer might frequent. It's close to a place I stumbled across a small herd in the pre-dawn darkness when fishing one time. It's a fly infested bog though!

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One more look

I made the most of the Indian summer and set off to look for dragonflies. The damsels are all but done now, just an odd blue-tailed and emerald have been seen this last week, a few darters are still about, but the hawkers are still active. So much so that one flew ahead of me as I drove down the lane to the litter pit, where a male common darter looked in through the passenger window when I parked up!

The hawkers never settle, and their flight paths are so unpredictable they are tricky to frame in flight. There were brown hawkers around, at least two, and another smaller hawker that I couldn't get an ID on. I'm guessing at migrant hawker, but it is a guess.

I was photo-less until I spotted a male common darter perched atop a reedmace head. Maybe it's the time of year but it was readily approachable. The only problem being that the reedmace was well in the bed and I got wet feet framing my arty shots - I couldn't get close enough for anything more detailed! What was evident, even on the LCD screen was that the first shots I tool with the 70-30 were far less clear than the ones I took with the 150, even though the darter was smaller in the frame with the former.

Approachable darter

A brief look at the newt ponds was pleasant but not much was seen apart from another possible migrant hawker that refused to have it's portrait taken. Home or the dragonfly pond? With the sun still shining and warm I took the latter option. Alas an overturned lorry caused me to arrive about fifteen minutes later than I should have, by which time the sun was just off the pond. Nonetheless a brown hawker was flying and a couple more took to the wing ahead of me. I followed one visually and it settled. A little high, but it settled. I took one shot as a record shot before creeping up on the insect. I didn't get any closer before it flew off. They are quite skittish. Also quite cryptic when resting and the first sign I get is when one takes off in front of me.

Unapproachable hawker

It was pretty quiet, apart from a brown hawker making an occasional foray over the pond or  round the surrounding trees and shrubs. Another hawker flew past me, close to the water's edge, when I was looking at the marginal plants and sniffing the water mint. Probably a brown hawker, but it looked more olive.

Leaving the dragonfly pond I went for a mooch round the hidden pond thinking that it should still be in sunlight, which it was. As I approached the water it crossed my mind that I had yet to see one of the fabled black darters known to frequent this pond. No sooner had I had the thought that I saw a black darter! It proved to be a confiding one that was intent on soaking up the last of the sun by basking on a fence post. I spent quite some time photographing it, even having the time to fit a couple of extension tubes and get in really close without it flitting away. I still managed to leave the ISO setting on auto and mess up the first lot of shots...

Tubed

It would fly up at times but settle straight back down on the post - once on my head! Eventually my model got bored and deserted me. I carried on round the pond and saw another darter fly into a hawthorn where it perched on a haw on an inner branch. This had the making of a great photo, but the physical approach to a good viewpoint was blocked by branches. I did the best my capabilities allowed but it was not really good enough.

What might have been

The evening light was glorious. Typical of this time of year. I should have made more of it, but my bones were tired and my stomach empty.

Must try harder

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Unexpected

I almost didn't take a camera with me when I went looking for pond plants. As it turned out I put the wrong lens on it. As soon as I stopped to look at one small pool a brown hawker flitted past my eyes and began egg laying among the broad-leaved pond weed. I guess there isn't a perfect lens to take everywhere on the off chance. It will never be long enough or wide enough for what you see. An 18-200 zoom is versatile, but always seems to fall short when some interesting small creature is spotted. But then so does a 70-300, and I bet an 80-400 would too.

However, a crop produced a result that shows what was going on - after a bit of work.

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Neglected dragons

In my excitement over my pond I forgot to mention that I went window shopping for lenses on Saturday and called in at the dragonfly pond on my way home. It was before ten and although bright it was quite cool. Even so the usual common darters were around but nothing else that I saw. No doubt they were flying later when the day heated up.

I managed to get close to a couple, choosing to forgo the flash and take a chance on hand holding with available light. Apart from the rather cluttered background this one is quite nice.

It won't be long before the dragonflies are no more for another year. Time to start looking for winter visitors of the feathered variety.

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The Lair of the Slug

Summer is drawing to its inevitable close. Cool nights and sunny days that don't warm until late morning. I took the chance to visit the dragonfly pond where common darters were copulating and ovipositing in profusion. Brown hawkers were in evidence, one also egg laying, and another brighter hawker came to inspect me. I tried for some flight shots but it was too close at times. I did manage to identify it as a southern hawker from one of the blurry photos.

Although I failed to manage any pics of mating darters I did get one of two in tandem laying eggs in the margins. Taken with natural light I was quite please with this effort.

I snuck up on a resting darter too. I thought I'd try some super macro with my new extension tubes, but by the time I'd got everything set up it had flown away. So I left the flash attached after removing the tubes and wandered off, snapping a first attempt at a crane fly on my way to the hidden pond.

I was too clumsy in my approach to the hidden pond and disturbed three ovipositing brown hawkers, which was a shame. There wasn't much else in evidence, the clouds had put the dragonflies down at the dragonfly pond too. Off to the duck pond next. On arrival I saw the unmistakeable azure streak of a kingfisher. The bird didn't reappear, but this might be a place worth an early morning visit to try and catch it with the camera before too many dog walkers get out and about.

I took a last fruitless look at the dragonfly pond before heading for the litter pit and surrounding ponds. The sun was still in hiding and not much was seen, and nothing photographed, at the litter pit. The newt ponds had to be worth a look.

As I locked the car up I heard the mew of a buzzard, eventually catching a glimpse of it as it wheeled awy to the south. The sun had come out again and two dragonflies hawked over a clearing in some scrubby trees. Too far off for a photograph, they wouldn't come any closer.

The flowers there are all but gone by the ponds, and only a few white butterflies were around, although a hawker (southern or migrant, it was hard to tell) buzzed me. Something barked hoarsely in the thicket. I knew it was a deer and turned my flashgun off. There was a rustle and at least three deer ran slowly through the thicket. I still had the camera set to back button focus (but forgot I had) and fluffed any chance I might have had of a photo. Knowing where the deer would have headed I removed the flash bracket and reset the shutter release. It was no surprise to fail to find the deer. They'd melted away. Aside from the hawker the only other odonates were a couple of emerald damsels.

The wood was the next place to check out. Walking down the side of the wood I noticed something black on the track. It could have been some dung but it looked to have legs. I guess it was a newt that had got squashed. There is a pond by the side of the path, it may well have come from there.

I photographed some insects on the last of the umbellifers, tried for some autumnal shots of sloes and failed, then went into the wood. Deer tracks were evident, but it was cool and quiet, save for some briefly raucous jackdaws. Time for tea. Passing a thistle head I made an effort and something arty-farty. I'm not too sure I pulled it off.

During this outing I mused on how I could photograph slugs and snails. Nocturnally active molluscs that are difficult to focus on with no light. It struck me that as they aren't likely to run away I could take them indoors. In to the garage at least. By the time I had finished my evening meal I'd forgotten all about this. When I was thinking of bed I had a wander round the garden and saw a big brown slug. I got the camera ready, setting it up to use the in-camera flash to trigger the flashgun remotely. I attached the flashgun to a table-tripod I have and added my bounce card to soften the light. The next job was to build the set and add the cast of one.

The stage was easy. One of the turfs cut from the pond would do, which I placed on a plastic lid to keep the soil off my workbench. The slug was plucked from the lawn with a gloved hand and deposited on the sod. All I had to do was wait for it to unfurl and I'd be in business.

Lights. Camera. Action!

What I should have done was clip the grass. The star was reluctant and managed to hide behind the short green blades. A pair of scissors did the trick.

Next time I'll make a better job of things, but it was a fun start. One thing I will do is get a cake-maker's turntable to put the turf on. Ol' Sluggy had a habit of turning away from the lens. Playing around with the lighting will also be done. Either with another flash gun, different diffusion, or some small studio lights.

Speedy the Slug

There's more scope for this table-top studio work. Snails and woodlice come to mind as potential subjects that can be photographed inside on easily made convincing sets.

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Sunny Sunday

The dragonfly pond was the first stop today, a hot and sunny Sunday. The grass by the path to the pond had been cut since my last visit and I walked along it following the edge of the plantation of shrubs. All the way to the pond were common darters over the mown grass, over a larger open space by the pond were hawkers.

My intention was to see how close the new lens will get in order to compare it to the 70-300 with the Raynox attached. With it being so warm I didn't hold out much hope of a darter sitting still while I tried to rub it's nose with the lens! But I was wrong. In less than half an hour I'd done it. I tried a few shots with available light but the depth of field was pitiful. The darter stayed put while I attached the flash and tried again.

Not quite as close as the old system

As I was leaving I did manage some decent shots with available light of another friendly darter perched on a branch. I was pleased with that. Then it was off to hill country and the black darters. The heather is now in bloom, and a decent landscape photographer could really make something of the play of colours on the hills.

A poor effort

The small pool is more boggy than the larger and seems to harbour more darters and emerald damsels. Even so I spent some time watching a common hawker ovipositing. There didn't seem to be as many darters around as last week, but it had been sunny all day, whereas last week the sun had only shone after lunch - so maybe they'd done enough by the time I arrived.

Sheltered, boggy and sunny. Ideal upland dragonfly habitat.

Looking round the larger pool there wasn't much to see except a multitude of common blue damsels on bare patches of earth and flying low over the water. Then I heard the beating of larger wings against sedge, a sign of a common hawker ovipositing in the margin. I found the dragonfly easily, but with the juncus overhanging the water it was impossible to get a clear shot without falling headlong into the pool! I considered a paddling session so I could shoot towards the bank. The dragonfly moved a few feet along the bank and here I was able to get above it and carefully hold some grass clear with my left hand without disturbing the hawker and take a few photos. Not great, but interesting.

Full frame cropped for composition

Leaving the big pool I headed back down the hill and drove over to a mill lodge. This proved uninspiring so I made my way down the dam embankment into an overgrown field filled with head-high thistles. I seem to find dragonflies everywhere I go these days, and a brown hawker was working over the thistle heads in the lowering sun.

Again I wished I was more of a landsacapeist. The backlight on the vegetation was delightful. I made a stab at using it to get some atmosphere into a butterfly shot. It kinda works. Given more time, and thistle proof trousers, I could have sought out a better subject, pose and composition. I considered looking elsewhere for some backlit plants, but the body was weaker than the spirit.

Back-lit peacock

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More dragon interactions

For some reason I got it into my head that I wanted to photograph black darters. Having found a mention of a site in Cumbria on a blog I was hoping to get a sunny day to go look for them. Then I read on a forum of a place much closer to home. When summer made another of it's brief visits I mowed the lawn then headed off to play with my new toy.

It was a steep climb up the steps through the wood, levelling off as I neared the summit. As soon as I climbed the final stile a dragonfly flew past along the track. Not a darter, but possibly an omen. Not knowing where I was going it took a while to find the area that should be home to the darters. As soon as I entered the part of the quarry which was most boggy I saw a couple of black darters. It turned out there were lots of them in the sheltered dip, females and immature males were lurking in the sedge, the mature males lurking round the edges on rocks and bilberry leaves. There were also plenty of emerald damsels to be seen and a few common blue damsels and  two or three hawkers over the pool itself.

I spent my time chasing the darters around, the males proving more elusive than the females. For the second time in less than a week I saw a darter fly into a spider's web, but this one managed to break free.

A lucky black darter that escaped the the web

At one point I counted fifteen black darters basking on a rock, with a few more on surrounding rocks. As I was wandering round one even landed on my shoulder!

Male black darter (background cleaned up)

There's another, larger, pool on site and that was where I went next. There wasn't much to be seen at first save a few damsels. Then I noticed hawkers prowling the marginal sedges. Working my way round the edge a disturbance on the water's surface caught my eye and there was a male common hawker struggling to break the grip of the water's meniscus. After taking a couple of photos I broke off a piece of sedge and poked it into the water and let the dragonfly take a hold. There had been a water boatman eyeing the hawker up when I first saw it, and another fell from it's body as I lifted it from the water. It doesn't take long for scavengers to find a potential meal. On close inspection I noticed the hawker was lacking most of one rear wing. I wonder if it was the loser in an inter-dragonfly fight?

Struggling common hawker

Rescued

Venturing across a wet overflow I looked around the other side of the pool where two hawkers were hunting over the heater and bilberries covering the high steep banks of the quarry. Another was searching the margins and turned out to be a female looking for egg laying sites. Easy enough to approach when actually ovipositing, but rarely in good view. The photo below being the best effort I managed.

Ovipositing common hawker

I looked at my watch and realised I'd stopped longer than I'd intended. The sun was still shining brightly as I made my way back down the hill. A proper August evening.

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Wet bum, wet knees, wet feet...

On Tuesday evening the weather pattern followed the recent trend of dull and wet in the morning with fitful sunshine in the afternoon and evening. After tea I found myself drawn to the saltmarsh in search of meadow pipits. Sure enough they were still there. A group flew up and hung on the wind coming off the sea and a couple perched on the fence posts. I grabbed a shot or two to kick off then tried stalking them. I got reasonably close before deciding to sit and wait for them. The marsh lived up to its name and was wet. I soon found my backside getting damp. I shuffled around wishing I'd put my waterproofs on. But one of the pipits came close so I wasn't bothered and knew I'd soon dry out.

Posing pipit

An hour was enough with the pipits and I battled my way back through the sedge and drove to look for barn owls. For the second time the owl was  no-show.


Wednesday lunchtime saw me dashing out, camera in hand, to photograph a young hedgehog that was on a mission. Once more the angle viewfinder came in handy. If I'd had the lawnmower out recently I might have got some better shots! As it was I'd forgotten there'd been rain and my knees got damp in the long wet grass.

Peekaboo

Thursday afternoon was free, the sun was shining, and I thought I'd go look for the darters I had been told about. Not yer average darters you understand. True to form the sun went into hiding when I got there. I did see a male common darter, which always seem to be well outnumbered by females when I'm out and about, but could get close enough for a good shot. Circling the pond for the third time a female common darter flew ahead of me into the reeds in the pond margin where it came to a sticky stop in a spider's web.

Trapped

Seeing the darter's peril I snapped a shot and was about to lean out and free it when the web's spinner arrived on the scene so I let nature take its course. Watching the spider deal with the much larger dragonfly was fascinating. At first the dragonfly struggled, but within a very short time it's wings were bound and maybe it was paralysed by venom.

The web snapped at one extreme and the dragonfly swung down, where the spider made some kind of winch mechanism and hoisted it higher to a point where it appeared to bind it to the stem it was strung from. Then it looked to start dining. In order to get some real close ups with the Raynox on the lens I took a step or two too far and ended up with soaked feet. I think it was worth it.

Dinner for one

Butterflies are still around, but the dragonflies need more sunshine to get them on the wing. There were some fungi around now that autumn is approaching. A few leaves already falling from the trees and blackberries ripening on the brambles.

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