This year so far I have been more focused on bird photography although I still keep a watchful eye on the invertebrate activity even though I do find it difficult to multi-task as my eyes and ears are primarily tuned in to the birdlife…
Being a bit of a novice concerning dragonflies, I believe this specimen to be a female Black-tailed Skimmer…
They are little creatures, these insects…that’s why I’ve got to get right down there with them in the dirt…sometimes it helps to actually lay down. 😉
This was the case with this ladybird…I was laying down on the track next to this group of flowers… originally I was attracted to this spot by bees and tiny hoverflies when I came across this busy little fellow who didn’t stop moving at all…
Because of the low perspective I am virtually guaranteed a ready made, impressionist, bokeh background every time…
At the end of the day, if I have sore elbows, soggy knees and nettle stings then I know that I must of had a good day! 🙂
One thing I really like doing is getting lost in the woods because I always know I will eventually find my way out…
This was my first visit to the Blue Forest and of course I strayed from the main route, lost the way and almost run over an adder for the second time this year….both times I nearly fell off my bike! 😮
Usually when I approach this small shallow pingo ruin on the edge of the forest I hear a succession of small splashes as the frogs retreat to the safety of the water. This day was no different even though I did try to creep up on them….so I just sat down by the waters edge and waited…
Surely enough, one by one, the frogs gradually began to return until the point that I was surrounded by these amphibians…in the first picture above, this curious frog hopped right up to the lens… 😎
While I was observing the aquatic life in the drainage ditch such as pond skaters and various water snails I noticed one individual seemingly having some serious problems in this watery environment…
After finding a stick of suitable length I managed to rescue the unfortunate insect and was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was some kind of Shield Bug, an insect which I haven’t come across for years…
After placing the stick and bug in the sunlight, there was a lot of flapping about to rid the excess water and fortunately the bug made a quick recovery. 🙂
At the end of a long, intense morning photographing insects in the baking sun I decided to rest with a sugary drink in preparation for the return journey back to heartical HQ…
Almost immediately this rather ragged looking Ringlet turns up and seems rather attracted to the orange lid on the bottle and then decides to come and sit right next to me…all morning I had been carefully creeping around after shy butterfies and dragonflies which were acutely sensitive and flew away at the slightest of movements… 😉
a heartical view 