Mixed bag.

Hello all, I've been continuing with the Macro stuff for the last few days with an hours long lens thrown in, in the Forest on Weds whilst I waited for the dog at the hairdressers.

Ladybird.

Large White Butterfly.

Pearl bordered Frittilery.

A Cerposis Vulnerata.

are enough examples of the Macro stuff, the Wood Warbler was very frustrating, I found one who was not too afraid of me but it just wouldn't come low, this is a crop.

Wood Warbler.

One of the most enjoyable opportunities this week came from some more views of one of the Terrapins on the local pond, I have seen two together this week but the one decided it wanted to remain anonymous and plopped into the water just as I got my lens set up.

It is hard to photograph them on their favourite log as the sun is wrong in the mornings and the angle wrong in the afternoon. However I decided to have a go when it was very hazy the other day, I'm pleased with these.

Terrapin.

and

I tried to get the Mallard ducklings that are currently on the pond but the Cob Mute Swan was adamant that he did not want them in the picture, I have never witnessed such unfaltering chasing of ducklings. The Swan did not seem interested in stopping the mother from getting the bread that I had thrown out but it just wouldn't let the ducklings come close.

Mallard and Ducklings.

I hope you will agree another mixed bag of not a lot. But my I've been having fun doing the tiny stuff, its almost given me back my desire to do more photography.

On a sad note, I'm having horrendous problems with my laptop, it crashed the other day and despite getting most of my stuff back I lost a months worth of pics including some lovely ones of my Grandson, I cannot upload pictures to the gallery link, because it say's "access denied" every time I try and the EOS utility programme seems to be working only intermittently. I have problems with Photoshop updating too. I will get it looked at as soon as I can but for a while there won't be any updates in the gallery.

Just for your perusal and because I can I want to show you this shot of my boy, My little Grandson Kenzie-James Lamb, who now can say, Grandad, Car and Keys, and whom I have to allow to drive my car outside his house for 5 mins every visit.

As always click on the pics for larger versions.

Little Birding, Little critters.

I have very few photos to show you this time, I have been struggling to get bird pictures due to weather and wind.

I did have a good week adding to my bird list, Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, and Yellow Wagtail have all been added since my last posting. I got photos of two wagtail species, but unfortunately neither was very good as both were large crops.

Yellow Wagtail.

I saw this bird in Herefordshire at a pond a few miles from my house, I was chatting to a fisherman when I saw it on a pad of lilies, it was having a wash. By the time I had gone to the car and fetched my camera a coot had decided it didnt want it in its patch and was just about to shoo it off. I managed a few quick frames but nothing to sing about.

Grey Wagtail.

This fellow was at another pond in south Herefordshire, clearly collecting food for its young. Again it was a snap shot and from a distance, its a large crop. You can see immediately though the difference between the two.

I was out with the camera today and whilst waiting for a Chiffchaff to come into range a Shield bug landed on my lens. I got the 50D out of the car and got a few close ups of it, this encouraged me to try my hand at a few others. I really would like to crack macro work, It gives me a lot of pleasure. The hardest part is identifying what you've snapped.

I think this first one is a Soldier Beetle but I only have a Collins Gem book of insects so I cant be 100% sure.

I have no idea what this is, or what it's feeding on.

This next one is a Cercopis Vulnerata. A very speedy little bug, when disturbed it disappears so quickly you dont see it go, honestly, I did not see it fly off, the book says its a quick mover too.

This is a Shield Bug, I think its a Green Shield Bug. This is the critter that landed on my lens initially and then proceeded to walk all over my kit.

A slow mover this one, no sense of urgency whilst it was on my kit.

The weather is going to be somewhat mixed again this week so it'll be get what you can whilst you can. Come back soon.