ChrisC

[Susie]

Crab spiders are the scariest. Those long arms just dying to give you a big hug and then .......

[millerd]

Crab spiders are the scariest........

This one was lying in wait for Orange Tips.

Dave

[ChrisC]

i'm waiting for those to mature before i get a pic of one of those how about wolfy?

[Susie]

A spidy teddy bear!

[ChrisC]

Glad to say we had a fair bit of rain today, but between the showers i thought i'd get a bit of practice in.
the Bowles mauve the main attractor.

but new for the garden was a tree bee. Bombus hypnorum

and yesterday a Brimstone took a fancy to the red campion. the campion a bit washed out though. so practice still needed.

[ChrisC]

first one is for all those with garlic mustard in your gardens. this one of the longhorns to watch out for that likes to settle on it. ( i was only checking on the orange tip caterpillar)

and speaking of longhorns, there were hundreds if not thousands of these around my local wood today. used the flash to try and get the full effect of the antennae

and what to me looks like a mini mini longhorn though actually isn't (wingspan 7-8mm) and a first for me a red head with blue eyes

it was a great walk, not far but 3 and half hours around woods without bumping into anyone has to be a good thing right. I found a buckthorn with at least 10 brimstone caterpillars on it, i'm hoping this downy emerald was standing guard over them, was hard to see this let alone get a pic, arms at full stretch, sun in the eyes trying to see the LCD so when i saw this result i was well pleased. no competition winner but only the 2nd time i've seen one

there you go.... a spider free entry the only butterflies seen were speckled woods and Brimstone.

[ChrisC]

with only a short walk arond the forest this weekend i thought i'd have a look for my neglected spiders
this one has only 61 UK records (this is my third, but first outside of the garden) and looking at this camouflage is it any wonder. I only got to it by following the silk. Anyway UKB meet Araneus angulatus

and i have been practicing even without my lens with the butterflies last week

[Susie]

That spider's camoflage is AMAZING!

[ChrisC]

She is a beauty isn't she.

Breezy down at Durlston today but i need the practice
my best small heath even with the grass

try to ignore the cuckoo spit, i didn't see it "in the field"

Don't care about the distractions don't often see them side by side

and i even tried some with the dcr lens

and when i got home this tatty peacock stuck around for a portrait

[Susie]

So are you using a new lense for butterflies now? Nice small blues.

[ChrisC]

thanks Sue, the lens i used for the last 4 is the one I have been using for the spiders. i don't know if the butterflies were feeling lazy, distracted or my field skills are improving but they allowed me to get very close. none of the four are cropped and some of the detail missing on resizing. I couldn't believe they were so obliging especially the peacock. these aren't cropped either. bit of camera shake on the last one unfortunately. I didn't know they had hairy eyes

[ChrisC]

Swallow Dive
I watched a couple of swallows taking a bath from the hide today too.

score 7 out of 10

score 6 out of 10
definitely bathing as no sooner had they done this they sat on a nearby branch preening

[ChrisC]

found a reasonable sized female misumena vatia this evening, will have another go tomorrow when she's in the sun,

looks quite innocent really

and i just can't resist having a go at these guys

[Lee Hurrell]

looks quite innocent really

No she doesn't....

[ChrisC]

well the lumix close up lens has arrived. and, after having my first mess around with it, i'm quite impressed though i haven't really had too much of a chance have a play with it for butterflies, nor spiders i hasten to add the only thing i could find apart from bees in the garden was hovers so i thought i'd have a go. one trick i have noticed from playing with the camera is with conversion selected you can't use the flash, not sure if this is because of shadow being cast but anyway.... i didn't have conversion on to take these so i could use the flash, hand held, and uncropped. not perfect focus i know and composition i wasn't even thinking about hence the subject not being exactly in the right place these were at 1/1300 and i know it goes to 1/2000 but i'll have to consult the manual to remind me. i like to think it's progress

[Jack Harrison]

With the FZ38 But you CAN use flash simply by not selecting the CONVERSION mode.

The main purpose of CONVERSION mode is to ensure that extreme wide angle is inhibited and therefore you don't get vignetting, that is the tunnel vision effect where the corners are dark. Instead, select conversion OFF and just use that little button on the top labelled AF/AF Macro (flower symbol) as required (normally to AF Macro) and shot away, with or without flash.

I don't in fact use the official close-up lens but a simple add-on achromatic (2-element) lens which is a lot cheaper and does exactly the same thing. I only realised about the conversion/mode no flash interconnection when I was discussing this with Susie at Denbies earlier in the year.

Jack

[Piers]

with only a short walk arond the forest this weekend i thought i'd have a look for my neglected spiders
this one has only 61 UK records (this is my third, but first outside of the garden) and looking at this camouflage is it any wonder. I only got to it by following the silk. Anyway UKB meet Araneus angulatus

Now you're talking; what a beauty!

A. angulatus is an 'NS' species ('Natioanlly Scarce' formerly 'Nb') which means that it although not quite 'RDB', it occurrs in only 16-100 hectads of Great Britain. Couple that with it's specific habitat requirements and particularly cryptic camouflage and you have a top class find there Chris!

The species is pretty much confined to the coastal counties of Southern England (rarely occurring more than 30 miles in land (although there are a couple of exceptions))

That's a truly excellent spot Mr. C.

[ChrisC]

I know i was chuffed with it.. but wait.... there's more. 3 nights ago.....
my shed has done it again too with this cryptic beastie. it's a spider eating spider and yet so small. this just looked like a bit of detritis in the web of another spider only 2-3mm, took a pic and zoomed in to get a better look and sure enough Ero aphana(RDB2 but becoming more widespread).

but now i'm off to search for butterflies, well i'll start out after butterflies

[Susie]

You have a knack for finding very special things Have a grand day and hope to see loads more photos in your diary later.

[Piers]

Chris that's amazing, your shed deserves SSSI status! Ero are a heroic group, absolutely fascinating. More spider action please Chris!