Thought I'd have a go at Mondays Bench theme, not done this before, it was just when I was out for a walk on Sunday and I thought it would be something different to try.

This was taken just as it was getting dark and I saw an opportunity to get some nice bokeh lights in the background, the main building in the background is the County Hall in West Bridgford.

All that remains to be said is HBM everybody :)

Well this was a turn up for the books, this little beauty landed next to me and was not at all bothered when I went to take this shot, thought this was an interesting angle for a shot :)

Uncropped image

A Salticus scenicus ( ♀ ) hunting on the pink walls by the side of the Nottingham Canal. Not sure why the walls are painted pink in patches, probably to cover up the graffiti. Anyway, this was a last ditch attempt to get some macro done after my Monday walk, you can always find these on this wall.

This was a single frame image shot at F/10 using a diffused flash, I was going to try for a stack, but this little lady had other ideas. I quite liked the sideways glance, she was probably looking at my hand here LOL oOOo

It's that time of year when I'm seeing the first images of Damselflies appearing on Flickr, but I'm still waiting to see my first of the year. Well I've got the day off on Friday and I'm hoping that will be the day to find them.

This image was an Ischnura elegans from last year. A focus stack of 17 images, ISO 320, aperture F/7.1 and a 1/160 shutter speed with a diffused flash. I think this guy was a very mature individual judging by his somewhat worn mouth parts :o)

VIEW LARGE OR ZOOOOOMMM

A selection of images of Sminthurinus elegans f. ornata and Sminthurinus elegans. If there is a central dorsal lateral line it is elegans, if this dorsal lateral line is missing then it is elegans f. ornata.

These were taken a while back, have not been out with the camera for a number of days, just hoping for a decent spell. Will the weather ever settle in this country :o(

Thought I'd share my current Collembola list, there are one or 2 possibles and a few unidentified species, I have also listed a few colour forms here as well, also there are some very common species I see that I've yet to photograph, so theoretically I could increase the list quite easily :o)

PODUROMORPHA

Hypogastrura sp 1(unid)

Hypogastrura sp 2(unid)

Podura aquatica

Ceratophysella denticulata

Brachystomella parvula

Monobella grassei

Neanura muscorum

Protaphorura armata

Kalaphorura burmeisteri

ENTOMOBRYOMORPHA

Hemisotoma thermophila

Vertagopus arboreus

Isotoma viridis

Entomobrya nicoleti

Entomobrya albocincta

Entomobrya nivalis

Entomobrya intermedia

Tomocerus minor

Pogonognathellus longicornis

Orchesella cincta

Orchesella villosa

Lepidocyrtus curvicollis

NEELIPLEONA

Megalothorax minimus

Neelus murinus

SYMPHYPLEONA

Bourletiella hortensis

Bourletiella arvalis

Deuterosminthurus bicinctus

Deuterosminthurus bicinctus var. puncteola

Deuterosminthurus pallipes

Deuterosminthurus pallipes f. repanda

Heterosminthurus insignis

Allacma fusca

Caprainea marginata

Sminthurus viridis

Katiannidae. Genus nov. species nov.

Sminthurinus igniceps

Sminthurinus aureus

Sminthurinus aureus f. ochropus

Sminthurinus reticulatus

Sminthurinus niger

Sminthurinus elegans

Sminthurinus elegans f. ornata

Dicyrtomina saundersi

Dicyrtomina ornata

Dicyrtomina minuta

Dicyrtoma fusca

Calvatomina rufescens

Calvatomina nr superba

Ptenothrix atra (possible)

Sminthurides malmgreni

Sminthurides aquaticus

Sminthurides schoetti

Sminthurides schoetti var. ornata

Sminthurides signatus

Stenacidia violacea

Sphaeridia pumilis

its been persisting it down all day,,no new pics , this is one from a couple of weeks ago at fairburn..dont think its a jumping spider even though it has the same domed head and eyes..this was about 4 times bigger than the normal jumpers and it ran away rather than jumped every time the shutter clicked, and he kept coming back to the same spot after a few mins hiding.

edit..thanks to Eddie the bugman..now ID'd as a wolf spider .

A view of the Trent the other week when it was close to bursting its banks. Fortunately the water levels dropped quite quickly after that day. I liked the effect the fast flow of the river gave with the reflections on this 20sec exposure, almost like ice, I have added a similar shot in the comments to give you an idea what the normal river level is like and shows the reflections when the river is running at its normal slower pace :0)

I'm hoping for a few frosty mornings this weekend so I can get out and attempt a few more frosty Collembola stacks, I really must try to get some way of automating a stack in the field, I may have to look at getting the Cognisys Stackshot kit :o)

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Braved the weather today and went back to see if I could find more Allacma fusca's, well it turns out that yesterday's find was wrongly identified by me, should always listen to Frans LOL. I found loads of these small pink Sminthurinae, these turned out to be juvenile Allacma fusca :0)

Hope everyone has a great weekend, I'm sure it is going to rain, so be prepared, I wasn't fully prepared and got soaked today LOL :o)

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A Bourletiella hortensis on a small stone using its eversible tubelike vesicle from the collophore as a grooming system. Collembola have what is known as a collophore, this structure on the ventral side of the Collembola can produce 2 eversed vesicles, one on each side. The main functions of these is osmoregulation, water intake, and excretion. However, they can also be used to help in grooming, they can use these tube like structures to clean areas they can't reach with their feet, another use for these tubes is a self righting system, if they land upside down they can use these vesicles to self right, I also have seen these eversed pre jump in certain species, I imagine this is to aid them when they land.

Also note in this image that there is a cleaning droplet in place on the front foot, I wonder if they use their legs to help guide these vesicles in the required direction.

I would just like to say that I will be staying on Flickr, they have made a few improvements on last weeks initial revamp, at least now I can see up to 20 comments below an image, I just wish I could control what is being displayed on my homepage, also would like to see my sets displayed on my photo stream in a more pleasing fashion. Currently my sets look a real jumbled mess. Also really struggling with the speed of this new revamp, lots of white screens and Bad, Bad Pandas as well :o)

Of out early tomorrow, hope everyone has a great Sunday :o)

Extra image in first of comments :o)

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A small Bug sitting on top of a fence post, this guy was so engrossed with catching a few rays, it didn't even flinch as my camera came ever closer.

This was taken at x5 magnification with the MP-E and was handheld at height. I'm not too sure what species this is as I could not get an ID shot, but I am sure it is fairly common, so if anyone recognises it please leave a note :o)

Thanks to Davvvid ...buggin for ID Birch Catkin Bug, Kleidocerys resedae

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A female Dicyrtomina saundersi from today, this is a 9 image handheld focus stack at x7 magnification. It was quite a pleasant day today and got off to a brilliant start, I got up at 8am, opened the curtains to see a load of Waxwings on a neighbours aerial, then got so excited that I fluffed the shots, but at least I can finally say that I've seen Waxwings, I spent the rest of the day looking for some and I must have wandered around most of Melton Mowbray.

I eventually settled for another Collembola hunt, I could not find much else, but I'm still happy :o)

A MUST TO VIEW ON BLACK OR LARGE

I don't know, one warm afternoon and these guys were at it like rabbits, the Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers were very active indeed today and I was ever so pleased when this pair of luvved up Common Darters settled on an almost isolated grass stem, usually they land on a path or on brambles, but today they actually landed somewhere half decent. Even better is they didn't seem to mind my presence, usually they fly off as soon as I get near.

I used my Tamron 180mm macro for this and that gave a nice working distance, I was also using a monopod for a bit of stability. I was tempted to flip the image, but that might give a slight gravity defying feel to the image, so I kept the original orientation.

I will try and catch up over the coming days, just felt like cutting down on computer time for the last few days this week :o)

VIEW LARGE because new Flickr doesn't seem to favour portrait orientation images, unless you are using a tablet and then everything looks great LOL :o)

A beautiful female Calopteryx splendens from a wonderful Summer, I really went to town with these last year and still have a plethora of Demoiselle images to share. I'm hoping this year will be as productive.

This was a 13 image focus stack using an F/8 aperture, ISO 400 and a 1/160 shutter speed. I just loved the green on green :o)

The more I look at the intricacies of a flies anatomy the more amazed I am, precision engineered sensory apparatus and amazing wing assembly, love those halteres :)

Really struggled finding these this morning, started realising time is running out, possibly a month or so left with these guys around. I found this Common Blue on this flower head and managed this before he took off, this is an uncropped image :)

This was a real treat to see this butterfly up close, this was the same Comma Butterfly I found on yesterdays walk. So presented with such a rare opportunity I decided to attempt a series of focus stacks and I was really chuffed to bits with the results of this one, this was just a 7 image stack at x3 magnification at f/6.3, cropped image using CombineZP. I have included some close up crops in the comments :)

Remember this is a handheld focus stack of a live and wild subject, this was resting on a fence :)

VIEW LARGE :)

A beautiful Ruby-tailed Wasp I found on Monday. This one was patrolling a length of wall, I used a few strategically placed drops of honey to tempt her to stop for a while. She allowed me to take a number of shots, including the head on shots I posted earlier this week.

This is the closest shot I've managed so far of one of these stunning Wasps and it is also a 5 image focus stack. There was quite a bit of movement during the stack (Mainly antennae), but I managed to edit around the problem areas. They really are the most beautiful of Wasps i see locally, there are other species in the UK which I'd love to find.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend :o)

Zooooommmmmm

A close up crop of the Katiannidae Genus nov.1 sp. nov. from the first image. Less than 1mm in length :o)

14 image focus stack.

Back by popular demand the ballroom dancing Collembola, yes I found my first dancing Deuterosminthurus pallipes of 2013. I was actually trying to photograph the female on the left, she seemed oblivious to anything, she was more interested in eating. Suddenly this male appeared (on the right) and tried to engage the female in a courtship dance and boy was he persistent, initially she wasn't bothered, but they did break into a brief courtship dance after much gesturing and head butting by the male. The female really was not that interested in the end.

Crop in first of comments :o)

Anyway, taken with my MP-E at x5 on 72mm of extension tubes at an F/6.3 aperture. Really working with a very fine DOF and was happy to get detail on both the male and female here. I had the leaf on a bench weighed down by my magnifying loupe, it was quite a windy afternoon, the leaf was placed back onto the same type of plant afterwards to allow the Springtails to transfer onto new leaves. These guys are just about visible to the naked eye at about 1mm for the larger females :o)

I'm pretty sure this is a Pantilius tunicatus final instar, I saw a few today on my after work walk. Pantilius tunicatus is a Plant Bug (Miridae) and is common and widespread across Southern Britain. These usually start appearing in September, so looks like these are a few weeks early this year.

This fine fellow was very cooperative and stayed put for this 18 image handheld focus stack. I used an aperture of F/6.3, ISO 320 and a 1/160 shutter speed, I was at about x3 mag with my MP-E.

Hope everyone has a great weekend :o)

Had a request for a Damselfly Halloween offering from one of my contacts (Aisling you know who you are)and here it is, ever so very slightly inspired by the film "Hellraiser", which in my view is one of the finest horror films ever, it features a degree of symmetry as it is featured in the order of the Cenobites, promise this is my last Halloween offering :)

Took me ages to do this LOL :) A combination of Paintshop Pro X3, GNU Image Manipulation Program and Picknik :)

Aisling you had better like this one :)

This is the Common Woodlouse, a 3 image stack at x7 magnification, these are quite interesting up close and there are some lovely details here. This is a virtually uncropped image, just some slight stacking trims.

Oniscus asellus, the common woodlouse, is one of the largest and most common species of woodlouse in the British Isles and Western and Northern Europe, growing to lengths of 16 mm and widths of 6 mm.

Oniscus asellus is the most widespread species of woodlouse in the British Isles, both geographically and ecologically. It is not known from the Mediterranean Basin, but is widespread in Northern and Western Europe, as far east as the Ukraine, as well as in the Azores and Madeira; it has also been widely introduced in the Americas.

Oniscus asellus occurs in a wide range of habitats, including some with little available calcium. It is chiefly found under stones, and on rotting wood. It is the only woodlouse regularly found on heather moors and blanket bogs, where it lives around items such as rotting fence posts.

VIEW LARGE ON BLACK OR ORIGINAL IF POSSIBLE :)

I managed a few focus stacks of these guys, so thought I'd upload the results. The main image is an 8 image handheld stack at F/5, I was only at x7 magnification, next time I will try a higher magnification stack. It seems these guys will happily stay put for a stack every so often, other times they are constantly on the move. These are roughly 1mm long, maybe a bit more, they are a bit smaller than Sminthurides aquaticus :o)

I have noticed that with the individuals I find that they have a large amount of red pigmentation on the tail end of the abdomen above the white band. The ones my friend Andy find don't seem to have the red (or not as much). Just wondering if this is just a localised colour variation. As there are at present only 2 locations for these, I guess we will have to wait for more to be found and then we can see if there are any other slight colour variations. So all you Springtail photographers take a look along the edges of any still bodies of water like garden ponds with a magnifying glass and see if you can find any :o)

Anyone tried the new Photo Experience?

VIEW LARGE and MORE IN COMMENTS

I think I have found a new one for the list, this tiny little one was hiding in a forest of fungal fruiting bodies on a bit of wood. I did think it was dead at first as it was motionless, so I thought what the hey, let's try a focus stack, so I managed a focus stack of 3 images on this guy that was about 1mm long. Not long after doing the stack this guy woke up and went for a wander :o)

I'm pretty sure that this is a Hypogastrura species, it has visible ocelli and very basic chaetotaxy on the abdominal area, I have included my usual set of extras in comments and hopefully Frans might have an idea of an identity for this pretty little Collembola.

Thanks to Frans for ID as Brachystomella parvula, a new one for the list :0)

REALLY NEED TO VIEW ON BLACK

Sminthurus viridis on a Thistle thorn, I decided to scrutinise a Thistle on my walk today and noticed this little one posing for me on this thorn. How could I resist, it was staring me in the face saying photograph me LOL :o)

I'm sure Sminthurus viridis has got it in for me, I've had to photograph them on a cowpat, on a bit of wood on damp moss and now lying face down in a bed of thistles and yes they drew blood, ahhhh the dedication or is it a form of madness LOL :o)

This little one was about 1mm, I took it at about 5.4x magnification and this is cropped, fortunately there was lots of thistle in the immediate background, hence no fall off :0)

Wonderful change in the weather today, from cold and grey to sunny and warm :o)

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After much running about up and down slopes trying to get close enough to use my MP-E 65mm on a Green Tiger Beetle this beauty decided to play ball. I have noticed with these beetles that if they get cornered then they will remain still. This one was in a small trough in the ground and I managed to get the MP-E at x3 magnification for a 19 image focus stack. They really are stunning Beetles with those impressive jaws and metallic green/purple colours :o)

A 19 image focus stack using an F/5.6 aperture, ISO 400 and a 1/160 shutter speed, a diffused flash was used.

VIEW LARGE OR ZOOM IN :o)

I had a long walk home after work today and stopped off to photograph a few subjects, I was lucky enough to tempt this little beauty to stop for a minute with a drop of Flower Honey. I still can't believe how stunning these Trichrysis cyanea Wasps are. They are only about 6-9mm long and are always on the go.

Anyway, hope everyone has a great weekend, I'm at work tomorrow, but hope to try and make an early morning start on Sunday, I have to get some Damsel portraits done :o)

This was a new find for me on my last visit to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, these are Sminthurinus trinotatus (they have x2 distinctive white spots on the abdomen), these were found in the glasshouse there, I knew they were in the glasshouse somewhere as they had previously been found there by Paul Ardron in 2009, he had found specimens in the pools of water found within the Bromeliads. I really struggled with these, they were constantly on the go and so very small at about 0.5mm, so I guess they were juveniles or sub-adults. I think I was getting some misting on the lens due to humidity, things seemed a bit hazy at times. So I decided on a collage display as most of these are extreme crops, I'm hoping to find them again on my next visit, this species can often be found in Botanical Gardens, gardens and greenhouses etc, their origins are thought to be from Asia :o)

A link to the PDF that has some interesting info on Collembola at the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, pages 10-23 :-

www.ukeconet.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/aliens_procee...

Another new addition for my list :o)

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas :o)

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A Lasioglossum smeathmanellum on Wilford Bridge, there are often a fair few of these basking on the stonework. It is only when you get closer that you notice the copper/golden tones on the bodies of these pretty little Bees.

I actually managed a bit of a focus stack with this one, this is a 5 image stack using an F/9 aperture, ISO 250 and a 1/160 shutter speed, a diffused flash was used.

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Another shot, in this one the female is in the foreground, she has paler plumage on the head than the male.

VIEW LARGE OR ZOOOOMMMM

Well this is rather an interesting find I had, at first I thought it an immature Common Woodlouse, but as I watched it I started to think there was something a bit different about it, firstly it is completely blind and it was using its front appendages to feel its way around its environment, secondly there was an even smaller one nearby which suggested that this was not a juvenile. Well when I got home I trawled the net and it turns out that this is Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii and it is a myrmecophilous isopod, the term myrmecophilous refers to anything that associates with Ants and indeed there was an Ants nest under the brick that this was on. I believe that these are scavengers within Ant nests.

There was one final surprise with this find, I only spotted it when cleaning dust spots whilst processing, there is a teenie tiny Globular Springtail in the shot, now these Isopods are about 4-5mm long, which means the Globular Springtail is very tiny indeed, I have included a crop of it in the comments, I thought it might be Sphaeridia pumilis, but not convinced with my initial ID after reading Andy's comment, so for now a mystery Collembola :o)

I should note that in this shot the Isopod was on the ground and not on the brick.

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Found lurking in my lawn (Ipswich, VC25 East Suffolk, TM166450) on 18 July 2015. ID based on britishbugs.org.uk "K. tricornis is recognised by the entirely black antennae which have long hairs" and confirmed by top British Bugman Joe Botting!

I found my first Zygaena ionicerae or Narrow-Bordered Five-spot Burnet Moth of the year. I wanted to shoot it in natural light, for some reason flash reflects off the scales and you don't get the blacks and the reds. Definitely was the worse day for natural light work, wet, grey and windy, I had to take the ISO up to 1000 and with an aperture of F/6.3, I was getting a shutter speed of 1/60th, I was also using a monopod for stability, I reckon I took a good 50 shots and only a few were usable, even better, it was pouring down by the time I finished, one very wet photographer and camera, the camera was OK after it's soaking :o)

Thanks to Mausboam for species info, had to change ID to Zygaena ionicerae as the most likely species find for the county, as Zygaena trifolii has not been recorded here in Nottinghamshire.

Lets hope this Jet Stream relocates itself soon and moves up north where it should be during the Summer.

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I suppose another of my favourite discoveries this year was my very first Pseudoscorpion. I used to look at pictures of these in my Natural History books as a kid, they really used to grab my imagination and for nearly 36 years I longed to find one (since I was an 8yr old).

Well this year thanks to my passion for Collembola, I eventually found my first in the Spring (26th March), a lovely Neobisium muscorum and since finding that one in March I kept on finding them and to date I have found 3 UK species(See comments for more), there are apparently 28 known species in the UK. You can clearly see the sensitive hairs on the pedipalps here, they use their pedipalps to feel their way about their environment as they have limited vision :o)

Anyway, this is a Zerene re-focus stack of a Chthonius ischnocheles I found in November (I did the original using CombineZP) and the first time I've been able to focus stack one of these. This was an 8 image stack in PMax and DMap, I used the DMap and edited using the PMax and individual frames.

If any of the ID's are incorrect then please leave a comment so I can correct my images :o)

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A lovely Sitticus pubescens I found at a new location on Monday, it was nice to photograph these against a paler background for a change. This is a female and she was a very amiable subject and posed so very nicely for me.

This is also the deepest stack of this species I have managed to date, she stayed completely still for a 13 image focus stack at x3 mag, using an F/7.1 aperture, ISO 320 and a 1/160 shutter speed, a diffused flash was used in manual mode.

There are some nice details to be seen, so VIEW LARGE OR ZOOOOOMMMMMM.

Well I just couldn't sleep today, so I went for a walk in the Spring sunshine. I decided to try a bit of Salticidae photography, there were plenty to be found on the wall by the canal. I decided to try a natural light focus stack, this little lady (A female Salticus scenicus) was mesmerised by my camera and allowed me to take a 19 image natural light, handheld focus stack, I used an F/5 aperture and ISO 500, shutter speed was 1/160. This is the first time I've done a natural light focus stack of one of these, I think the absence of a flash removes the chance of startling these little beauties. You can see the sun reflected in the eyes and a bit of me LOL :o)

Shutter speed 1/160

Aperture F/5

ISO 500

Handheld 19 images

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Oh wow I'm elated to announce that this is the second sighting of Sminthurinus reticulatus in the UK, the first sighting I believe was by K.Brocklehurst in November 2006, also this species has not as yet been scientifically recognised as a species in the UK, because no physical specimens have been examined.

I found a few last Friday in a park in Melton Mowbray, anyway, I went out yesterday and found a massive colony of them under a plank of wood in a separate location, again in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. As you will get the jist of the numbers from the main image, I know they are not all in focus, but at that DOF it is no easy task, I have included more images in the comments :o)

Thanks to Frans Janssens for his help :o)

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It is always nice when you can get close to these stunning Birds, this fine Grey Heron was perched on railings at Highfields Park, it wasn't at all bothered by my presence or the numerous people who stopped for a look. I think I must have been there for a good 20 minutes before it finally took off :o)

Sorry I've not been on Flickr much, it's been a busy few weeks. I'm hoping to go to Sheffield tomorrow to look for exotic Springtails at the Botanical Gardens, I will endeavour to catch up over the next few days :o)

VIEW LARGE/ORIGINAL

I finally found my first Pseudoscorpion of 2013, this is one of my favourite UK invertebrates, there is something very cool about them. I'm not 100% on the ID of this guy, but I think this might be Chthonius ischnocheles.

Anyway, this is a 9 image stack using an F/7.1 aperture, I used my MP-E at about x4 magnification. To get the studio look, I had placed this guy onto a petri dish(I always have a few in my kit bag), I then had a white card underneath, I was holding the petri dish above the card with one hand and camera in the other, this avoided any shadows. I took lots of shots as it was moving about a lot, but then I lucked out when stayed put long enough for a focus stack. The Pseudoscorpion was released unharmed back into the undergrowth.

Some Wiki stuff :-

Pseudoscorpions are small arachnids with a flat, pear-shaped body and pincers that resemble those of scorpions. They usually range from 2 to 8 millimetres (0.08 to 0.31 in) in length. The largest known species is Garypus titanius of Ascension Island at up to 12 mm (0.5 in).

The abdomen, known as the opisthosoma, is made up of twelve segments, each protected by plates (called tergites above and sternites below) made of chitin. The abdomen is short and rounded at the rear, rather than extending into a segmented tail and stinger like true scorpions (the fact that they look exactly like scorpions, aside from not having a stinger tail, is the source of the name "Pseudoscorpion"). The colour of the body can be yellowish-tan to dark-brown, with the paired claws often a contrasting colour. They may have two, four or no eyes.

A pseudoscorpion has eight legs with five to seven segments; the number of fused segments is used to distinguish families and genera. They have two very long pedipalps with palpal chelae (pincers) which strongly resemble the pincers found on a scorpion.

The pedipalps generally consist of an immobile "hand" and "finger", with a separate movable finger controlled by an adductor muscle. A venom gland and duct are usually located in the mobile finger; the venom is used to capture and immobilize the pseudoscorpion's prey. During digestion, pseudoscorpions pour a mildly corrosive fluid over the prey, then ingest the liquefied remains.

Pseudoscorpions spin silk from a gland in their jaws to make disk-shaped cocoons for mating, moulting, or waiting out cold weather. However, they do not have book lungs as most of their closest relatives, the spiders, do. They breathe through spiracles, a trait they share with the insects.

I hope everyone has a great weekend :o)

VIEW LARGE ON WHITE :o)

Found some more aquatic Collembola today, I think this is a very young Sminthurides malmgreni, it was severly tiny, I reckon less than 0.5mm, I liked the colours in this shot and wish I had put my 1.4x converter on for this one, I might have got more details on this teeny tiny little one. I think this is a female as well, the males have specially adapted antennae.

Well the weather played it's usual tricks on me, found a small Bee sheltering on a blade of grass, so decided to photograph it, by the time I had got my camera out of the bag it had started raining, so the camera went back in the bag and another missed opportunity, did find some Springtails later mind :o)

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A young Ischnura elegans looking very elegant. I took this one a month or so ago and it is a handheld focus stack of 8 images. I find with Damselfly portraits you can change the personality feel of the Damselfly with the angle you shoot them at. A lot also depends of course with the Damselfly, if its jaws are fully open you can get a pseudo smile or laugh, with the jaws closed you can get a more demure or serious pose. Also interesting to note if the Damselfly has its jaws wide open then it is likely it is trying to intimidate or threaten you, a defensive pose if you will, but we interpret this differently due to our tendency to anthropomorphise these guys :o)

More stuff in first of comments :o)

Well looks like the rain has died down, supposed to be warming up for the next few days, lets hope it lasts for the weekend :O)

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Well it won't be long until these guys start appearing again, I usually start seeing the juveniles appearing in March/April, so I think I will have to start looking for them soon. I have to say that these are one of my favourite Collembola focus stacking subjects, mainly because they stay put for ages.

This was an 18 image focus stack, I think I just had my 1.4x teleconverter and MP-E for this one. I used an F/5 aperture, ISO 400 and a 1/160 shutter speed, I was using a diffused flash for this.

Allacma fusca is a widespread and common species found in a variety of moist habitats near to the ground surface. It is a large dark brown springtail reaching 3.5 mm in length

This is the incredible powerhouse of a Dragonfly, I loved the rich reds of an adult male Common darter. It was interesting to note that whilst photographing these, you could actually see the muscles pulsating under the exoskeleton, if anyone manages to engineer an aircraft using a Dragonflies agility and power, then flight as we know it could change.

It was also great fun creeping up on these guys to get these shots LOL :)

I have a favourite macro area at Wilford Claypit, it's a small patch of exposed ground surrounded by vegetation, there is a bit of moss there as well, I find quite a variety of Collembola in this small area.

Turns out that this is not Stenacidia violacea, could possibly be Sminthurides schoetti, which would be cool as would be a new species for the list, but then could mean I have yet to find Stenacidia violacea. I have uploaded a set of 11 additional images and await an opinion from Frans. It certainly is a fun game trying to ID these guys from photo's, especially when there are so few images out there, proper ID relies on microscopic examination of setae, foot structure, furcula structure, antennae structure etc and then checking against keys.

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I'm not sure you could imagine the sheer joy and elation I experienced when I looked through my magnifying glass and saw this little lady, I have wanted to find one of these ever since my friend andybadger (Andy Murrray) first discovered this species last year. At the moment this aquatic Springtail is called Sminthurides nr penicillifer and is currently undergoing genetic sequencing to establish if it is in fact a new species to the UK. This was around the 1-1.5mm size at a guess :o)

I found this one individual today, she was amongst many Sminthurides aquaticus, so I reckon I will return to this pond at Colwick Park to see if I can find more. As far as I know this is the second find and second location for this Collembola species in the UK.

You can see Andy's photographs of these here :-

www.flickr.com/photos/89396233@N00/sets/72157629957560853/

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I always love the expressions on their little faces, I think they want to hide, but they like to keep an eye on things at the same time, they will pop their heads up every so often for a peek :)

Another wonderful day, I walked for miles today it was so nice, I eventually decided to see what was happening at the ornamental pond on the Nottingham University Campus. Well looks like the Sminthurides malmgreni have been busy, there were juveniles galore, so I've put together a compilation of images in the comments. They are all juvenile females and the one in the main image was grooming, you can make out the grooming droplet on her front leg :o)

I was using my MP-E at x5 magnification on x2 full sets of extension tubes, which was 136mm of tubes, I did try adding my 1.4x extender as well, but the results were quite soft, even at an F/4 aperture. All these images were taken with an F/5.6 aperture.

I hope everyone has a good week :o)

ID changed to Sminthurides malmgreni on the advice of Frans :0)

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A portrait to celebrate a new start, I have now finished my employment at Boots Contract Manufacturing, a new beginning and a fresh start, a new direction perhaps, have decided to do some volunteer work for the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (If they will have me LOL), hopefully now back and ready to catch up on Flickr, sorry for any weirdness over the past few weeks, my heads been in a muddle :)

I spent most of my day photographing Red Deer today, it was a lovely day, unfortunately I missed the big fight, apparently it went on for half an hour, I saw one of the Stags and it looked like it might have lost an eye (or the use of an eye). It was really annoying seeing the number of people who were trying to get really close to these guys. I even saw people doing selfies with their mobile phones. I always like to keep a respectful distance, but then my 400mm has a 3.5m minimum focusing distance LOL :o)

I was planning on some photography on Monday, but have a feeling the weather has already put a dampener on that plan :o(

No macro today, can't remember the last time I didn't use my MP-E on a day out :o)

Morning photography opens a new world of excitement when even a boring old fly becomes a new magical proposition, I will definitely be doing more of the getting up stupidly early in the future :)