Lots of rain and thunder/lightning this afternoon in the Wildlife Café, but our female bush cricket nymph doesn't seem to mind. She is growing fast and is now about 12mm long in the body.

More detail viewed large.

Here's one from yesterday's survey on the Ashdown Forest. I saw just 8 females and 26 males yesterday in three and a half hours, well down on last year, but they all looked very fresh. I'm still hopeful that numbers will increase towards the end of the month. We shall see.

The wingspan (open) is less than 2.5 cm and they can be quite hard to spot!

More detail viewed large if you have the time.

Cold enough overnight to freeze these...

Beef Bouillon cubes for the Macro Mondays group theme-Member's Choice "Found in the kitchen"

In a break between showers this afternoon, I wandered around the garden with the camera and I had the macro lens and NiSi +9 dioptre close up lens attached. I was trying to photo graph a second brood Holly Blue, but it didn't settle. Then this gatekeeper flew onto one of our pyracantha bushes and seemed to settle for the night. It let me get obligingly close (it's still there at the time of posting this) and this is its eye...The NiSi close up lens is very sharp but has a very thin depth of field. This is at F/14 and 160th of a second with 1/8 power flash. I'd like to try and photostack, but my hands weren't steady enough!

Macro Mondays. Three related items.

taken for Macro Mondays' theme for 7 November 2016 - "My Daily Routine"

taken for Macro Mondays' theme for 24 October 2016 - "Backlit"

taken for Macro Mondays' theme for 5 September 2016 - "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"

Schijnpapaver

Zonnehoed - Coneflower

these were blooming all thru the woods at Leu. Liked the glowing backlit version of this one.

Clytus arietis

Shadow of a halloween glass lantern over newspaper, taken for Macro Mondays' theme for 2 Nov 2015 - "Shadow Play"

small flowers / Thrift /Armeria maritima / Rabhan

found mainly on coastal cliffs and salt marshes.

perennial flowers 8mm

These little creatures appear in the Wildlife Café every spring. This one is tiny at the moment, measuring only about 5mm in the body. With a macro lens and extension tubes, I can get reasonable detail. This one is sitting on the edge of a small fern frond.

There is much more detail when viewed large.

Our fate was sealed even before the moonlight pierced the clouds, exposing the dark, jagged rocks ahead.

( Better on black )

Sorry, another silver studded blue on the Ashdown Forest from last Thursday. I seem to be fixated with them at the moment.

More detail viewed large.

Whilst playing macro in the garden, this tiny patch of moss caught my eye. It had grown on a piece of the local sandstone which we dig up in the garden any time we want to plant.

taken at Yakushiike Park, Machida, Tokyo

A resting male silver studded blue in overcast conditions on the Ashdown Forest yesterday. He will live as an adult for around five days only, and I will probably be the only person ever to see him in real life. I am glad I was able to capture his beauty to share with you here.

There is more detail viewed large, as usual.