Langford Lakes nature reserve
I began the walk around Langford Lakes nature reserve with the Sigma 50-500mm lens, however although I could hear birdsong it proved difficult to actually spot the culprits in the green foliage and there was little of note on the Lakes that warranted photographing except to show the size of these Mute Swan eggs.
On the other hand there were a lot of insects about, and so after shooting a couple of damselflies, including my first Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas), I returned to the car to switch to the Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens.
Both of the damselfly images using the Sigma lens are heavily cropped.
The Red-eyed Damselfly.
I think the second damselfly may be a White-Legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) but I am not certain.
Surprisingly I failed to photograph any more damselflies with the 90mm lens, instead there was a nymph skin, a spider, and a beetle, to name a few.
The nymph skin.
Damselfly nymph skin
Olympus OM-D EM-5 DSLR & Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens at F5.6.
A spider
I also purchased a new tripod and ball head, and this was first opportunity to try them out. I decided to buy a new tripod and head to reduce the carry weight, particularly for hiking and landscape photography. The Manfrotto 190cx3 carbon fibre tripod legs and the Manfrotto 496RC2 ball head with friction control are a combined weight of approx 1.8kg, a reduction of roughly 2.7kg to what I had up to now. First impressions, a great improvement.
I used the tripod to take both this Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa) and the Lacewing (Chrysopa perla). The first shot of the Bloody-nosed Beetle is at F16, something that would not have been possible handheld without pushing the ISO to extremes.
This one is at F5.6 to show you the difference in depth of field you will achieve depending on the aperture used.
The Bloody-nosed Beetle face on
A Nephrotoma quadrifaria Crane Fly.
I have been reliably informed that flies have only 1 pair of wings, whereas wasps and bees have 2. and so although I have not identified exactly what species this is, it is a fly!
A Lacewing (Chrysopa perla)
Lastly, I think this is a Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) caterpillar feeding on a stinging nettle.
[mappress mapid=”47″]
