It seems that I need to clear up a couple of matters before I embark on the main topic of this post!
Some people had noticed that a blog post about Chalkhill Blues briefly appeared on my blog, and then disappeared again within a few minutes. However, if they saw a link to my blog (for example, if their own blog had a link to my blog) it still showed the Chalkhill Blues post as being there.
What had happened was that I'd published a post on Heather Lake on 8th September, and then immediately started work on my next post on Chalkhill Blues. Unfortunately, whilst writing this new post, I accidentally hit the 'publish' button. It took a few minutes to realise what I'd done, and a little longer to retrieve this post and reinstate the Heather post. Sadly, links to Blogger, didn't recognise this state of affairs and so any links to the Heather post totally disappeared for ever after only a few minutes.
If you missed the Heather Post, it can be found here
If you missed the Chalkhill Blue post, it can be found here
Oh! I forgot to mention the second item which was that Lindsay and I have been away for a few days. Whilst we had internet connection where we were staying I was, unfortunately, unable to log into Blogger. This means that I was rather tardy in publishing comments and replying to them. Sorry!!
I'd had my new macro lens for a week and had not yet had a really good session out in the field to practise use of it. With a mixed weather forecast and little time on my hands, I did not want to venture too far so, after lunch, I set off for Ticknall Limeyards. This time I parked in a different location, and found that the alternative access route halved the distance to reach the ponds in the limeyards.
Some people had noticed that a blog post about Chalkhill Blues briefly appeared on my blog, and then disappeared again within a few minutes. However, if they saw a link to my blog (for example, if their own blog had a link to my blog) it still showed the Chalkhill Blues post as being there.
What had happened was that I'd published a post on Heather Lake on 8th September, and then immediately started work on my next post on Chalkhill Blues. Unfortunately, whilst writing this new post, I accidentally hit the 'publish' button. It took a few minutes to realise what I'd done, and a little longer to retrieve this post and reinstate the Heather post. Sadly, links to Blogger, didn't recognise this state of affairs and so any links to the Heather post totally disappeared for ever after only a few minutes.
If you missed the Heather Post, it can be found here
If you missed the Chalkhill Blue post, it can be found here
Oh! I forgot to mention the second item which was that Lindsay and I have been away for a few days. Whilst we had internet connection where we were staying I was, unfortunately, unable to log into Blogger. This means that I was rather tardy in publishing comments and replying to them. Sorry!!
I'd had my new macro lens for a week and had not yet had a really good session out in the field to practise use of it. With a mixed weather forecast and little time on my hands, I did not want to venture too far so, after lunch, I set off for Ticknall Limeyards. This time I parked in a different location, and found that the alternative access route halved the distance to reach the ponds in the limeyards.
At first it didn't look too promising, with just a few Common Darters around. Even these were playing hard to get!
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| Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (male) - Ticknall Limeyards |
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| Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (female) - Ticknall Limeyards |
Soon a Brown Hawker arrived and started ovipositing in one of the smaller ponds. Sadly, without waders, it was impossible to get shots with the light in a favourable direction. This was one situation where I'd probably have done better using the 50-500 rather than the 150 macro. Soon a second female appeared and the two started competing for suitable places to oviposit. The photographic results are far from satisfactory but the best I could manage, with glare being a significant problem.
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| Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) (female ovipositing) - Ticknall Limeyards |
I'd spent quite a lot of time checking out side paths on my way to the ponds, with some interesting findings - although nothing was photographed. However, this meant that the rest of my time was a little limited as I'd promised Lindsay that I'd cook tea that night for when she returned. I decided to quickly check the old lime kiln area as this is where I'd found White-letter Hairstreak butterfly on a previous visit. I was disappointed to see that the tall vegetation where the hairstreak had been feeding had been strimmed to within an inch of its life!
Nevertheless, I had a look round and noticed a Migrant Hawker dragonfly, then a second. After a while, one of these settled in some bushes and brambles. It was a little deep in and my early attempts to photograph it were not good. However, It stayed put whilst I battled my way through the undergrowth, and I managed some better shots. In the first image, below, I had to lift the detail in the shadows by applying a shadow protection factor of 32 in post-processing. The second image had a shadow protection factor of 27 applied - I'm still amazed by the result with this image! For the last two images, shadow protection was not required as I had used the on-camera flash.
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| Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) (immature male) - Ticknall Limeyards. |
By the time I left, there were five Migrant Hawkers in the air in a very small area, and the subject of my photography was still in the bushes.
It had been an interesting session and the results, whilst relatively pleasing, left me in no doubt that I still have a lot to learn about the use of this lens.
Thank you for dropping by. If all goes according to plan, my next post will be a little different - at least for the second half!
