Northamptonshire Bird Club: Creatures Great and Small pt 2

Well I hope you enjoyed looking at the images in part one and it has also inspired you to go out and take your own macro shots in this incredible, diverse and undeniably beautiful world of wildlife.

Taking macro images at a true 1:1 ratio would normally call for a dedicated macro lens. However your birding lens with a good close focusing range can yield some great images of insects around the size of a Red Admiral. A lot of birder / butterfly photographers use these telephoto lenses.

Shooting smaller insects than a butterfly is a different kettle of fish and really needs a macro lens. A lot of insect photographers are happy with say just a small part of the image in focus, I like to get as much of the critter in focus as I can. To this end high f stops coupled with grim lighting makes this a much more difficult situation, especially with a lively critter.

Getting close to your subject through photography can make the creature much more personal, very endearing and very rewarding.

Marpissa muscosa Jumping spider.

Take this spider for example, spiders are not one of those creatures that most people will relate to, but who could not fail to be inspired by such a gorgeous critter close up.

Misumena vatia Flower Crab Spider

This spider may receive a slightly different response, dashing, robust and ready for action,

Synaema globosum

I had never noticed this spider before i had visited The Camargue last year, aptly named the Napoleon spider.............for its abdomen pattern.

Comb-footed spider Enoplognatha ovata

Another even smaller spider with a beautiful abdomen coloration. So you can see from just these few images the Spiders are very much something your photography will warm to.

About now lots of insects are mating, in doing so their single mindedness can give the photographer ample opportunity for some good images.

Guess who? Robberflies are another of the insect families i luv. They have wonderful hairy faces and barbed legs used for floundering prey protection and keeping hold of its meal. They hunt by sitting unobtrusively then dart after a near flying insect. This is a pair of Kite-tailed robbers, quite common around Northants.

This pair of Hoverflies are probably Sphaerophoria scripta. They are quite common and have their slender bodies longer than their rested wings.

As above ...whispering sweet nothing.

Also about at this time are the 'Biters' Horse and Deer flies. They have incredible stealth by not being noticed as they fly and land on any bare parts of your anatomy, the first you know of it is when they insert their sucking parts into your skin.

Most Biters possess beautifully coloured eyes which make them very photogenic.

The Notch-horned Cleg a voracious biter.

Quite a lot of insects have the colouration of a Wasp, a wasp mimic if you like. They can be very attractive and photogenic. The above is one of five similar beautiful Hoverflies this is probably Chrysotoxum verralli.

Another attractive and brightly coloured Hoverfly is Myathropa florea below it is very distinctive in its thoracic pattern. If you look carefully there is the mark of Batman.

Digger Wasps are quite impressive little critters but especially so the Bee-wolf. This is the only species of Philanthus in Britain.

Of course there are lots of wildlife macro subjects to try such as day flying moths for example. This is a gathering of Six-spot Burnet.

Wild Flowers, such as this Common Toadflax.

or a fabulous Reptile, the Common Lizard.

Dragonflies are in abundance now and can make some nice shots.

Mating Black-tailed Skimmers, these were taken with my 500F4 .Above Ruddy Darter.

Lastly a couple of critters taken recently.

Weevils are great aren't they. This is fairly large for a Weevil and one of only two in its family Attelabidae Hazel Leaf-roller Weevil. The other is Oak Leaf-roller Weevil.

Wasp mimic the Hornet Clearwing.