In mid-June I had a couple of nights staying the The Moorhen in Horning village to do wildlife photography, with the main aim of completing my project on the Swallowtail butterfly. I’d started this in 2018 with some images of the caterpillars on milk parsley at Hickling Broad, but my return in June was foiled by cold temperatures and relentless rain, while the pandemic delayed me for another couple of years. Those images will eventually appear in another, separate post after I have improved my focus-stacking skills, but meanwhile here are a few of other creatures plus a selection of the Swallowtail set…
Four-spotted Chaser takeoff, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen. Olympus OM-1, 300mm f4, extension tubes.
Four-spotted Chaser at rest, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen. Olympus OM-1, 300mm f4, extension tubes.
Norfolk Hawker in flight, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen. Olympus OM-1, 300mm f4.
Bittern in flight, NWT Hickling Broad, Olympus OM-1, 300mm f4.
Crowded Bramble or ‘Three’s a Crowd’, NWT Hickling Broad, Olympus OM-1, 300mm f4, extension tubes.
I’m indebted to Ann Miles, our Cambridge Camera Club top entomology expert, for identifying the bonking couple as Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetles (Rutpela maculata), while the butterfly is a Meadow Brown.
Small Tortoiseshell on Nettle food plant, NWT Hickling Broad, Olympus OM-1, 300mm f4, extension tubes.
Common Carder Bee (I think) on Marsh Thistle, NWT Upton Fen, Olympus OM-1, 300mm f4, extension tubes.
Here’s a selction of the Swallowtail images, all taken at Hickling Broad.
Swallowtail caterpillar on milk parsley, 2018.
Swallowtail on Bramble.
Swallowtail in flight.
Swallowtail on Bramble 2.
Swallowtail Take-off.