toad

This word file is titled 'xxx' at the moment as I still haven't decided what to blip. The session went well, although I could have done with starting an hour earlier at 07:30 as the sun was baking hot and the insects were well upto speed. Plenty of butterflies and clouds of dragons about, but just impossible to approach.

First up was a large hopper which landed on a high branch, giving me a natural low angle with no straining. Probably the best hopper shots that I have collected since I started. The wind was up and was being a bit of a problem with grassy locations, but the thicker branch made for crisp shots with plenty of light, speed and DoF.

I picked up a few shots of a seven spot brown butterfly and then spotted the double headed butterfly. As I started shooting, the butterfly turned its tail towards me and started wiggling it's false antennae around. When I didn't retreat, it opened its wings to reveal a rich brown. A truly amazing butterfly, but the grassy location proved difficult to get a good sharp image. I am sure that I will have more opportunities.

I then moved over to the mimosa bush to check up on the spider, but the web was bouncing all over the place, so I didn't bother with attempting any shots. I picked up a few bug shots while I was there. The bugs are very drab in their armored brown casings. As I was shooting, a bright pink bee flew in and landed on the bush and immediately vanished, it was actually one of the bugs. Such vivid colors. The same goes for a lot of the big hoppers in flight, their drab exoskeletons hide some amazing plumage that is only revealed in flight.

Next up was an enormous toad which just managed to hop clear of my size ten and loosen my bowels at the same time. It was the same species that I blipped 3rd December. I spent some time chasing it around and collected a few good shots, but it just seems too soon to blip this beastie again.

I picked up more shots of a tatty male pansy butterfly and a couple of reasonable shots of a stunning orange butterfly, but I really want to get closer to this one before blipping. I collected a few images of the saddest butterfly that I have ever seen. I have seen some tatty specimens but this was an aeronautical train wreck. I was actually quite amazed that it could still fly, it flapped like crazy but was still alive, airborne and kicking.

Well, it is decision time. I decided to go with the toad, I just love the 'in your face' look of distain. The fat hopper had been struggling to escape my lens for about fifteen minutes when I captured this shot, after which I let him go. I have put samples of the rest of the shots in blipfolio. Also another nine greeting cards to view for those of you who liked the last batch, if you fancy a giggle, well I giggled as I was making them.

Dave