Colourful and crafty Critters

Compact digital cameras often have really good macro capabilities and this has opened up an area of photography that used to be the preserve of specialist photographers with some very expensive kit. Whilst out ringing yesterday I spent some of the time photographing insects in between the net rounds as the catching rate was fairly slow. I used my compact camera in super macro mode which sets the lens to wide angel so the camera had to be within a few centimetres of the subject to get the shot and in many cases as close as 2 or 3 centimetres. Moving a camera that close to an insect like a damselfly without disturbing it isn't always easy but it can be done if you take your time.

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

  

Some sort of Weevil and colourful critter. I may get round to identifying it at some point.

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) eating a fly.

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) eating a fly.

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) eating a fly.

Whilst I was photographing the damselflies I couldn't help noticing bumble bees that were visiting the flowers of Red Campion. They weren't taking nectar in the conventional way via the open flowers but were making a hole at the rear of the flower to get at the nectar or tapping an existing hole. This nectar robbery allows short tongued bumblebees to get at the nectar in long necked flowers that they wouldn't otherwise be able to get at. Most if not all of the Red Campion flowers I checked seemed to have had nectar stolen in this way. I don't know how many bumble bees were involved but I suspect it was only a few or perhaps only one or two that were repeatedly visiting the same patches of flowers.

Red Campion showing signs of nectar robbery.

Caught in the act, bumblebee robbing nectar.

  

...and again, bumblebee robbing nectar.

....and again, bumblebee robbing nectar.