Dunyeats Heath and Canford Magna visit.

On the Sunday of the August Bank holiday weekend the macro shooting venues were Dunyeats Heath Nature Reserve, and Canford Magna river path.  They are nice and close to each other and have the added benefit on Bank Holiday weekends of being nice and nearby – thereby negating the bank holiday traffic jams.

Dunyeats Heath, is a small heathland reserves on the edge of Wimborne.  It has a pool that this year has been good to hunt around for Odenta.  On this visit the weather was not to warm, and the only odenta that I managed to photograph was a male Emerald Damselfy.

Emerald Damselfly
Emerald Damselfly

Emerald Damselfly.  Taken on Canon 650D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens.  ISO 1600 F11 1/200.  Flash from Canon MTE-24ex Macro Lens.  Cream Slice Diffusers.

However it did have a nice selection of Spiders to take – firstly a wolf in the gorse.

Wolf Spider on Gorse
Wolf Spider on Gorse

Wolf Spider on Gorse.  Taken on Canon 650D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens.  ISO 200 F11 1/200.  Flash from Canon MTE-24ex Macro Lens.  Cream Slice Diffusers.

Then this nicely coloured Wasp Spider on its web.

Wasp spider in web and prey
Wasp spider in web and prey

Wasp spider in web and prey.  Taken on Canon 650D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. ISO 400 F8 1/160.  Natural Light.

And the final arachnid, handing on a bit of grass on its web.

Spider on grass
Spider on grass

Spider on grass. Green shield and web. Taken on Canon 650D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens.  ISO 400 F11 1/200.  Flash from Canon MTE-24ex Macro Lens.  Cream Slice Diffusers.

Having not see many dragon or damselflies, I decided to move on to the nearby river walk near Canford School, in the hope – vain as it turned out of finding some there.

Not that the walk there proved fruitless, first a picture of two Balsam flowers.  There was lots of this invasive weed along the river Stour’s banks on this stretch.

Balsam Flowers
Balsam Flowers

Balsam Flowers.  Taken on Canon 650D with Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro Lens. ISO 400 F5.6 1/250.  Natural Light.

Then in amongst the undergrowth I found a nice Speckled Bush-cricket, that stayed around long enough for me to shoot it on the MPE-65mm lens.

 

Speckled Bush-cricket
Speckled Bush-cricket

Speckled Bush-cricket. Taken on Canon 650D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens.  ISO 400 F11 1/200.  Flash from Canon MTE-24ex Macro Lens.  Cream Slice Diffusers.

Speckled Bush-cricket
Speckled Bush-cricket

Speckled Bush-cricket. Taken on Canon 650D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens.  ISO 200 F11 1/200.  Flash from Canon MTE-24ex Macro Lens.  Cream Slice Diffusers.

Nearby there were a couple of Green shield bugs – yep that’s their common identification name of the Palomena parsina!

Green Shield Bug
Green Shield Bug

Green Shield Bug. Taken on Canon 650D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens.  ISO 400 F11 1/200.  Flash from Canon MTE-24ex Macro Lens.  Cream Slice Diffusers.

Green shield and web
Green shield and web

Green shield and web. Taken on Canon 650D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens.  ISO 400 F11 1/200.  Flash from Canon MTE-24ex Macro Lens.  Cream Slice Diffusers.

Finally this fly was slightly annoyed with my flash guns.

Kung-fu fly
Kung-fu fly

Kung-fu fly.   Taken on Canon 650D with Canon MPE-65mm Lens.  ISO 400 F11 1/200.  Flash from Canon MTE-24ex Macro Lens.  Cream Slice Diffusers.

Map of Location

Dunyeats Heath Nature Reserve.

Chris

I've been taking macro photography from 2004. I use both Canon film and digital cameras.

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