Early Spring at Kilwood
Visited Kilwood and Norden reserves on Saturday afternoon to see what was around on the Purbecks. On a cold and later, damp afternoon, there were a few signs of spring with the odd Primrose out and small shoots of other plants emerging, but nothing in the way of flora caught my eye.
Looking closer into the undergrowth I found a small Blood nosed beetle larvae munching away on a shoot. This is the smallest one of these that I have seen being only about 1cm long. Photographing these is always a challenge with there dark bodies contrasting badly with the lighter foliage, especially when on a dull day I was having to rely on flash lighting to illuminate the subject due to the slow shutter speed that would result from using natural light.
I took several shots that just did not work out, but I did get these two which I’m fairly happy with, although I won’t count them as amongst my best shots of these bugs.
Canon EOS 50D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Bloodnose Beetle Lavae at x1 Magnification. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm lens. Flash from Canon MT-24ex Twin Macro Flash. F11 ISO 400 1/250sec.
Canon EOS 50D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Bloodnose Beetle Lavae at x4 Magnification. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm lens. Flash from Canon MT-24ex Twin Macro Flash. F11 ISO 400 1/250sec.
This second one I think highlights the contrast problem, which does not help the detail resolution in the dark on the bug, whilst retaining lightness in the plants.
Nearby I found under/in some old plant stems these insect eggs. I don’t know what insect they could be from, and taking at 3x magnification, they appear to have little real detail on them at the moment.
Canon EOS 50D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Unknown insect eggs at x3 Magnification. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm lens. Flash from Canon MT-24ex Twin Macro Flash. F11 ISO 400 1/250sec
Whilst taking these eggs, I noticed at small tick crawling across a nearby stem, and so captured that as it crawled off, making sure it did not crawl onto me.
Canon EOS 50D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Tick at x3 Magnification. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm lens. Flash from Canon MT-24ex Twin Macro Flash. F11 ISO 400 1/250sec.
Lastly over in Norden I found a small amount of black ants, of which two posed nicely for the lens. My personal favourite being the first one below. Although I also like the angle of the second ant.
Canon EOS 50D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Ant at around x3 Magnification. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm lens. Flash from Canon MT-24ex Twin Macro Flash. F11 ISO 400 1/250sec.
Canon EOS 50D (65mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Ant head on at around x3 Magnification. Taken on Canon 50D with Canon MPE-65mm lens. Flash from Canon MT-24ex Twin Macro Flash. F11 ISO 400 1/250sec.
Map of Location
Entrance to Dorset Wildlife Trusts Kilwood Reserve. Very limited roadside parking only.
