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2013-05-20 16:16:31 (22 comments, 0 reshares, 18 +1s)

No preview text? Oh well this is just 8 photos sort of funny and summing up my holiday. I'm now going to bed as I feel ill, so sorry, will respond to other notifications when I stop shivering :-(

2013-05-20 12:16:32 (24 comments, 1 reshares, 44 +1s)

Wood White butterfly (Leptidea sinapis)

This is a new species for me. It's really small and I was lucky that it posed on this dandelion seedhead for ages so I was able to test out the macro function of my SX50 - which seems to work reasonably well now I have got the hang of it, so great that I can flip between distant birds and close up little things and get reasonable shots, without heavy gear and lugging loads of lenses about when not at home!

Taken in the Bearn province of Pyrenees Atlantiques in a damp grassy wildflower meadow - which was actually the hotel garden, but the most exciting place I ever got to spend a couple of hours at the beginning of my holiday! Hoorah for scruffy weedy lawns!

Oh +Rain Place it was full of 'that' flower that I can't find here, Self Heal. I saw it everywhere on holiday, flowering!!

For +On the Wings of... more »

2013-05-19 07:36:53 (28 comments, 0 reshares, 18 +1s)

Hola!!!!! I'm home, my housesitters have just left and I'm looking thru emails and now freaking at the change on G+. So please bear with me cos I've got to come to grips with strange changes here (facebook goes back to one column, G+ suddenly has two, and changes font <shakes head in despair>!!).

Had a great time, will tell and share all eventually but now need to do some unpacking and explore my garden/weeds/jungle and get the washing machine on! I'll get to Spider Sunday eventually. Hope you guys are all well and look forward to catching up with your gossip! :-)

And yes, I have taken 'a few' photos........... :-P

2013-05-02 11:47:35 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Moderators can now move posts between community categories

Based on all the amazing feedback you’ve shared, we know that being able to move posts from one discussion category to another is at the top of your wish list. We’re excited to announce that moving posts is now possible, and will be rolled out to all moderators throughout the day. 

To move posts between categories:

1) Go to a community that you moderate, and find a post you’d like to move
2) Click on the post’s current category (located at the top next to the date)
3) Select the new category you’d like to move the post to

Let us know what you think in the comments, and please keep the feedback coming!

#googleplusupdate  

2013-05-01 07:52:09 (20 comments, 1 reshares, 43 +1s)

You won't see me for a while
Just to let you and +Kimberly Hosey  know that I am off on hols from Saturday, so I am going to miss 2 Spider Sundays, and in fact won't be back until the Sunday of the 3rd one, so I'll try to catch up with those posts during the week that I come back.

Please do post to Buggy Lunch, as who knows, miracles may happen and +Jean-Yves Casalis may yet wake up from hibernation! If not I'll look at them on my return but I shall also be busy in the garden again as I know from experience that it will be a total weedy jungle after 2 weeks.

I won't be online after tomorrow as my housesitters arrive early Friday morning and I've got lots to do to get ready.

So expect me to come back with loads of pics of Golden Eagles and Black Woodpeckers. Not! :-) Looking forward to trying out the SX50 on some more interesting birds... more »

2013-05-01 07:09:31 (14 comments, 1 reshares, 16 +1s)

Last post for a while as I'm off to sunny Spain :-)

2013-04-29 05:50:33 (27 comments, 0 reshares, 46 +1s)

Happy Birthday to +Chris Levers
Hope you have a super fab day, and can I just say
"Saw this and thought of you" !!!
Who else would I think of when I see one of these cute little springtails now? :-)
xx
P.S. Not sure but it may be having a poo, so please take this as a toilet humour, much loved by us English, birthday card ;-)

2013-04-28 06:47:14 (36 comments, 1 reshares, 41 +1s)

Spider in the bath
(possibly Amaurobius sp.)

Before I met him, he would have stomped on it or flushed it down the plug hole. Even a year or so ago, I'd have heard an "Eeeks, there's a humungous great big spider in the bath" (meaning, please get rid of it for me).

A few days ago I heard this "There's a really interesting looking spider in the bath and I thought you might want to take some photos of it". He even fished a spider out of our laundry sink last night and put it on the ground!!

So it works, my spidery friends, just keep telling everyone how wonderful and interesting they are.....the more you take an interest in them, the more your nearest and dearest will come to realise they are not our foe. :-)

(Not a very good shot because I was too lazy/busy to put the speedlite on so this came out a bit dark with the pop up... more »

2013-04-26 07:38:12 (22 comments, 4 reshares, 53 +1s)

Lesser Celandine flower

Spoiled for choice on a Friday, do I post florals, feathers, colours, aliens or bugs?! I think seeing as I'm on a bit of a yellow roll this week I'll continue with that, although there is actually a tiny little pollen beetle buried deep within this flower!

For +FloralFriday curated by +Tamara Pruessner #floralfriday
+ColorsOnFriday curated by +Britta Rogge and +Karsten Meyer #colorsonfriday
+Macro4All curated by +Walter Soestbergen +Chris Levers +Mark O'Callaghan and +Bill Urwin #macro4all
+HQSP Macro curated by +Vinod Krishnamoorthy +Vishal Kumar and +Sandra Deichmann #hqspmacro  

2013-04-26 06:38:22 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 13 +1s)

Magnolias, blossom and birds in my favourite park.
(Photos from posts coming up again so hopefully that was a temporary glitch the last two times I posted from the blog!)

2013-04-24 05:27:57 (33 comments, 3 reshares, 58 +1s)

Yellow Tulip
There's lots of colour and life in the garden now, but I'm still very much drawn to the yellow flowers!



For +GardeningWednesday curated by +Juliane Clausen +Jan Aynes and +Grant Meyer #gardeningwednesday
+HQSP Flowers  +HQSP Flowers by +Werner Polwein +Larry Henley and +Nicole Best #hqspflowers
+FLOWER POWER curated by +Edith Kukla #flowerpower
+Square Any Day curated by +andi rivarola #squareanyday  

2013-04-23 06:33:45 (12 comments, 0 reshares, 30 +1s)

Bokeh Forsythia
Trying something a little different.... I find Forsythia plants and flowers very hard to photograph, something to do with the yellow colour and the fact the shrub itself is a very messy one, so when you get up close there are just stems and bits in the way all the time!  I liked this shot, which is actually the cropped bokeh of one of my failed attempts. It reminds me of a paint effect I can get playing with BeFunky. :-)

For +YisforYellow curated by +Lucille Galleli #yisforyellow
+FLOWER POWER curated by +Edith Kukla #flowerpower
#bokehtuesday  

2013-04-22 06:43:58 (37 comments, 3 reshares, 78 +1s)

Here's one I prepared earlier ;-)

Many thanks to the lovely ladies at +Macro Monday for choosing this week's mini theme 'Feathers' as that's somewhat up my street. I just happened to have a macrofeatherfriday shot waiting in the wings..... :-)


For #macromonday curated by +Kerry Murphy +Kelli Seeger Kim and +Jennifer Eden
#macroforall    by +Bill Urwin, +Chris Levers  +Mark O'Callaghan   +Walter Soestbergen (+Macro4All )
+HQSP Macro curated by +Vinod Krishnamoorthy +Vishal Kumar and +Sandra Deichmann #hqspmacro  

2013-04-21 18:16:25 (19 comments, 1 reshares, 56 +1s)

Wolf Spider
It could be Spotted Wolf Spider (Pardosa amentata) but the colours shown on various websites/G. images are so varied that it's really impossible to tell. I see these ones hanging about at the base of compost bins, water butt bases and the base of sheds etc where there is grass for cover. They wait for unsuspecting flies to land then grab them, although I haven't seen that happen yet! They are only small but give me a bit of a fright when they jump at me..... :-)

My contribution to +Spider Sunday #spidersunday curated by +Kimberly Hosey and me :-)

2013-04-21 11:12:55 (12 comments, 0 reshares, 14 +1s)

Even Feedly will only let me show the normal cover photo with no choice, and sharing from the blog via the G+ button now doesn't let me choose a photo and nor does entering the link into a post here. This is getting really frustrating and even worse than facebook which at least lets me choose some totally unrelated photos from the sidebar. :-(
So shared via G. Reader again! Grumble grumble.

2013-04-19 11:02:48 (40 comments, 0 reshares, 81 +1s)

Oil Beetle, male (Meloe proscarabaeus)

(Skip the #alienabductionfriday   text to read the serious text about  the beetle!)
Do you remember The Thing in a water droplet that I shared a few weeks ago, and you all gave me advice on how to contain it and keep it from escaping? Well it didn’t work, because it got out and look what it turned into! Not only is it a freaky looking creature, but as it crawls on your skin it turns you into a wrinkled old crone (see last photo), and I need urgent advice as to how to keep it from getting to my face!!!
 
(Serious bit)
I was pleased to find this beetle in my insect book, then after reading about Oil Beetles I freaked slightly.  I’d been letting this guy run about all over my hand and only later discovered that when alarmed they exude an oily substance which can burn skin, so they are also known as Blister Beetles! Obviouslythis on... more »

2013-04-19 08:04:47 (14 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Anyone else noticed? I see we can now comment on other people's posts to communities which we are not members of! That is a step in the right direction. :-)

2013-04-18 17:20:07 (28 comments, 3 reshares, 60 +1s)

Common Yellow Dung Fly, female (Scathophaga stercoraria)

Time for a #sexyfly as this girl's been hanging about since March waiting to be posted and is getting a bit uppity.


For #sexyflies +Sexy Flies curated by +Shane Williams
and +HQSP Bugs curated by +Nicole Best #hqspbugs  

2013-04-18 16:53:10 (17 comments, 2 reshares, 38 +1s)

Peach Blossom

I can't take a photo without a bug appearing in it somewhere ;-)
This appears to be the same little pollen beetle that I'm finding in my dandelions and celandines at the moment. I didn't know it was there at the time of course.


For +Macro4All curated by +Walter Soestbergen +Bill Urwin +Mark O'Callaghan and ohhhhhh! I've just seen +Chris Levers name on the list!!! Nobody told me :-) #macro4all
+Pink Circle curated by +Cheryl Cooper and +lane langmade #pinkcircle  

2013-04-17 11:10:51 (23 comments, 1 reshares, 37 +1s)

Celandine Lawn

As gardeners we strive to recreate or better nature, but sometimes things are best left to their own devices! There is so much yellow around at the moment, like this Celandine lawn in one of my woodland clearings.








For +GardeningWednesday curated by +Juliane Clausen +Jan Aynes and +Grant Meyer #gardeningwednesday
+HQSP Flowers #HQSPFlowers +HQSP Flowers by +Werner Polwein +Larry Henley and +Nicole Best and +Tamam Newman
+YisforYellow curated by +Lucille Galleli #yisforyellow
+FLOWER POWER curated by +Edith Kukla #flowerpower
+Daily Depth Of Field curated by +Vince Ong +Nuraini Ghaifullah +Virgil Cowen and +f.a. fiebig #dailydepthoffield  

2013-04-16 12:07:11 (45 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Had to share from G. Reader as it was the only way to change the photo from the cover picture (getting as bad as facebook here!).

2013-04-15 11:06:44 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Hand Picked Photographers Circles - Canon Camera A-C - 1 of 14

Note: These circles are sorted by camera type and last name. They are split to not exceed 500 members.

I am now sharing one circle per day, for the reason see:https://plus.google.com/u/0/103752943025677384806/posts/RrPNTzHhQuH

As before these circles are photographers that I admire. They also have "more photos, less spam." There have been many additions and a few drops (mostly for spam or inactivity).

Be sure to get all 14 circles. Share! If you miss any of the circles they can be found at: +Gailen Mapes and scroll back to April 15th for the start of this set.  (Previous complete set was published starting April 1st.)

I am hard up against the 5000 limit. From here on, I am going to have to become rather more strict about the "spam rules." Essentially if I have to... more »

2013-04-15 06:59:57 (23 comments, 3 reshares, 43 +1s)

Antique Gold
Adapting the mini theme 'Antique' for today's #macromonday to suit my image :-) because I have only just looked up what the theme is and I wanted to post this picture today for +Dusty Gedge, who is getting loads of bees and hoverflies on his dandelions, but mine were covered with these tiny little beetles enjoying a good munch of the pollen!

Had a fabulous day yesterday with our first real warmth of the year; the leaves on the trees were opening up in front of my very eyes (it seemed!), I saw 3 Speckled Wood butterflies dancing in my woodland area, my husband disturbed a grass snake sunbathing, plum blossom is out and everything is just bursting into life so quickly it is incredible... and it makes for a very Happy Mandy. On a Happy Monday. :-))))

For +Macro Monday curated by +Kelli Seeger Kim +Kerry Murphy +Jake Easley and +Jennifer Eden ... more »

2013-04-14 06:53:29 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

✯✯  *WS Bird Photographers circle*  ✯✯

This second edition from the Birds circle which has grown till 289 persons. This circle is a must have for people who love Birds.

Please support yourself and the community by adding and sharing this awesome Birds photographers

How to get in this circle:

Ask for inclusion here when you are active on google+ and regular posting Bird photos from yourself.

You comment, plus and share this posting

When I +1 you, you are in the upcomming Birds circle

It helps ;-) when you share your Bird photos also with +Birds4All / #Birds4All  theme. 

with kind regards,
+Walter Soestbergen

#sharedcircles #sharedcircle #sharedpubliccircles 
#circleshare #circlesharing #fullcircleshare #addmetoyourcircles 
#Circle   #Circles   #Public  #PublicCircle   ... more »

2013-04-11 12:43:13 (11 comments, 0 reshares, 19 +1s)

Flowers from March, most of which have stayed flowering for weeks, with little change!

2013-04-09 18:02:54 (22 comments, 1 reshares, 29 +1s)

I was wandering around this afternoon between April showers and thinking how wintery everything still looks. Then I looked back at last year's photos and it was so fresh and green looking this time last year with lots of leaves opening up on the trees. The only real flush of green I could find was this hawthorn tree in my little woodland, shown here with my biggest and oldest oak tree trunk in the background. Hopefully it won't be long now as I long for the winter landscape to change!

For +Tree Tuesday curated by +Christina Lawrie and +Shannon S. Myers #treetuesday
+Everything Green curated by +andi rivarola #everythinggreen  

2013-04-08 12:06:24 (28 comments, 6 reshares, 72 +1s)

Great Tit (Parus major)

A common garden bird in Europe, here on my peanut feeder.










For +Backyard Birding Monday #BackyardbirdingMonday curated by +Celeste Odono and +Ricky L Jones #backyardbirdingmonday
+Birds4All curated by +Walter Soestbergen #birds4all
+HQSP Birds curated by +Marina Versaci #hqspbirds
+BIRD LOVERS Worldwide curated by +Robert SKREINER and +Heinrich Wagner #birdloversworldwide
#EuropeanPhotography  +European Photo 
+Janusz Brakoniecki +Jean-Louis LAURENCE +
114491493858756989707 +Susanne Ramharter +Ela Kupiec  +Ugo Cei

2013-04-07 07:38:34 (23 comments, 0 reshares, 56 +1s)

Wolf spider
This is the same species of Wolfie as I posted last week, but from a different angle. I still don't know what it is, but I have confirmed that I have at least 2, if not 3, different Wolfie species that I'm currently seeing about the garden. I just wish ID was easier!

This is my first submission for +Spider Sunday #spidersunday as a co-curator with +Kimberly Hosey and I am looking forward to seeing all your wonderful spiders today!

2013-04-06 13:49:17 (24 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

A birdie post, also featuring my ducks for +Rain Place!

2013-04-06 05:55:48 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

The new Pʜᴏᴛᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜʏ ENGAGERS Cɪʀᴄʟᴇ is out!    [Apr 4, 2013]
Record participation last week!!  +1s, comments, and shares!

Quick start instructions:
➀  post a URL link to a G+ photo in the comments below,
➁  check out some photos from others and +1 and comment on them,
➂  publicly share this circle-post, from a new friend's stream (instead of ours)
➃  add this circle, and replace it every week.

You will get a comment from us and be added (or stay in) the circle share next week!  Questions?  Ask in comments below - you'll get help!

Full story: This circle is for meeting engaging G+ users about photography.  The interaction happens in the comments and re-shares.  Post a link to a photo from your stream during the last week in the commentsbelow.  It can be your photo or someone e... more »

2013-04-05 16:43:20 (27 comments, 0 reshares, 41 +1s)

Once upon a time this was a pretty little blue and white image of a feather with a water droplet all lovingly prepared for #macrofeatherfriday . But then I noticed The Thing Within The Droplet . Since then every time I've viewed this image it has changed, morphed, warped, got harsher and uglier and hotter and hotter until I fear that The Thing will burst out and then who knows what dreadful fate will befall me. So I must at once post this image here in the hope that the AAF team can help keep The Thing firmly trapped in the bubble forever more, and we shall all be safe.

For +Alien Abduction Friday curated by +Alex Lapidus +Heiko Mahr +Karl Geiger +Karl Geiger Jr +Michele Cornelius +Jon Beall and +Irene Kato #alienabductionfriday  
And for #macrofeatherfriday curated by +Robin Griggs Wood and +E.E. Giorgi

2013-04-04 16:50:44 (27 comments, 4 reshares, 75 +1s)

Beetle eating Goosegrass/Cleavers (Gallium aparine)
I came across this lovely beetle on Tuesday munching away on a weed that is most hated here - as you can see from the spines on the leaves it is very 'sticky' and we used to call it Sticky Bind Weed when we were kids. It grows at a rate of knots and swamps my woodland area in spring and early summer and its seeds are burrs which stick to your clothes and animal hair and are thus dispersed. One of its common names is Goosegrass and my chickens like to eat it! It is edible when young and fresh and has various medicinal uses. Good to know if I'm ever homeless and starving, otherwise forget it!

Anyway that's enough about the plant, what about the beetle? I can only tell what it isn't, not what it is, even with the aid of my new insect book and the internet. It could be a ground beetle. It had a lovely blue metallic... more »

2013-04-04 05:20:15 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 20 +1s)

Gratuitously resharing a spider picture so you'll all look, and as an early update: +Mandy Allen is now curating #SpiderSunday s with me, starting this Sunday update your tags accordingly and have your spiders ready this weekend. Thanks Mandy!

2013-04-03 18:36:30 (28 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

To the people who are not in my circles who keep sharing posts directly with me (often not even your own photos) or sending me community invitations. From now on I shall block and report you as spammers. I easily get 200-300 notifications from G+ every day as it is and I do not need your spammy stuff adding to my notifications. There's a reason why I have not added you back because you don't interest me. Now go away.

May I just add to those who ARE in my circles, please also desist from sharing your photos and blog posts directly with me. I will see your posts in due course in my stream, and your blog posts when I am logged on to Blogger anyway. And please NO MORE community invites. I don't like communities!

The same goes for Buggy Lunch. Any more stupid community invitations which have absolutely nothing to do with insects, or sharing posts with my theme page (ditto) and... more »

2013-04-03 06:58:45 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Another great #macromonday  has come and gone.

Next week's mini-theme is: S E C R E T

Here are a few of the great submissions from this week:

+Charlotte Therese Björnström 
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102518571087840972824/posts/iqBhfkdzzu8 

+Shannon S. Myers 
https://plus.google.com/u/0/117614470593378431513/posts/emqh7bbjHpN 

+Aarthi Ramamurthy 
https://plus.google.com/u/0/111616639695621825244/posts/i9azSUhi5ui 

+Mandy Allen 
https://plus.google.com/u/0/114662745306354012748/posts/4rzTvjhJEcq 

+Lynne Goodwin 
https://plus.google.com/u/0/105213636585253009224/posts/PLarVnG19Vz 

+Michelle Potter 
https://plus.google.com/u/0/118374140197759598567/posts/U2X4G9HvxYW 

+Karthika UJ 
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108739102656548939749/posts/7n8LZBL4dB1 

2013-04-02 11:14:06 (30 comments, 0 reshares, 64 +1s)

Common Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria) having a poop!
I wouldn't have shared this pic as I have better shots of this fly (it's the most common one I see here and is always a willing subject for a photo shoot) BUT - I noticed it was blowing a botty bubble! LOL !!! Now if only it had been blowing bubbles out of its mouth at the same time, I would have been a really happy bunny. :-)

For +Sexy Flies curated by +Shane Williams #sexyflies   (oh hooray, finally you can type #sexy and you get prompted #sexyflies at last as the 3rd choice, instead of a whole list of sexy girls/women and things we won't go into here!)

2013-04-01 17:52:57 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

This week's HQSP PAC circle is here! This week done by +Simon Wareham while +Alison Thurston is off, getting well.

The HQSP People's Appreciation Counter is a a little fun for all those who take their own photos and share them here on G+, allowing you to see where you fall in our gallery based upon your engagement.

On behalf of +Alison Thurston, thank you to everyone who took part, there were some incredible images. See where you were placed in the gallery here: goo.gl/WQVSr

If you want a circle of superb photographers, this is the circle for you! All of the contributors to the PAC are in this circle as well as the HQSP pages and team members plus a couple of VIPs. Please +1 or share this circle with your friends to show your support. Any help sharing this circle would be greatly appreciated.

You can find out more about the HQSP PACh... more »

2013-04-01 12:40:25 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Yummy cake but in metric, sorry!
+Miss LadyBug I mentioned you :-)

2013-04-01 07:17:07 (29 comments, 4 reshares, 60 +1s)

Flowering Quince/Japonica (Chaenomeles)

Taken 6th March. I don't have any recent macro bud shots. If I'd known yesterday what today's +Macro Monday mini theme was (Buds) I could have taken some!









For +Macro Monday 'BUDS' curated by +Jennifer Eden +Kelli Seeger Kim and +Kerry Murphy #macromonday
+Macro4All curated by +Walter Soestbergen #macro4all
+Pink Circle curated by +lane langmade and +Cheryl Cooper #pinkcircle
+HQSP Macro curated by +Vinod Krishnamoorthy and +Vishal Kumar #hqspmacro
 #HQSPFlowers +HQSP Flowers by +Werner Polwein +Larry Henley and +Nicole Best
+Square Any Day curated by +andi rivarola #squareanyday
+Moody Monday curated by +Philip Daly +Carole Buckwalter and +Annelies Kroen #moodymonday  

2013-03-31 06:56:36 (19 comments, 0 reshares, 44 +1s)

Wolf spider on a dead strawberry leaf
I remember seeing this kind of spider last year, running around amongst the leaf litter in the woodland part of my garden. They have a pale stripe down the cephalothorax down into the abdomen, but I have not yet managed to ID them. This year I've already seen several in amongst the dead strawberry leaves which I'm halfway through clearing up.

For +Spider Sunday curated by +Kimberly Hosey and +Kjetil Greger Pedersen #spidersunday  

2013-03-31 06:29:31 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Macro curators wanted

Hello All,

First of all I want to thank +Shane Williams for all the work he did for the +Macro4All theme. He was a dedicated curator and I am very thankfull of that. Shane has indicated to stop curating some theme pages incl +Macro4All .

I am looking for at least one curator but 2 is probably better. When you think curating is something for you contact me with google or by the website. I will make a selection from the candidates and contct them.

regards Walter

2013-04-03 06:10:05 (51 comments, 3 reshares, 57 +1s)

Sigh. I truly cannot believe this place. I spent 10 minutes typing out all my bumph and tagging all the curators names which means visiting all the different themes to find out who they are, only at the moment of posting to click one 'wrong' key and the whole lot has gone off into alien cyberspace. I really blame this alien post. OK, trying again.

Sexy Alien Fly Midge

I found this scary looking creature masquerading as a #sexyfly which I think may have come from another planet. What's really worrying is that it was on the side of my duck shed, making me wonder whether IT has infiltrated my ducks in some way. Worse, what if IT is now in me because I eat their eggs?

For +Alien Abduction Friday curated by +Alex Lapidus +Karl Geiger Jr +Karl Geiger +Heiko Mahr +Michele Cornelius +Jon Beall and +Irene Kato #alienabductionfriday

Also for +Sexy... more »

2013-03-29 07:53:52 (19 comments, 0 reshares, 35 +1s)

Catkins on Corkscrew Hazel (Corylus avellana 'Contorta')

For once I have nothing more to add :-)

Oh yes just remembered! This was taken in sunshine. Yes. Sunshine, woohoo!!!

For +Daily Depth Of Field curated by +Vince Ong +Nuraini Ghaifullah +f.a. fiebig and +Virgil Cowen #dailydepthoffield  
+FloralFriday curated by +Tamara Pruessner #floralfriday  

2013-03-29 07:23:34 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

The new Pʜᴏᴛᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜʏ ENGAGERS Cɪʀᴄʟᴇ is out!    [ Mar 28, 2013 ]
Record participation again last week!  The bar has been set higher!

Quick start instructions:
➀  post a URL link to a G+ photo in the comments below,
➁  check out some photos from others and +1 and comment on them,
➂  publicly share this circle-post, from a new friend's stream (instead of ours)
➃  add this circle, and replace it every week.

You will get a comment from us and be added (or stay in) the circle share next week!  Questions?  Ask in comments below - you'll get help!

Full story: This circle is for meeting engaging G+ users about photography.  The interaction happens in the comments and re-shares.  Post a link to a photo from your stream during the last week inthe comments below.  It can be your photo... more »

2013-03-28 13:36:08 (17 comments, 2 reshares, 38 +1s)

Tiny spider on an Aquilegia leaf

Best viewed larger if you like spiders. Don't if you don't!

For +Leaves On Thursday curated by +Ray Bilcliff +Anne Durand and +Stephen Thackeray (sorry the correct Anne wouldn't show so can't tag!) #leavesonthursday
+Everything Green curated by +andi rivarola #everythinggreen  

2013-03-28 07:11:37 (27 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Wild flowers and bugs, of course!

Including 'that' springtail, +Chris Levers :-)

2013-03-25 18:31:10 (66 comments, 3 reshares, 92 +1s)

Firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus) feeding on a Lime/Linden (Tilia) seed pod

I have learned something from taking this photo. I knew that Firebugs ate lime seeds but I never thought about how. In this picture the seed pod is actually vertical on the trunk of one of my lime trees - I imagine the bug has wedged it in place in the fissures of the bark. I have never noticed the holes in the seeds before and don't quite know how they manage to pierce a hole into something that must be quite hard. I also never thought about this kind of bug having a proboscis before, duh! I just kind of assumed they munched with mouth parts.

Photo taken yesterday as these bugs are active all year round in my garden, and are already starting to mate!

(Also taken with 50mm lens and 3 Kenko tubes. I am quite impressed, especially by the lightness of this combo compared to my heavy 100mm macro... more »

2013-03-28 13:35:14 (32 comments, 0 reshares, 50 +1s)

Miniscule Spider

I have no idea what kind of spider this is, and I know it's not the best spider photo I've ever taken. However I am very pleased with this, because get this. This guy (and I know it's a male because it had gigantic pedipalps although you can't see them properly in this shot) was no more than a 1mm speck on the side of one of my compost bins!!! I had no idea it was a spider until I looked through my lens.

So taken with 3 extension tubes and 100mm macro lens I'm really happy with this shot, but would love to know what it is, even if just the family group!

For +Spider Sunday cuated by +Kimberly Hosey +Shane Williams and +Kjetil Greger Pedersen #spidersunday  

2013-03-24 12:49:46 (21 comments, 0 reshares, 33 +1s)

Happy Birthday Dusty!

I know you love your pollinators so here's some pretty Carder Bee shots for you! Hope you are having a wonderful day. :-)

2013-03-23 13:24:37 (33 comments, 1 reshares, 33 +1s)

Chasing the Ducks

Not content with attempted chicken wrangling, Hallie's now turned her attention to the ducks. I was lucky to get this shot as I grabbed a camera whilst she was stalking them, then she suddenly ran at them full pelt and they scattered to the wind (well, into the lake).

The upside is, small wild birds don't seem to be very interesting to her. :-)

For +CATURDAY! curated by +Shantha Marie Fountain and +Cicely Robin Laing #caturday