Beauty or Beast?

By Paul Cecil | Published September 1, 2008

Terrible weather today. By late afternoon we were shrouded in mist, so very few opportunities for bird or mammal watching (although a fox did flit through the garden this morning). Instead I hunted out the smaller creatures. Whether they can be classed as beauties or beasts is (I guess) a matter of taste. Needless to say, I quite like them :bug:

The wet weather brought out the snails.

Bashful snail

And the slugs…

A sluggish slug

More unusual was this shield bug lurking at the rear of the garden.

Shield bug

Being out with the macro made me wonder whether we had any young newts in the pond. I've not really been looking for them, but sure enough they were there, among all the weed.

Young newt with gills

And finally (and look away now if you suffer from arachnophobia), a common garden spider seen from a somewhat uncommon perspective.

Here's looking at you :bug:

Camera note: all shots taken with the EOS 40D and Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens.

This entry was posted in Insects, Newt, snail, Spiders and tagged , , , , .

18 Comments

  1. chthoniid September 1, 2008 at 12:08 am #

    Lovely spider shot 🙂 What's the crop on that one? You've captured some nice textures on the shield bug also.

    Cheers- B

  2. Words September 1, 2008 at 12:08 am #

    Brendan, easiest way to show is to post the full-frame. Beware, large file (and very large spider).

  3. Words September 1, 2008 at 1:09 am #

    Brendan, the body is about 2cm long (plus legs).

  4. Words September 1, 2008 at 1:09 am #

    No extension tubes, but I was as close as I could get with the 105 macro. The spider is (oh heck… I'll go and see if it's still there and measure it)….

  5. cakkleberrylane September 1, 2008 at 1:09 am #

    Amazing! So interesting to see the large picture from the link above. It almost looks like spikes on the legs rather than hairs.

  6. chthoniid September 1, 2008 at 1:09 am #

    Nice- I assume it is either a very very big spider or you had the help of the extension tubes?

  7. chthoniid September 1, 2008 at 1:09 am #

    😀 Thanks.

  8. gdare September 1, 2008 at 5:09 am #

    That green bug is :up:

  9. Ukwildlife September 1, 2008 at 8:09 pm #

    great pics, especially the last one

    Also have you got this the latest BBC wildlife? Where both on the letters page in the forum column with my question on there being less dragon and butterflies and your answer 😀

  10. SittingFox September 1, 2008 at 9:09 pm #

    That spider picture is amazing! :bug: And it's big. Very big :bug:

    I like the bashful snail too 🙂

  11. CedarFox September 2, 2008 at 4:09 am #

    …look away now if you suffer from arachnophobia

    I didn't, but I think I might now :eyes:

  12. Words September 2, 2008 at 9:09 am #

    Eric, I take it you looked at the full-size version. 😉

  13. Words September 2, 2008 at 9:09 am #

    Thanks Darko :cheers:

  14. Words September 2, 2008 at 9:09 am #

    Neil, I spotted that in the BBC magazine (I've got a sub). They grabbed it off the forum pages. Obviously desperate to fill some space, but it's true… dragonflies have been thin on the ground this year for some reason.

  15. Words September 2, 2008 at 9:09 am #

    Adele, I was pleased with the spider, but slightly shocked at the size of it! Snails are always a good stand-by if nothing else is around.

  16. Words September 2, 2008 at 9:09 am #

    Lois, thanks. It's weird seeing them that close isn't it!

  17. Ukwildlife September 2, 2008 at 10:09 pm #

    Talking of BBc wildlife you should have a crack at the 'your photos' bit. One of your foxes or that spider close up must be in with a good chance

  18. Words September 2, 2008 at 11:09 pm #

    Neil, I may send them something 😉