Bugs Butterflies Birds and Babies

Sunshine! And time in the garden, which is coming nicely into bloom and is alive with insect life.
Alyssum

We have shield bugs, and will soon have more 😉
Sloe shield bugs mating

I'm still trying to identify this orange and black bug. Update: it's a Rhopalid Bug Corizus hyoscyami. (Thanks Jason!)

A pair of whites (butterflies) were mating.

The bees are busy…

Later I popped down to the local pond to see what was happening. This orange-tip butterfly was in the nearby hedgerow.

And then there were the birds. Collared doves to be precise.

And ducks…

And finally, babies. Not ducklings (though they were there), but the first of the moorhen chicks. The mother was still incubating the nest, but I saw three little ones (the nest had 7 eggs) which looked very new to the world. These photos were taken through a mass of twigs. I was careful not to disturb mother or young.


Nature Blog Network
Camera note: all bird shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. Bugs and butterflies taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.

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This Post Has 14 Comments

  1. RobinL

    18 Apr 2011

    Words, great series of shots! I've never seen a baby Moorhen before! High on the Ahh factor!

  2. chthoniid

    18 Apr 2011

    Is the Alyssum really that yellow? Very striking 🙂

    The moorhen chick is kind of sweet too. How many do the parents usually lay in a clutch?

  3. Words

    18 Apr 2011

    Robin, thanks. The Moorhen chicks are cute in an ugly sort of way. They have ridiculous feet as well!

  4. Words

    18 Apr 2011

    Brendan, it's a garden variety but the light really helped. There were 7 eggs (that I could count) in the clutch. I'll try to get to the pond today to see if any more have hatched.

  5. gdare

    18 Apr 2011

    A lot of Rhopalid Bugs around here. I am not sure about Serbian name, but will try to find it.
    Orange tip butterfly and moorhen chick :up:

  6. cakkleberrylane

    18 Apr 2011

    Excellent shots! Beautiful baby moorhens! And what awesome detail in the butterfly! I thought I had good shots of herons mating, but butterflies mating!!! So much more stunning!

  7. SittingFox

    18 Apr 2011

    Wonderful shot of the orange-tip! And that dove…it has caught the plastic disease from the woodpigeons :eyes:

  8. Words

    19 Apr 2011

    Adele, I was pleased withthe orange tip. Probably my best shot of one. I know what you mean about the dove, and I deliberately didn't apply any noise reduction, just a bit of sharpening. It still looks plastic though :rolleyes:

  9. Words

    19 Apr 2011

    Darko, that bug is quite scarce here and sightings are being monitored to see how they are spreading out from the coast.

  10. Words

    19 Apr 2011

    Lois, the moorhen chicks were by far the trickiest shots to get, but I was pleased with the two butterfly shots. For once they kept relatively still and I could get into a decent position with the camera.

  11. Words

    19 Apr 2011

    Erwin, thanks!

  12. Ukwildlife

    7 May 2011

    Excellent macros. You did well to get the orange tip!

  13. Words

    7 May 2011

    Neil, thanks! It's been a good year for the orange tips, but there are plenty of common butterflies that I'm yet to see. Odd :confused:

  14. Wulpen

    19 Oct 2012

    Great Photos

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