Back to basics.....

What a difference a day makes!
Lovely weather today, blue skies, fair weather clouds and warm sunshine (well, warm for November).
I decided to go to Southwater country park today to see if I could find any ducks or geese to photograph, but when I got there there were no geese and the only ducks around were Coots! A bit saddened by this I thought I would have a quick look at my summer hunting ground, Ben's field, then go home.
My favourite corner of Ben's field was bathed in warm sunshine, and I was quite surprised to find quite a few species of insects and spiders basking on the remaining bramble leaves, and new nettle leaves.
Among these were a good number (~30) of these Dock or squash bugs Coreus marginatus .
Dock bugs overwinter as adults, and can be found from August onwards and in my experience seem to enjoy overripe blackberries and will often congregate on them enjoying a feast. They are common in the south of the UK and can be distinguished from other similar shield bugs by the diagnostic 2 little projections between the antennae.
It felt sooo good to get back to my first love - insect macro photography, I hope you enjoy the result.