Bugfest!

Haven't had a day like this in a while when it's taken me hours to pick my blip and I'm still not sure I've chosen the right one.

Fun though the foxes are I needed to get something different. Since joining blip I've been hugely inspired by the photos of Hillyblips, in particular her insect macros, so I decided to have a couple of hours round the lake in Home Park with just my macro lens.

I don't know if it's been a particularly good year for damselflies but if the activity in the reeds round the pond is anything to go by then next year will be a very good one. It got to the point where I was almost embarrassed to look. Everywhere I pointed the camera there were damselflies doing it - like being on the set of an insect porn movie! Extra shot 2 is an attempt to convey this amazing display of procreation.

Extra shot 1 is, I believe, a female common darter dragonfly. Although it's massively cropped I was pleased with this as it shows a little of the complexity of the eyes which isn't always easy when shooting handheld.

Which just leaves us with the main shot which I think is a female blue-tailed damselfly. The species is rather confusing as all the adult males are alike but the females come in at least six different forms. I spotted at least three of the types today - this one being the infuscans-obsolete variation (I think).