Wednesday 12 May 2010

Minibeasts

When I was primary school teaching one of the things my class and I looked forward to was a day out of the classroom exploring the local countryside to see what insects and other small creatures were about. Then would come the task of identification and finding out about their life cycle and habitat.That was in the days before the National Curriculum when the teacher was able to decide what the children would learn, chose the best times to go about it and allotted the time needed accordingly.

Not too many minibeasts spotted here at the moment. At last I did find one Speckled Wood Butterfly taking a rest from flitting all over the place though it steadfastly refused to open its wings fully.

Speckled Wood

I am not sure whether this was a small beetle or a small fly which spent a couple of hours on the outside of the kitchen window. It made a change to get a blue sky as a background!

Small Fly

A Hoverfly taking a rare rest.

Hoverfly

Here a Common Green Shield Bug which spent about six hours in the same position on the outside of the kitchen window. The only time it moved was to angle itself to catch the Sun when it eventually lit up that part of the window,

Common Green Shield Bug

It wasn't until I enlarged the photos that I noticed that this little bug was missing two of its six legs.

Common Green Shield Bug

All the above were taken with the Lumix TZ7. There are still scores of seven spot ladybirds about. The tadpoles in the nursery pond are coming along nicely.

10 comments:

  1. Great post! I love the beasties!

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  2. Excellent series John, but that last one is really something.

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  3. Four legs ought to be enough to get by on.

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  4. I have a whole herd of those shield bugs living in my rhubarb. It doesn't seem to hurt though, much too acidic I should think. I was mobbed by a very bold robin today! Followed me round the garden squeaking at me!

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  5. I'm really very impressed with your Lumix TZ7, John! Beautiful photos, I particularly like the Hoverfly.

    I was bemoaning the fact that school pupils don't seem to go on Nature walks anymore only a few days ago. It seems such a shame as the pace of life is such that many families appear to have no time for an interest in Nature at all and without guidance from school what hope is there? Having said that, I remember some years ago, someone older than me, (and not stupid in any other way) spotted a Robin and said to me 'Is that bird over there a Blackbird or a Robin'!!!

    On the upside I have noticed though that there is a renewed interest in Nature programmes on TV recently which has to be encouraging.

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  6. Thank you Gerry. I find small creatures are just as fascinating as large birds or mammals.

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  7. Thank you Keith. Insects on windows give a rare opportunity to see the parts that other cameras can't reach ;)

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  8. Hello Wilma. Well we do seem to manage with two OK ;)

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  9. Hello Matron. That is only the second time I've seen a Shield Bug. Pleased they are not harming your rhubarb.
    I guess the Robin was hoping for a free handout.

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  10. Hello Jan. I've been very impressed with the results from the TZ7. For me it makes an ideal macro camera as I can get so close to things with it.

    I sometimes wonder whether the National Curriculum and all the focus on training for SATS gives time for youngsters to be shown the world around them. Important as the three Rs are children still need to be shown and given the opportunity to observe and enjoy their world. More so these days of car transport from door to door and MP3 players shutting out the world.

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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