Although the Thames has subsided quite a lot since the worst of the floods earlier this month, it is going to take some time for the waterlogged soil to dry out. This was the scene at the local rugby and cricket club this morning.
The standing water makes for some pretty reflections, but not much good for playing!
Still, there is improvement; I couldn’t have stood in this spot last week.
Last Tuesday
I like this slightly arty shot of a cricket in my garden. I like the way the cricket barely emerges from its environment. But which version of the image do you like best? The cool-colour version above. Or the warmer version below.
Or the minimal black and white?
It’s been a couple of weeks since my post about the little speckled bush cricket nymph I found in my herb border. It’s still there, lurking in the fennel, along with three chums. As you can see, it has developed quite a bit in that time and is starting to look a little more like the adult it will become.
Incidentally, when I posted my earlier shot of the nymph on Flickr I received a rather picky comment to the effect that it was a shame I had failed to capture it facing me. Ahem, full frontal enough now? 😉
A freshly hatched nymph looks out on a new world.
I was pottering around the herb garden looking for some buggy subjects for my ever-hungry macro lens when I thought I saw a greenfly. Closer observation revealed this pretty little speckled bush cricket nymph. Speckled bush cricket (leptophyes punctatissima) nymphs shed their skins six times. Each version is called an instar. I think this tiny nymph is a newly emerged first instar.
The full adult version, as pictured below, can be found in the garden from about late July onwards. I have found the little nymph in the same place every day since I took its picture. I will follow its progress and try to get some more shots as it grows.
For more information on speckled bush crickets and some super shots see this blog.
