Mediterranean Gulls and Great Egret

Lurgies, Montrose Basin and West Links, Arbroath, new summer visitors and returning birds

Mediterranean Gull 3rd calendar year at West Links, Arbroath. Both birds found by John A

Same bird as above, showing dark on its outer primary

Also an adult with yellow/orange bill tip

Osprey at the Lurgies, I hope it's only weed trailing from its talon and not fishing line

The first summer Great Egret found by Dan this week, more are welcome along with Spoonbills!

Little and large in the Egret world

Common Sandpiper juvenile, I noted the yellow legs and checked against Spotted Sandpiper, as you can see the Common has a long tail projection, whereas Spotted short. The harsh light is probably washing out the green legs making them look yellow

The light coming off the seaweed has made this Lapwing many strange colours

Candy striped spider and Water scavenger beetle

   

Not a big post in keeping with the subjects.

I don't think I'd get these handheld photos with my 70mm lens, the Nikkor MC 105/2.8 S is a revelation.

Note, I'm aware that viewing/reading the text on an Android and probably iPhone is difficult. I've investigated and found the theme/template is no longer supported and I can't enlarge the fonts. I suggest reading the blog in landscape will help. The desktop version on a computer isn't affected. I'll look into changing the template but that would affect all of the previous posts, with all the problems that brings.

A Water scavenger beetle Helophorus brevipalpis. Probably the smallest insect I've photographed and managed to identify, maybe not to the level of variant, I don't have a microscope and it's 2mm long

Candy-striped spider Enoplognatha ovata and a Black Compost Fly which is a very small insect, and the spider isn't very big

10-spot Ladybird and a different pattern from the previous one in an earlier post, they're also very small

Generation "Z" insect photography

  
I've moved on to use a better lens for the job of photographing insects, some only 4mm long, often just seconds on a flower, and today it was also windy. All were in an urban setting, my garden...

Red Soldier Beetle, photos here taken on a 105mm 2.8 Z lens, hence the better quality

Potato Capsid Closterotomus norwegicus

Green-veined White

Common Frog, one of this years, some others are more advanced and two adults were seen recently

Lucilia sericata Blow Fly species

Lunuled Aphideater or UK Common Spotted Field Syrph Eupeodes luniger

Narcissus Bulb Fly

Patchwork Leafeater Bee Megachile centuncularis

Hydrangea variant unknown