Hic Sunt Dracones (Beware here be Dragons).

The day I saw many Dragons.

To all those currently in the UK - oh, it’s hot, isn’t it?

I am sitting here on the 1st of August 2024 with a fan blasting away blowing hot air all over me (yes, I did try turning it off ……. It was hotter), in as little clothing as possible.
Sorry I should have warned you about that I hope you weren’t eating, but it is the truth.
It has been said before but believe me it won’t stop me from saying it again, us residents of the UK do like to talk, actually complain, about the weather. It’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s too wet and it’s too dry. That last one not good for the plants you know.
We are a fickle lot but that’s what makes us, us.

Anyway, storms are being forecast so I am sure it won’t be long before it is too wet.

By the by (that one is an idiom don’t you know, every day is a school day).

Artistic version

Well, so how have you been? Good, that’s just peachy.

It’s a bit of an odd saying that isn’t it “just peachy”, an Americanism, one of those old ones that is fading out of existence. However, if you have read any of the previous blogs you know I like to add the occasional oddity, as you can clearly already see from above, and yes there will also be a very tenuous link to all of this too, for which once again I apologise for in advance.

Oriental feeling artistic version

Insects, do you like them?

No, I don’t mean to eat, although I know in humanity’s search to save resources they are not “off of the menu” so to speak. I didn’t even mean to keep as a pet. Yet, I know that many do and that’s just peachy (once again there is that phrase).

What I meant is images of insects that you can look at and appreciate for their form and beauty albeit sometimes quite scary and alien like.
Can I also add no spiders, mainly because I didn’t get any photos of them, actually completely because I didn’t get any photos of them.
Maybe another blog.

But you have already guessed it, I did get some images of other insects whilst on a local walk at the park and riverside. You know through the park.

Over the big bridge.

Arriving at the river.

To be exact the day was the 6th June 2024 where aerial battles were being fought out. In their own way a war with some similarities to the very famous one also being remembered on this same day in 1944 let us never forget. 

It was a lovely bright warm day on my walk and there were an abundance of birds and insects flying and humming all around me. Until this point, I had just come out to get some air and see what I could capture with my camera. Now I had a plan, so many insects around me how hard could it be? Well let me tell you it was actually pretty hard, for one they are fast very fast, and another thing they are quite small and finally they don’t stay still and they won’t come near you, their eyesight must be amazing. But even so I persisted.

Artistic version.

I started off with some easier to capture insects that were quite happy to go about their business and ignore me for most of the time. Then I just kept looking around trying to get my eye in. It is amazing once you really start looking you can see them everywhere, however creeping up on them is still not easy with far more misses than hits. 

It was lovely to see all of the different colours and varieties of insects too, so many more than I was able to photograph. But that is the beauty of photography there is always more to capture on another day and different conditions, time of day and light which all make photography compelling.

Be careful where you walk as well, as the insects were even sunning themselves on the path. Once again, they were pretty fast at getting out of my way so a stealthy approach was definitely called for.

The last image here being a Mayfly. The adult Mayfly’s lifespan is short, in part due to the fact that they make a tasty meal for the Dragonflies that inhabit the same areas. Such is the circle of life, harsh for most of the time but with fleeting bursts of beauty and bedazzlement.
​
Do not look at this one if you are squeamish as it confirms the above musings, however it does have a kind of beauty all of its own.

Now that’s a snail not an insect I hear you cry, but look closer and you will see it also has a lodger and anyway a slight diversion off of the path is ok, isn’t it?

In just a few hours out, on what was a glorious day to be messing about near the river, a lot of fun was had including the odd disappointment. I didn’t manage to get one of the bigger Dragonflies this time, they were just too fast moving and too far away to properly focus on them. I was only using a standard zoom lens not a super zoom and no macro capabilities, so some of the images have been cropped to better highlight the stars of the show. This also proves that you could also go out with whatever lens you have and try to do the same if you wanted to.

The final image of the day was taken on the way back home on the surrounding grassy areas near the riverbank. 

I had also spied two people walking along the narrow and overgrown path, which I have shown here. 

Artistic version

Although this one breaks the rules of all the images being captured on the same one day, I didn’t want to go without showing that different days can give you different results, so here is one of the bigger Dragonflies from the same stretch of local river. 

So that’s it, did you get the tenuous link?
Well, insects like fruit and a peach is a fruit. I know, I know but there was no need for that language.

How do you like those apples? Yep, insects like them too lol.
Can I use lol on a blog? You may be looking at it on your phone so I guess it’s ok. I will let you decide.

This whole blog I have just been winging it.
I think it's time for me to buzz off.