Just because...

...I haven't blipped a bug since 5 January! And this is the ONLY thing I could find in my whole garden that wasn't a European honey bee! Where have all the insects gone? I do hope the heat hasn't killed them all off. Or maybe they have all moved to the gardens of people with extensive irrigation systems and shade cloths, where there are still flowers and things to eat other than shrivelled leaves?

I have been experimenting with my "green glass", which arrived yesterday all the way from Ireland. The jury is still out... the green cast makes every image look like it's of the Northern Lights, there is a coating or something on the glass which adds a huge amount of speckles and dust to the photo, it came with a few scratches and is very easily marked. But I could easily do 5 and 10 minute exposures, in broad daylight – and you definitely have to compose the shot before putting the glass over the lens. I have sent off for another one, in a different shade and also a cokin ring adapter to glue it to. The elastic band approach is pretty annoying! (and they break, from rubbing on the sharp glass edges) If I ever manage a decent image, I'll blip it. Stay posted. (If anyone is interested, here is a link to page that tells you how to use the welding glass as an ND filter)

And it's a tiny robber fly, by the way.