Having had only distant shots of the little bitterns over th last week and determined that they were too far and too fast for a photo, I did what all good photographers do and gave up!  Instead, tired of walking past the abundant insect life without my macro gear, I went out specifically to photograph them this weekend.   Almost all of the photographs below were taken around the marsh opposite the first viewing platform at RSPB Ham Wall.  All shots were taken with the Canon 7D and Sigma 150mm macro held on a monopod topped with a medium ballhead.  I used manual with fill-flash for about half of the pictures and AV mode for the remainder and all were shot at either ISO 200 or 400.

Please click on any of the images below to see a larger version.

Ladybirds

They seem very abundant this year.  I'm no expert but I believe that all but the 7-spot ladybirds below are the uber-invasive harlequin ladybird.

Ladybird larvae and pupae

Damselflies

I believe most of these are common blue and blue-tailed damsels with a teneral individual and there is one that I'm not at all sure of with a pink thorax.  Please let me know if you can identify it!  I hope you like some of the unusual views...

Butterflies

All these on one day in a small area.  The peacock and common blue were in immaculate condition.

Assorted others

I could have spent days photographing all manner of interesting flies and beetles.  Here's a selection.