Another javelin wasp

I was out yesterday afternoon trying to photograph willow emerald damselflies. I say “try” because they aren’t the easiest of bugs to find. The huge reserve I visit is a 75-minute drive from home and on my first trip, I had no idea where to find them. As with most things, the few that are there were in the very last spot I looked. They are only around in very small numbers – my estimate would be no more than twenty individuals, although they are so small, it’s easy to miss them.

They are usually the last bug on my list for the year and I hate to admit it, but it’s been a very disappointing one. I can’t complain because I have still come away with images that I love, but there hasn’t been that feel-good factor of sitting at the top of a hill surrounded by hundreds of colourful butterflies.

This photograph is one example. I had gone to a fairly local reserve in the hope of finding something interesting, but there were almost no bugs and the few I spotted were just flies or hoverflies. There were a lot of visitors as well and because the paths are narrow, I found it nearly impossible to get down low to take photographs. When I spotted this wonderful javelin wasp, it only stayed on the flowers for a few brief seconds. I had to step off the path and into a pile of stinging nettles in order to get the right angle, but I got lucky. Moments later, a horde of screaming schoolchildren ran round the corner and my wasp was gone.