This shot of the waxing gibbous phase of the moon was taken using a Helios telescope and a carefully aligned Pentax K10D SLR pointed at the telescope lens.  It required numerous adjustments and the photo does not do justice to the crips, clean image via the telescope.

I managed to get this shot of the moon by using an old Tamron 210mm lens with a doubler and a Pentax K10D.

It also required putting the camera on a tripod and using the 2 and 12 second timer to give the camera a chance to stop wobbling after clicking the shutter button.

It was pretty cloudy and I wonder if this made it hard to focus or just the shear distance.

The four peacock-like eye patterns on its wings have evolved as a defence mechanism against predators.

For more photos / information about hoverflies try The Dead Head Fly or Wikipedia – Hoverfly.

The Dead Head Fly (Myathropa florea), like many similar species sports similar markings to bees and wasps.  This is of obvious evolutionary benefit to the fly as many potential predators will not attempt to devour them.  It belongs to the family Syrphidae meaning Hoverflies.

A hoverfly can be identified by a false or spurious vein in its wings (Vena spuria).  In the case of the Dead Head Fly, it gets its name from the marking on its thorax which can resemble a human face or death mask.  They feed on pollen and nectar and appear on various plants including Hogweed and Cow Parsely between May and October.  This one is most likely a female because of the distance between the eyes.  Male hoverflies’ eyes are generally larger.

The 'Death Head' markings on the thorax.

The false vein or Vena spuria common to hoverflies

This photo was taken on the banks of Fishers Creek, Hayling Island, July 2011.  For more information about hoverflies, try Wikipedia – Hoverfly.

Peregrine Falcon

A photo of a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus).

The moth is found only in England and Wales. For more information and pictures of the moth itself, try UK Safari.

Damselflies undergo incomplete metamorphosis, with an aquatic nymph stage. The female lays eggs in water, sometimes in underwater vegetation, or high in trees in bromeliads and other water-filled cavities. Nymphs are carnivorous, feeding on daphnia, mosquito larvae, and various other small aquatic organisms, using extendable jaws similar to those of the dragonfly nymph. Source: Wikipedia

As with most butterflies, it is tough to get a good shot as they just don’t keep still long enough.  The purple flowers are Michaelmas Daisies.

The caterpillars will feed up on hops, and they will also eat stinging nettle, elm or currant leaves, and in other parts of its distribution (e.g. in Sweden) also sallow and birch leaves. Source: Wikipedia

A macro photo of a Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar (Tyria jacobaeae).  If you are wondering what this turns into, well understandably, it becomes a Cinnabar Moth.