steb1's photostream Pro User

These flowers of Barren Strawberry were very small, perhaps 5mm in diameter, which shows how small these little male bees were.

A very small male Mining Bee, probably an Andrena sp. They didn't cope at all well with the Violets. They much preferred the Barren Strawberries (Potentilla sterilis). Note the little mite in the bottom towards the left.

After th cold Spring of 2013 in the UK everything is very late in the UK. I was looking around for Butterflies on a sunny bank (I saw my first male Orange Tips). Then I noticed a few Bluebells starting to come into flower. Not the best shot as they were protected by Brambles.

At first sight not an interesting photo. However, it tells the story of our Winter and Spring. The Wood Sorrel leaves (Oxalis) are grey and effected by the frosts. The short tufts of the vibrant green Bluebells are much more frost resistant, but much smaller than normal for the time of year. So it's going to be a very late and possibly very short Spring which may merge with early Summer.

I was looking for something to try my new Panasonic LX7 and my Raynox MSN-202 on, when I came across these mosses. This at maximum magnification, so the frame width will be a little under 17mm.