Someone said i should do a BLOG! So here it is.

I woke up at 6:00am this morning (Thur 20-6-2019) and left my house at 7:00am to drive down to Crymlyn Bog. On arriving there I found it was closed. My next stop was at Jersey Marine Village and a walk along the 'Pany Y Sais' nature reserve on the  canal path towards Neath. I took my time on the walk keeping a lookout for Dragonflies, Damselflies and other insects. Fresh fully charged battery in my Olympus OMD1 Mk2 and the 12-50mm lens with a macro setting on it.  After a good walk There was nothing to capture except the different Flora (grasses etc) so I decided to capture the grasses. Soon an insect that is Green on the side with Black stripe down the body arrived on a Buttercup,hip hip hooray, one to the tally. Next up was a Bee collecting pollen then a snail moving slowly carrying it's home on it's back. More shots of grasses and some Yellow flowers,  then I spotted some movement, what is it I said to myself, it is a Grasshopper of which I managed two shots and it left. Another short walk when I saw something black on a grass stork. Low n behold it was a large Caterpiller, 8 shots later I moved on continuing along the path. I spotted some Orchids, Yellow Iris, Red Clover, more grasses and a Fly. I soon came upon an old bridge crossing over the Canal of which I decided to look underneath it to see if birds or bats roosted beneath it. All of a sudden a Huge noise thundered above me where I thought the world was ending. It went on & on, roaring away which made me head spin lol. I walked out from underneath and discovered it was a long Goods Train roaring away into the distance towards Neath.

From there I decided to turn around and walk back towards the village along the Canal tow path. More different grasses were spotted along with some Red Clover & White Clover.  Further along I spotted a Dead bird of which I missed on the way up. A Bug was then spotted on a Fern so took a few shots of it. Then I spotted some more of the long green sided beetle with black stripe along the body and very long antennae. Took shots of Orchids and some ferns.

I arrived back at the roadside and decided to cross the road and follow the path alongside canal towards Swansea. Loo n behold there in front of me was Ratty from Wind in the Willows by the waterside. I only had my 12-50mm lens on camera but took some shots anyway.

This part was a long walk so I took me time. I captured some yellow flowers and two beetles mating on a leaf. After that it was a Flower beetle, a bluey black beetle, a hoverfly, Ragged robin flowers, a yellow beetle with black markings along it's back, a Bumble bee, a Big Spider of which I think was a Wolf Spider with eggs under it's belly.

After 1 n half miles I turn around to go back and change my lens to the 75-300mm.

Onwards I go to find a young Oak tree with it's leaves gone all Brown and dying then I spotted two Burnett moths mating but to get a decent shot I had to step back a bit because lens was too long.  More Bumblebees and Flower beetles & two ducks were spotted and shots taken.

From there I drove to the 'Crymlyn Bog' to see if there was any Dragonflies and Butterflies.

There were some Emperor Dragonflies flying around but not staying still, so no shots of them. Had a long walk around the area to arrive back at the building and small pool. There I managed to get a shot of a Skipper Butterfly and a small Blue which ended up Out Of Focus. Duh!  I soon found some Fungi and what looked like a Horse-Fly. A Brown Beetle was the last thing I spotted.. I took 81 shots & battery run out. I then changed battery & took 66 shots when that ran out. Two batteries in just a few hours of a morning shoot. Dismal is that.

That Endeth my day of photography at around 12:00pm lunch time. 4 hours and two dead batteries.