This post was written a few months ago and I’ve delayed publishing it for a couple of reasons. The time has now come that I can share it.

For some time my day job demands and focus on my bird photography work has got in the way of nocturnal macro jaunts. Recently I was able to get out with my friend and macro guru, Bryce McQuillan, for a couple of hours exploring the forest over the road from home. As always there was plenty to find and photograph within a small area.

One of the highlights was a couple of hatching April Green Cicadas which we were able to document at various stages of emergence.

The emerged adult with fully inflated wings is a stunning creature.

One of the more unusual finds was a pair of mating Harvestmen. My initial thought was that they were mating but to be fair out in the dark with glasses, I feel I’m doing well to see Harvestmen, let alone what they’re up to, so thought it may have been a territorial dispute. Only when the image stack was assembled was it clear that the interaction was more procreative than pugilistic!

Another interesting find was a deceased moth being consumed by a fungus.

As always there were a good range of spiders to photograph. I have purposefully placed them at the end so that the arachnophobes that follow me can stop here!

All photos with Nikon Z7 and Nikkor Z MC 105mm f2.8 VR S, Godox TT680N flash with home-made diffuser. All images are stacks assembled with Helicon Focus.