My plan, yesterday, to take advantage of the onset of the rainy season and head up to the southern border of Huai Kha Kaeng was cut short by an unexpected outcome.... I could not find anything to photograph there!. Making my way up and down the stream beds in ideal conditions for insects and mushrooms (my other favourite subject at this particular location) for 4 hours yielded nothing of consequence. Some days its just like that, all the planning and the equipment are rendered useless by the lack of subject matter.

To add insult to injury, the d7000, my new toy, gave up the ghost early in the day - just like it's predecessor in my arsenal, the D90, it cannot take damp forest

conditions. It is a great pity as I love these little cameras for their abilities, crop factor and lightness. They should be the ideal forest companion BUT add in humidity and the constant pouring of sweat on them when being fired and they show their weakness every time. So out came the trusty D3, the old workhorse is an absolute pain to carry around in the jungle but it can take a hell of a lot of physical abuse.

After another couple of hours and just 10 minutes from calling it a day I spotted something that did not seem to belong to the bush I was passing. A closer look revealed a beautiful metallic green jewel beetle with red highlights. A Chrysochroa rajah thailandica. My only find of the day but it had made the trip and long drive a little worthwhile at least. I got off about 10 shots and what happened - the flash sender unit gave up under the wet conditions and the D3 was now rendered useless as well. By a shear stroke of luck, and maybe, just maybe, to some camera deity being either amused or shocked by my torrent of expletives the d7000 spluttered back into life for just 5 more shots before all life was finally extinguished from it. So I hope you like this particular beetle because it will cost me dearly in repair costs!