I'm no fan of tripods either - especially for mobile subjects like butterflies. Many people consider you can't get sharp pics without them but I find that a monopod is a good compromise - less hassle than a tripod but a big improvement in stability over hand-holding.

Mike

Sounds a terrifying experience - at least you avoided the unexploded bombs! Perhaps butterflying should be classified as a dangerous sport.

Mike

28th July 2011 Next to the carpark for the RSPB reserve near Beckley, Oxon, there is bridleway known as the Roman Road. Yesterday, in hot sunshine, both sides of the ride held clouds of butterflies, rising up from the undergrowth with each step. Most were Gatekeepers, with several multi-spotted var...

I saw Brown Hairstreak this afternoon on Otmoor. BrnHstrk_Otmoor.jpg It was at the south end of the Roman Road, adjacent to the RSPB carpark, near Beckley. The lane was very hot and sheltered, with clouds of gatekeepers rising at every step. I was delighted when, on approaching a bank of flowers, on...

That's a very nice image, John, and welcome to the forums. The exposure and detail in the butterfly wings is great, and I love the way the colours in the beautifully out-of-focus background echo the flower on which she is standing. The background is a tribute to the excellent bokeh of your Canon mac...

I mentioned in another thread, somewhere on this site, that I had some Pentax Papilio 6.5 x 21 binoculars on order. They arrived today and I am very impressed. Of course, I expect that everyone in this forum already has their pair but, in case anyone hasn't, may I add my recommendation. The optical ...

More from Oxfordshire - 25th July I walked along the 'earthwork' on the ridge of Sliding Hill near Swyncombe this afternoon. It was a beautiful sunny day and the hillside was a carpet of wild flowers, with many attendant butterflies. The most abundant lepidoptera were, however, Forester Moths and a...

Huge numbers of dragonflies in the wood including this colourful specimen. Anyone know what it is? It's a Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) , characterised by the broad yellow stripes on the sides of the thorax. No argument about the Essex but, if you are offering a free optician session, I'll happil...

Let's hope the dearth of Peacocks is a temporary glitch. Small Tortoiseshells had a bad patch a few years go but seem to have recovered to some extent although, generally, it seems that we have to be content with less of most things. It appears that Lulworh Skippers are in trouble too, judging by th...

Fascinating photo! Like you, I first assumed this was a bit of spider thread but Gilbert mentions this behaviour in his paper on Foraging Ecology of Hoverflies - see: http://ecology.nottingham.ac.uk/~plzfg/pdf%20files/1981%20Gilbert_foraging%20ecology%20of%20syrphids.pdf He writes that it is sometim...

referring to " brown spots " Millerd was not alone in mis-understanding your initial post but, now you have explained, I can point out that the Gatekeeper is prone to aberrations in both colour and spotting. Millerd has an example of a colour aberration in his thread "Golden Gatekeep...

I was very puzzled until I looked at the EXIF data, as the plant is definitely not a blackberry!!! Pretty good as a Blackberry phone photo though! Welcome to the forum.

Mike

You are right that 8,000 years is very little in evolutionary time but it is pleny of time for isolated populations to die out! I suspect that lots of former colonists have gone - not to mention wolves, beavers, lynx, etc., etc!!

Mike

I've not been up there yet this year but there were plenty last year on August 9th. If you are visiting the area, other good sites are Watlington Hill, a little further West, and my favourite, which is Sliding Hill, near Swyncombe; a high ridge jutting into the Oxfordshire Plain, mercifully free fro...

For Photoshop/Elements users, there's a free kaleidoscope plugin available from: http://www.mehdiplugins.com/english/kaleidoscope.htm Here is an example made with Photoshop Elements 2 from an original on my website: vaness1_kaleid.jpg I downloaded this plug-in after finding that the Sumo site was no...

I'm not a fan of tripods for mobile subjects, as I find them too restrictive. I use a Manfrotto 694CX monopod, with a quick-release ball head, and find it extremely versatile. I think price is a good guide to tripods, as cheap models use plastic components, which fail in time. Look for solid metal l...

When I have time, I'll try a direct comparison of these different methods and post some results on the forum. While the weather has not been great out in the field, I have been trying the various suggestions in this thread. It's not been a very scientific study but I have tried to examine the effec...

I keep clear UV filters on all my lenses, all the time. As a result, I have never needed to clean the lens itself. A soft cloth is usually sufficient to clean the filters but, if they get really greasy, I use a Q-tip and iso-propyl alcohol. Sometimes, I just give the whole filter a wash in warm wate...

Gorgeous specimens and very nice pics, too. The centre of the first large brown ring on your HBF looks bluish. Is it really, or is it just the contrast with the yellow surroundings?
Mike

Hi Lee. You are off to a running start with those pics. I particularly like the characterful shot of the Comma underside. You didn't say where these were taken - it's always interesting to know what species are occurring where. Nowadays, Wall Browns have become rather scarce inland, and are mostly f...