thanks guys, much appreciated.. working with narrow depths of field I usually find the tip of the forewing costa, or the edge of the hindwing is soft in focus. This one ticked all the boxes and was just plain lucky especially as I only had two photos to pick from, not the usual 20+

Couldn't resist posting this male Celestrina argiolus today in our garden, which I had merely two clicks at before it flew off. One of them produced this, which is possibly the best image of this species I have ever achieved... Canon 7D using Canon EF 100m macro IS USM, AV, F9, ISO 100. :D :D (Looks...

Green Hairstreaks out in Force in Swaledale.. 20+ seen this evening over something like 20 square metres... one "bronzish" one, and a rather pretty study on lichenified rock...

Red Admiral here today in North Yorkshire.. must be overwintering up here too.

Lovely shots. I'm looking forward to seeing more!

:lol: glad I'm not the only one to be frightened off by infants! I love the shot of Graphium macleayanus especially, though the Lycaenids were what I was really hoping I'd see. Interesting to learn there are other trees in the SBG the Whites fly by and about their behaviour. It is so frustrating whe...

Thanks David, glad you found it interesting. No more butterflies for me for a while though now, sigh!

That last one is fabulous.. So to my last one.. Elodina angulipennis , the Southern Pearl White, photographed in Sydney Botanical Gardens. They flew in numbers around only two small trees in one single place in the park. Moreover, they hardly ever settled, and when they did, it was for about 5 secon...

Thanks again for confirmations.. I did see merope , but only males, and only on three or four occasions in different places. I found it very difficult to approach, and when it flew off, it was very "off"... 181119 Heteronympha merope ssp duboulayi_ Mundaring Weir WA_1741.jpg 181119 Heteron...

Not too many Satyrids in the neck of the bush I was in... two similar ones though, one at the end of it's flight period and one just getting into it... Worn Geitoneura minyas , the Western Xenica.... 181102 Geitoneura minyas_ Bell's Rapids_0921 copy.jpg 181102 Geitoneura xenica_ Bell's Rapids_0962 c...

Very droll :lol: , and informative... I didn't recognize that species as being Albin's Hampstead Eye... :shock: The two Danaus species turned up in numbers after a week or two, though only in one place, a riverbank with stands of a Milkweed species, which they certainly favoured.... Firstly the Mona...

That is one gorgeous butterfly isn't it... Here's another, Junonia villida, the Meadow Argus...
I would always be up for another trip Guy if you needed company

Hi Guy, do you think Tolweb represents the best on-line taxonomy for butterflies? I have used it before and find it fascinating !! :D Here's another one from that page on Tolweb, a bit further removed...... Vanessa itea , the Yellow Admiral... I found this species extraordinarily skittish and very u...

Yes, it seems very close, I really like the large blue centred hindwing spots, otherwise they look much the same.... they do behave a bit differently though

Moving on, perhaps the most ubiquitous butterfly seen was Vanessa kershawii the Australian Painted Lady, subtly different to our more familiar one in Europe. It was a strong flier, and very jittery, almost unapproachable at times. The flowering Privet in Melbourne however proved alluring to it, and ...

Ok, thank you very much, and for your reasoning... I sort of felt there was a high chance I got the ID wrong - I'll have another look and go with what you suggest

I will certainly do that, and thank you for your interest. The few Skippers I saw acted very much as you describe :D The only other Skipper I came across during the whole trip was I think Taractrocera ina ( please correct me if I'm wrong!, at Sydney Botanical Gardens... 181111 Taractrocera ina _Sydn...

One of my books suggests they are easily picked up and blown by the wind.. but all the ones I saw kept to within a few inches of the ground :? Maybe picked up by humans in pre-imago form and transported in crops/ animal feed etc??? There was a huge variation in amount of wear and tear in much that I...

We must speak before I go again!!! :mrgreen: :D Most Blues I saw were of the Zizina family, but my books confuse me over the actual identity... So I've gone for otis though I'm not totally convinced these are that species... all from the Perth area... 181126 Zizina otis _Yanchep _2335.jpg 181121 Ziz...