We have just spent a week in a lovely village in East Sussex, from Sept 15th. We were lucky enough to have amazing weather, and it was good to see so many butterflies, having seen almost none in soggy South Yorkshire this summer. There was a wall COVERED in Ivy in full flower, and it was absolutely ...

This is fascinating, and certainly confirms what I've suspected for a long time. It would be really interesting to know which species are the most susceptible.

I've only just seen this thread, and can confirm that I have often encountered this problem. I use a Canon SX10IS, and had an earlier model prior to this. I found using both that the autofocus seems to tip-off butterflies that I'd succeeded in getting close to, to my presence. It's b****y annoying!!...

Mother Shipton, huh? Went straight past that in my British Moths book, as it looks to be grey and white in the photo, whilst these (there were LOTS of them) were very much brown and yellow.

For the butterflies, the first is a male brown argus (there are lots of reasons why it is a brown argus, but the simplest is that it's a male). The others are all (in my opinion) common blues. Guy Ah, hadn't looked close enough to spot the gender!! :oops: :P Delighted it is a Brown Argus - never se...

Here are a few pics from our recent trip to Jersey. Plenty of "Blues" about, but I'm hopeless at telling them apart - some help please. Is this a Brown Argus, or just a female blue? http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g29/55bloke/New%20stuff/IMG_5871.jpg When I first spotted this, I didn't n...

Finally managed some reasonable photos - it's been a frustrating year so far, with spare time and good photography condiditions seldom coinciding. However, an hour's stroll round the local fields produced these:- An extremely tatty Small Tort http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g29/55bloke/New%20stuff...

Bill S. That pic of Brimstones in flight is astonishing!! Green with envy.

Thanks - I did wonder about the getting up early thing - it does seem to be the answer. Not a popular move at the weekend!

Had THE most frustrating day today! Visited Creswell Craggs, and the place was alive with butterflies. Speckled Woods, Peacocks, Orange Tips, Holly Blues, and more Brimstones than I've ever seen in my life. But, the damn things would NOT settle long enough to get anything other than the briefest gli...

Stunning!! But I've often wondered how on earth you use a tripod to shoot butterflies!? Don't they just fly off long before you can set it up?

I know what you mean, it does sometimes take a few goes to get the focus right. I deliberately decided against a DSLR, in order to avoid having to have a bag full of lenses and other gear to carry around, not to mention the cost of all the lenses. With a 20 x optical zoom and super macro, the Powers...

Canon Poweshot SX10IS. Fantastic camera!

It was great rearing the Privet Hawks - at one point, I was starting to worry our Privet Hedge wouldn't be able to keep up with their appetites!! Now have 8 pupae overwintering, and looking forward to seeing them emerge.

Ok guys, this is gonna get embarrassing! When I started this thread, I hadn't seen the insect in question. (You already know where this is going, don't you?) I still haven't seen it (would you believe the cat got it!!!? And also trampled many of the newly hatched caterpillars!) Mercifully, I was sen...

Many MANY thanks guys, much appreciated. Assuming we manage to rear them successfully, there will be plenty of pics, so fingers crossed.

Hi all. Forgive me for posting this here, but I can't find anywhere more likely to help! A friend of my wife has a 10 year old nephew who loves using his moth trap, and last week he caught TWO Death's Head Hawk moths in it!! (this is in Brigg in Lincs) I'm green with envy as I've never seen one! Bet...

There was quite a lot of other interesting "bugs" to photograph on the island. We'd been told that, as it's a small, volcanic island, there's no fresh water, so were disappointed to find it still had the usual Mosquito population, and I was very surprised to see this dragonfly cruising aro...

Wow, we're on the ball tonight guys!! Thanks for the comments, much appreciated. We did have a great week, and Santorini really is as advertised- an absolute must see!

We're recently back from a week on the stunning Greek Island of Santorini. I wasn't sure what to expect in the way of butterflies (see my question thread elsewhere) In the event, there were quite a lot of butterflies about, but of a limited number of species. I saw no Nymphalids at all, and no Swall...