Comma - Favourite Photo of 2015

[Wurzel]

Comma - Favourite Photo of 2015

Week 3

So continues sequence of posts giving one and all the opportunity to showcase their favourite shots of 2014!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As like last year details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

Bit of a toss-up for my absolute favourite of the year, but I've come down on this shot, taken in Suffolk in the spring, before the new bracken was in leaf:



Guy

[False Apollo]

Whilst at Fermyn Woods in July, I found these 2 commas on the track in an area where horses had recently passed. In this case Commas made me make a full stop!

[Goldie M]

My favourite photo this year made me scratch my head a bit because I've been taking their photos every month, the exception being June but I don't think I can better the photos I took recently in my garden

I took this one on the 22nd October Goldie

[MikeOxon]

i usually aim to make this one of my first butterfly sightings of the year at Dry Sandford Pit reserve, where the warm sandstone cliffs provided am early sun-spot:

Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon - 8th April 2015
Nikon D300s with 300/4 lens - 1/1000@f/8 ISO400

Mike

[celery]

Cracking shot that Mike! Here's one taking advantage of an early nectar source high in the cherry blossom of my back garden.

Comma (Polygonia c-album) - Flintham, Notts. - 22nd March, 2015

Orange and pink! Bit garish...

[bugboy]

Struggling to pic a favourite single picture but I do remember having a favourite day with Comma's. It was one of my visits to Hadleigh Country Park in Essex looking for WL Hairstreaks and there were simply oodles of fresh Comma's everywhere. So here's a selection starting and ending with slightly arty ones and a variety of shades and markings.

[David M]

Took this image at Fermyn Wood on 18th July. I kind of like the fact that it's bereft of colour apart from the butterfly itself, which is in typical Comma 'full alert' pose, ready to shoot out and skirmish with any trespassers:

[Neil Freeman]

Looking back through my notes and photos it seem that Commas had a reasonable season although numbers around my local patch seemed down a bit for the later emergence.

One of the first butterflies I photographed back in March was a Comma,

Comma - Langley Hall 20.03.2015

They turned up at most places I went to through July,

Comma - Bickenhill 12.07.2015

and were amongst the last butterflies seen in early October at my local spot at Castle Hills near Solihull,

Comma - Castle Hills 04.10.2015

Cheers,

Neil.

[Pete Eeles]

This year I managed to take, I believe, the best f. hutchinsoni photo I've ever taken, so this has to be my choice!

Cheers,

- Pete

[ayjay]

This was taken quite early in the season, 6th April, I'd be lying if I said I could remember where.

Considering my earlier whinge about Brimstones not showing their topsides I seem to have a lot of underwing pics.

[millerd]

This is an impossible choice, as over the year (as usual), I have taken a great many shots of a large variety of Commas. The hutchinsoni brood is worth a study in itself with huge differences between dark and light forms, and can also be seen alongside the standard form, just to complicate matters!

The following were all taken on the same day (16th July) within a few minutes of each other on my local patch.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Comma

When looking through my shots to try and work out my favourite for the year I always run through a list of possible reasons for choosing the ‘one shot’. Reasons include reminding me of a particularly enjoyable day, enjoyable company or visiting a particularly pleasant site, did it display a new behaviour or was it a memorable image? There are many more reasons for picking a favourite but this one ticked many of the boxes. It was taken while the girls and I visited all of the Barons placed around Salisbury to celebrate Magna Carta. The Comma appeared and spent the next five minutes or so flitting around us and taking mineral salts from all three of our heads, K’s arm and also the handle of L’s scooter producing a memorable image; the ginger of the butterfly clashing with the bright pink of the handle. So most of the ‘reason’ boxes ticked then!

Have a goodun

Wurzel