MikeOxon

[Goldie M]

Just catching up with my posts Mike, I love your Peacock Butterfly your so lucky to see one, no sign of them here yet. Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Thanks for looking in, Goldie. Good to know you are feeling better and posting again. I think you have had worse weather than in the South but it's very unpredictable here, as well. I was caught in 'white out' conditions on the M4 near Chippenham last Saturday - not exactly butterfly weather!

Mike

[MikeOxon]

This roller-coaster that we currently call the weather was at a high point today, locally. Just after lunch today (13th April), I spotted my first Holly Blue of this year, in the garden, although it did not stay around for a photo.

There was a feeling of real warmth in the sunshine, so I set off for another look at my local Dry Sandford Pit reserve. I saw my first Brimstone while driving into the car-park, and there were plenty more within the reserve itself. The favourite feeding stations had moved from the Primroses to the plentiful patches of Bugle, where the long proboscis of the Brimstones could be seen delving into the cone-shaped flower heads.

Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon - 13th April 2016
Olypus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/2000s@f/6.3 ISO400

Moving on to the quarry, I was pleased to see an Orange Tip patrolling along the face. Having missed a photo of this species during an earlier visit, I was determined to get a 'grab shot', which I did just before it disappeared into the neighbouring woodland. This time, however, I found another male, towards the Southern end of the quarry face and this one was prepared to pose for photos!

Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon - 13th April 2016
Olypus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/400s@f/10 ISO400

I also saw the underside of yet another, on a shrub high up on the quarry face, and had to resist the temptation to try to get closer, against the warnings that the face is very unstable and accidents have happened. The rather distant cropped view that I settled for does show the attractive marbled pattern, which looks a little like stained glass, against the light/

Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon - 13th April 2016
Olypus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/500s@f/10 ISO400

A few small Commas defended their perches on the cliff against all intruders, which included several Peacocks, also enjoying the sun. All this activity did not last long, though, as the sun soon disappeared behind clouds and the temperature started to fall rapidly. Within a few moments, there were no butterflies to be seen at all, but I was very pleased to have photographed the Orange Tips and will now keep watch for Hollly Blues in the garden.

Mike

[Wurzel]

Really envious of your cracking 'Grab shot' of the OT - still haven't seen one this year

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Fantastic Mike, your the first I think to see the OT's, it feels like Spring now, lovely shots you got as well Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Thank you for commenting, Wurzel and Goldie. There should be plenty of OT around soon. the forecast was for rain here, today, but in fact it has been dry and quite sunny. Several Whites flying through the garden.

I have always found OTs to be a photographic challenge but the very helpful electronic viewfinder in my Olympus makes it much easier to keep the white and vivid orange in check! Although I shoot both RAW and JPEG, I find that the JPEG exposures are usually fine, so I simply archive the RAWs.

Mike

[Pauline]

With everything kicking off at once so easy to miss posts. Smashing shot of the OT Mike. As you say, a difficult butterfly to photograph but this is a lovely example. I'd be happy just to see one in the near future.

[MikeOxon]

I'm sure you won't have long to wait, Pauline. I'll look out for news in your diary

Mike

[MikeOxon]

After reading other reports, such as Philzoid's from Butser Hill, I decided to head up to the Oxfordshire Downs today (5th May), in the hope of a few Spring species. A favourite spot is known locally as 'The Juniper Valley', a narrow, sheltered valley leading up onto the downs from the village of Aston Upthorpe.

'Juniper Valley', Aston Upthorpe Down - 5th May 2016

Despite bright warm sunshine, there was little wildlife to be seen - either birds or butterflies, although this is often a good location for Spring migrant birds. On the walk up the track to the valley, I saw a few Brimstones and Orange Tips, though not many and, when I eventually reached the open downland, there was very little to be seen at all - a few bees nectaring on the flowers but no lepidoptera.

The flora on the slopes of the valley include Pasque Flowers. This is a traditional site for them but now they only survive inside rabbit-proof enclosures and it seems likely to remain that way, unless the rabbit population can be controlled.

Aston Upthorpe Down - 5th May 2016
Olympus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/1000s@f/8 ISO640

Red Kites and Buzzards soared overhead but there was little birdsong, not even the persistent tones of the Chiffchaff. It looks as though the recent cold nights in this area have taken their toll.

Walking back down the valley, I came across a very bright Peacock, sunning itself on the bare earth of the ride but, apart from those few species already mentioned, it was not a productive day.

Aston Upthorpe Down - 5th May 2016
Olympus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/2000s@f/8 ISO640

I have seen a few Holly Blues in the garden but always on the move, jinking to avoid the Blue Tits, which make frequent attempts on them.

Mike

[Goldie M]

Hi! Mike, lovely Peacock shot, I went to HLB on Wednesday in the Morning and saw hardly any thing, so I waited for it to warm up and decided to go back in the afternoon when I saw quite a lot more, looks like the Butterflies were waiting for the heat of the day Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Thank you Goldie. Like you, I had hoped that more butterflies would appear as the afternoon warmed up but, unfortunately, they didn't. Night-time temperatures have been very low here and I suspect that this factor has delayed emergence for many species.

That Peacock looks a little lop-sided, with more colour on one side than the other - possibly just an effect of the angles of the wings.

Mike

[MikeOxon]

Back to cloud and a little rain today (9th May). I had hoped to take a series of photos of the transit of Mercury and then make an animation, but clouds prevented any photography after about 14:30.

For the record, I took my photos by placing one eyepiece of a pair of 'eclipse glasses' over the lens of my Lumix FZ200. I chose to use my Lumix camera because it offers high magnification from a relatively small diameter lens.

Following a series of experiments that I carried out yesterday, I set a manual exposure of 1/250s @ f/5.6 ISO160, although I was surprised to see how much the image dimmed whenever a thin layer of cloud, was present, which made the image disappear in the viewfinder. I managed to get a few reasonable shots by shooting in the brief moments when the sun's disk appeared clearly in the finder.

Mercury looks very small indeed, especially in comparison to the sunspot, which can be seen above the centre of the sun.

Abingdon, Oxon - 9th May 2016 14:22 BST/13:22 GMT
Lumnix FZ200 at max zoom - 1/250s@f/5.6 ISO160 (manual exposure with 'eclipse' filter)

There were several very flighty Holly Blues in my garden and the surrounding area.

Mike

[Padfield]

Nice shot, Mike. It looks as if quite a few of us were lying in wait today to pounce on the slightest hint of sun! I didn't get my chance until about 19h00.

Guy

[MikeOxon]

Nice shot, Mike. It looks as if quite a few of us were lying in wait today to pounce on the slightest hint of sun! ....

Thank you Guy. The clouds were tantalising here. in the early afternoon, there were quite a few blue patches but, from my location, the sun seemed intent on avoiding them I tried your projection method but couldn't get enough contrast for a good image, so decided to concentrate on direct views through the eclipse filter.

Mike

[Goldie M]

Hi! Mike, interesting comments, I've yet to capture a photo of the Holly Blue yet, seen them zoom past though. Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Yesterday (16th May), I visited the BBOWT Warburg Reserve, at Bix Bottom (NE of Henley on Thames)

This is a wonderful reserve, nestling in a 'hidden valley' in the Chilterns, with a remarkable range of flora and fauna. On a brilliant Spring day, the flowers and Spring-greens in the trees along the broad rides were magnificent:

Warburg Reserve, Oxon - 16th May 2016

My first butterfly was a Brown Argus, nectaring on Germander Speedwell.

Warburg Reserve, Oxon - 16th May 2016
Olympus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/800s@f/9 ISO500

There were several day-flying moths as well, including Pyrausta purpuralis (I had almost forgotten how tiny these are!) and some really bright Burnet Companions (Euclidia glyphica), which outdid the only Dingy Skipper that I saw.

A dark-looking butterfly, skimming over the grass, confused me at first until I realised it was a Green Hairstreak. I find it curious how the vivid colour virtually disappears when in flight. This one was radiant, when it eventually paused for a photo:

Warburg Reserve, Oxon - 16th May 2016
Olympus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/800s@f/9 ISO500

Larger butterflies included Brimstone and Peacock. I also saw my first Common Blues of this year. This one posed for me in a thorn bush:

Warburg Reserve, Oxon - 16th May 2016
Olympus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/800s@f/9 ISO500

He then turned face-on to me, showing the thick blanket surrounding his body:

Warburg Reserve, Oxon - 16th May 2016
Olympus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/640s@f/9 ISO500

There were several interesting plants, including Early Purple Orchids and Herb Paris. Butterflies were not the only insects seeking nectar and I also photographed a Bee-fly (Bombylius major) nectaring on the Speedwell. The dagger-like proboscis, which usually looks quite rigid, here shows its flexibility, when probing for nectar. Even a shutter-speed of 1/800s was insufficient to 'stop' the rapidly-beating wings:

Warburg Reserve, Oxon - 16th May 2016
Olympus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/800s@f/9 ISO500

Another interesting insect was the Mason Bee (Osmia bicolor), which I watched carefully selecting surprisingly long blades of grass, to carry to the nest it was building in an old snail shell.

My last butterfly photo was of a Small Heath, which proved difficult to approach as it flitted low-down in the grass. I always feel that this is an under-rated butterfly, with beautiful colouring and subtle grey patterning.

Warburg Reserve, Oxon - 16th May 2016
Olympus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/500s@f/7.1 ISO500

After such a slow start to the season, it was a great pleasure to be surrounded by wildlife on such a beautiful sunny day.

Mike

[MikeOxon]

I took a walk along the Thames Path near the Cholsey Marsh nature reserve, this afternoon (26th May).

Sedge and Reed Warblers were making a terrific racket from the reed beds, on either side of the path, but remained largely hidden, except for popping up occasionally, for a quick 'look around'.

I was hoping to find the Gomphus (Clubtail) dragonfly, which is a local speciality, but had no luck on this occasion, although there were plenty of Banded Demoiselles, showing off their brilliant iridescent colours. Butterflies were in very short supply, except for a few Orange Tips, with a preponderance of females.

As I have mentioned before, the electronic viewfinder of my Olympus OM-D E-M1 makes it relatively easy to judge exposure, when taking these 'difficult' butterflies in sunlight.

Cholsey Marsh, Oxon - 26th May 2016
Olympus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/500s@f/11 ISO500

My underside shots show how the apparent green colour is made up from a mix of yellow and black scales. The seemingly plain grey wing-tips of the female show a sprinkling of yellow scales on the underside. The white antenna tips are also notable.

Cholsey Marsh, Oxon - 26th May 2016
Olympus E-M1 with 40-150mm lens - 1/640s@f/11 ISO500

Mike

[Wurzel]

Great shots Mike I love the intricacies of the pattern formation of OTs

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MikeOxon]

Thank you Wurzel - glad you like them! I was surprised to see so many females on the wing, amongst only a few bright orange males. Overall, though, butterflies seem rather scarce locally.

Mike

[MikeOxon]

Yesterday (28th May), I actually managed a distant photo of one of the Holly Blues that have been tantalising me in the garden for the last couple of weeks. I won't use up Pete's precious web space with the (rather poor) photo but hope that, now the butterfly has been caught once, he will become more obliging