CallumMac

[CallumMac]

I'm not sure what happened there!

Despite the wind, I recorded six species along the transect, with Speckled Wood the most abundant. As is often the way with these things, the most exciting wildlife turned out to be not the butterflies I was looking for, though, with great sightings of Common Lizard, Barn Owl and Curlew. The latter flew right past me before landing nearby and singing its famous bubbling song - it's easy to forget just how enormous these birds are!

[David M]

I'm not sure what happened there!

Look like you hit 'post' prematurely, Callum.

If it happens again just go into the edit feature (the pencil icon) and update it before resubmitting.

[CallumMac]

Ah - I was looking for an edit button but didn't immediately spot it! Next time I'll know.

06/05/2018 - YWT Potteric Carr
Having failed to find Green Hairstreak on Saturday, I didn't rate my chances of finding anything other than the common spring species, so my partner and I headed out to Potteric Carr. This is YWT's flagship reserve - a sprawling mix of reedbeds and wet carr woodland nestled between Doncaster and the M18. We recorded most of the species you'd expect, and this Holly Blue (only my second of the year) was a nice surprise.

Besides that, only a female Orange-tip stopped long enough for a snap!

With the butterflies again in supercharged mode, I couldn't get close enough to anything to use my compact camera (which has an excellent macro mode). I have been getting frustrated with the poor results I get with my Canon DSLR + telephoto 'birdwatching' lens recently when photographing butterflies, and might bite the bullet and invest in a proper macro lens before long. Any recommendations gladly received!

So, a slightly frustrating butterfly day, but it would be churlish to feel hard done-by when the reserve offered up some truly AMAZING birds...

On Monday I compromised between pottering after butterflies and more vigorous exercise by cycling the 30 km each way to Kiplingcotes. No sign of the Dingy Skippers here yet - in fact almost no butterflies about at all. I'll be back later in the month, when the chalk pit will come alive with Skippers and Common Blues.

The first report of a Duke came in from the public site near Helmsley in the North York Moors on Monday - a single individual seen. I'll definitely be popping up there at some point in the next few weeks!

[Wurzel]

I've not seen Black-necked Grebes looking like that for a very long time Callum, not since a trip to Poland, stunning

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Callum, I priced a micro lens for my Conon DSLR and the price was rather high, I'd to settle for a Sigma lens which has a micro switch which I must amit I don't use much, but the 70=300 mm is good for bringing objects closer that you would normally not be able to get close to, I suppose it's good for me because not being too young any more I find that a great help Goldie

[David M]

Great waterfowl shots, Callum. Perhaps that's a first for this species on UKB?

[Andrew555]

Those are amazing looking birds, very nice Callum.

[CallumMac]

Thanks all! They really are stunning birds. Almost worthy of honorary butterfly status? The colour-scheme reminds me a bit of a Marsh Fritillary... We're lucky to have quite a large chunk of the UK's breeding population across several sites in the Humber catchment. We may not have so many of the best butterflies up here but we have some cracking birdwatching.

Goldie - thanks for the tip, that Sigma lens looks very interesting, especially at the price. Do you use it with a tripod or hand-held? Some of the reviews online say it's too heavy to shoot hand-held at full zoom. I use Canon's 70-300mm at the moment, but the minimum focal distance is not great (about twice that of the Sigma) and I often find myself actually backing away from butterflies to try and focus. Depth of focus is also not brilliant, so photos aren't always that sharp (see the Orange-tip and Holly Blue in my previous post for prime examples!) - I'm therefore reluctant to try adding an extension tube to reduce the focal distance as that would of course also reduce the depth of focus. A colleague of mine brought a 105mm macro lens (I think it was also a Sigma) out on fieldwork for a couple of weeks last year and took some really stunning photos of Scotch Argus with it - which is why I'm tempted!

[CallumMac]

10/05/2018 - Walmgate Stray

I made a very brief trip out onto the Stray during my lunch break today. Few butterflies about, as there was quite a strong, cooling breeze and the sunshine was rather patchy. However, this male Orange-tip posed beautifully!

The flowers of the Stray are also just starting to come through - in particular, there are a few really spectacular patches of this flower at the moment, which I think is Germander Speedwell:

[Wurzel]

Great OT shot Callum A lot of people on UKB know a lot more about lenses than me but I wear by my 105mm mirco lens. One person who is very knowledgeable about lenses is MikeOxen - you could send him a PM

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Nice OT image, Callum. Sometimes it pays to observe them when the weather is less than ideal.

[CallumMac]

Thanks both. Wurzel - useful to have another vote for the 105mm focal length. Sounds like this is about right for butterflies.

David - absolutely. That photo came about as a result of following the butterfly during a sunny patch, watching where he landed when a cloud covered the sun, and sitting with him until the sun returned a few minutes later to snatch a couple of pictures in the few seconds it took him to warm up again before flying off. Patience the key - I'm sure I don't need to tell anybody on UKB about that!

[millerd]

That is a nice Orange Tip, and that technique is spot on for catching them in good poses. Today was a perfect day for that.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Hi! Callum, I'm no expert on Len's , I found the Sigma was better for me because I'm older and if I knelt down I'd struggle to get up
the len's brings every thing closer to you, it is heavy but I don't have a tripod, I take shots by hand, i find it's easier to take shots of Butterflies this way for me because if they move I can some times catch them in flight
Wurzel is correct though, Mike Oxon knows a lot about camera's etc and I'd definitely ask him. Goldie

[bugboy]

Hi Callum, I too use a Sigma 105mm macro lens with my Canon DSLR. My recently purchased zoom lens, the Sigma 150 - 600mm, has also proved to be more versatile than I anticipated but it is pretty weighty. Both have the optical stabilizer which makes a big difference with hand held photography, I've never used a tripod.

[CallumMac]

Thanks for all the tips on lenses. Lots of votes for the Sigma 105mm!

11/05/2018 - Walmgate Stray
After Thursday's lunchbreak success with the Orange-tip I decided to turn my focus to Green-veined Whites for Friday's break.

This immediately proved even more successful than I'd anticipated, as the male I was following led me straight to a pair already in cop! They had better things to do than worry about me, allowing me to take close-ups from all angles.

[CallumMac]

12/05/2018 - Wheldrake Ings (YWT, part of the Lower Derwent Valley NNR)

Another warmish morning with patches of sunshine meant that the butterflies were very obliging!

This pair of Green-veined Whites caught my eye - the male had obviously been startled by something and was flying along with female still attached. When he landed, she was left literally dangling...

The stars of the show were undoubtedly the Orange-tips, who were in good numbers, in great condition, and in unusually approachable mood!

Besides the butterflies, there was plenty more insect life about...

...and I was delighted to see my first ever Great White Egret. I guess some of you down south must be quite familiar with these by now, but they are still a novelty in Yorkshire!

[CallumMac]

13/05/2018 - North Cave Wetlands

You're probably getting bored of seeing Orange-tips and Green-veined Whites from me... but there's not much else around up here at the moment! Today the butterflies were showing much greater interest in nectar than they have so far this spring, which really made for some great photo opportunities.

A couple of Brimstones whizzed past too quickly for photographs. My impression is that these have had a really good spring up here - I can't remember ever having seen them this regularly. I wonder whether the lack of late frosts might have helped - we went straight from very wintry cold to a very mild spring, with no return.

Actually, we spent a lot longer looking at Odonata than Lepidoptera today. My partner's area of expertise is ponds, and she can ID a lot of the UK dragonflies and damselflies from their nymphs - but her knowledge ends when they leave the water and start flying around! We made a pact in autumn to learn to ID the adults together this summer. Today was a good start, with three species ticked off, positively identified, and hopefully locked into memory:

Broad-bodied Chaser

Four-spotted Chaser

Blue-tailed Damselfly

[bugboy]

It's almost the websites motto 'you can never have enough Orange-tip photos', so don't worry about posting them

[David M]

You're probably getting bored of seeing Orange-tips...

Not when they're nectaring from white tree/shrub blossom, Callum.

Few sights are finer in spring!