MikeOxon

[Andrew555]

Great reports Mike. Nice White Admiral underwing shot. That Silver-washed Valesina reallly is amazing, great stuff.

[millerd]

The Valesina shots are indeed really beautiful - I've yet to see one and I'm most envious!

Dave

[MikeOxon]

The Valesina shots are indeed really beautiful - I've yet to see one..........

If you can get there, Dave, I would recommend a trip to Bucknell Wood (near Silverstone). For some reason, there seems to be a higher incidence of valesina there than at any other location I have visited.

[millerd]

Thanks for that, Mike - I know roughly where that is and it's not too far. I'm sure I could work out a round trip with other stops to make a day of it.

Cheers,

Dave

[David M]

I've never seen Bernwood Meadows looking so scorched, Mike. I remember going there in 2012 and it was so sodden that you couldn't walk through it!

[MikeOxon]

July seemed to slip by, as a result of many grand-children distractions, including a bout of chicken-pox and, more pleasurably, visits to attractions such as the Cotswold Wildlife Park. Apart from that, it was usually either too hot for pleasant walking or there was torrential rain during brief thunderstorms! None of these things contributed to butterflying trips.

As the month ended, I decided I should see what was happening at Aston Rowant NNR. I prefer the south-western end of the reserve, at Bald Hill near Christmas Common, which is away from the incessant roar of M40 traffic but has similar hillside habitat. After all the hot dry weather, i was surprised to see how tall the grasses had grown and, since there was a stiff breeze blowing, few butterflies were to be seen, at first glance.

Bald Hill - View over Oxfordshire Plain
31st July 2018

Soon, however, I realised that the slope was buzzing with Silver-spotted Skippers, keeping low as they zoomed between Scabious flowers.

Bald Hill, Oxon - 31st July 2018
Olympus E-M1-ii with 100-400mm lens - 1/1600s@f/11 ISO 640

There were also plenty of Chalkhill Blues, of both sexes, although these seemed to appear in 'waves' : for a while, nothing to be seen and then a group of 5-6 madly chasing around the slope. Their condition was very variable, with several looking very battered, while others were near pristine. Perhaps, this depended on how they had fared on the recent wet days.

Bald Hill, Oxon - 31st July 2018
Olympus E-M1-ii with 100-400mm lens - 1/640s@f/10 ISO 640

I took several 'regular' shots but rather liked this one, where the butterfly took off at the end of a short burst of photos.

Bald Hill, Oxon - 31st July 2018
Olympus E-M1-ii with 100-400mm lens - 1/1000s@f/11 ISO 640

One of my main reasons for visiting the site was to see how the Frog Orchids had fared through the hot weather. The answer was 'not well' and I found only two flower spikes, both looking rather scorched.

Bald Hill, Oxon - 31st July 2018
Olympus E-M1-ii with 12-50mm lens - 1/800s@f/11 ISO 640

Meadow Browns were fairly ubiquitous but, of other species, I only saw one or two Common Blues and a few Small Heaths. There were also plenty of Burnet Moths, with several mating pairs on the Scabious flowers. As I mentioned at the beginning, most butterflies were keeping well-down in the wind.

Mike

[Old Wolf]

Great 'take off' shot Mike. The face really pops out of the picture so that it almost appears 3D

[Wurzel]

As Old Wolf says that is a great take-off shot Mike Frog Orchids are funny looking plants as I don't 'see' the frog, I get it with Butterfly and Bee and Burnt Tip but I can't see the 'frog'

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MikeOxon]

Thank you, Wolf and Wurzel. I almost deleted the photo; it was the last of a series of shots but, then, like you, I found the face rather appealing, so it had a reprieve.

[ernie f]

Mike, sad about the Frog Orchids but great pic of a SS Blue.

[Goldie M]

Hi! Mike I'm just catching up on posts now I'm home, your shots of the 'Valesina" are fantastic , I've seen it twice now but never got a good shot, it was aways at the base of Tree's and hard to get a shot of , I managed one once but the shot was blurred so it was lovely to see your shots of it. Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Mike, sad about the Frog Orchids but great pic of a SS Blue.

Orchids are strange plants and can lie low in the soil for decades without producing a flower spike, when conditions are unfavourable, so I expect these will be fine

[MikeOxon]

Hi Goldie, thank you for looking in. As you will know, photos are only a pale reflection of the real thing, so I hope you get to see some real valesinas again. I can recommend Bucknell Wood for a good chance of seeing them

Mike

[ernie f]

Mike - re orchids lying low for decades. I am glad you told me that because I once saw a super-rare subspecies of fly orchid 5 years ago and despite looking for it repeatedly in subsequent years in the same place I have never seen it bloom again. As you say, its probably "waiting its moment".

Thanks,

[MikeOxon]

It appears that the heat is back With the start of a new month, I decided to have a look at the Roman Road leading onto Otmoor, with Brown Hairstreak being my target species.

When I arrived, in the early afternoon, it was overcast but hot, and the bridleway was extremely quiet and seemingly lifeless! I soon spotted several dragonflies (mainly Common and Ruddy Darters) cruising up and down but most wildlife was keeping under cover. I did spot a few Speckled Wood butterflies sitting motionless on their perches but, with nothing much on the move, they were not making their usual sallies to investigate intruders. It continued like this, as I walked the length of the ride, with the occasional very lazy-looking White wandering rather listlessly along the verges.

As I reached the open moor, through the gate with all its forbidding notices (almost obscuring the 'Bridleway' sign), the sun came out with full force but I continued a little further, to examine the Blackthorn hedges. On the bleached ground, I spotted some very pale Meadow Browns, almost impossible to see until they moved a little. Is this pale form an adaptation to the hot weather?

Otmoor, Oxon - 2nd August 2018
Olympus E-M1 -ii with 100-400mm lens - 1/2500s@ f/7.1 ISO 640

I soon beat a retreat to the shade of the bridleway again, where I was fortunate to meet a group of three people, who pointed out a Brown Hairstreak that was nectaring on a thistle. Apparently, it had been there for several hours, so I must have missed it on my outward walk I was very grateful to those people and, should they read this, may I again express my thanks, since I was beginning to feel I had had a very hot walk with little reward. I have been reading the discussion in Pauline's diary about Brown Hairstreak habits and this was another example of one not following the literature. This habit of spending a very long time nectaring on a single flower (or a small group) has been noted by several people.

Otmoor, Oxon - 2nd August 2018
Olympus E-M1 -ii with 100-400mm lens - 1/60s@ f/10 ISO 1250

The afternoon was wearing on by the time I started taking photos and that side of the ride was, by then, in deep shade, so I was having some difficulty with exposure. As the EXIF data shows, I was down to 1/60 second, even after turning the ISO up to 1250, to keep a reasonable depth of field with my long (400 mm) lens, used near to its closest focus (1.6 m). Only the image stabilisation made it possible to obtain sharp shots, when using my monopod. The technology built into modern cameras never ceases to amaze.

I remembered my use of 'focus stacking' to increase the apparent depth of field, when photographing flowers. The butterfly, however, was constantly rotating around the flower heads and stacking cannot be done automatically on a moving subject. To achieve a similar result, I took a number of shots in rapid succession, focussing alternately on the head and tail ends. By selective cutting and pasting from these pairs of images, I was able to create results that appear sharp overall. I know some purists deprecate such methods but I see it as a valid method to overcome the limitations of the camera, providing one is careful not to introduce artefacts at the 'joins'. I show two original shots, together with the 'stacked' result, below, followed by a larger version of the final image.

Otmoor, Oxon - 2nd August 2018
Olympus E-M1 -ii with 100-400mm lens - 1/250s@ f/8 ISO 1250

Because the electronic viewfinder of my Olympus camera provides a very good indication of correct exposure, I have become rather lazy in using JPEGs from the camera, rather than processing the raw data. When working in difficult conditions, however, the advantages of raw processing do become very obvious, so I processed these images by using the DxO Optics Pro raw converter, which produced a noticeably better range of smooth tones in the final images.

I had intended to follow-up with some macro shots but, while I backed off to change lenses, the butterfly decided it had had enough and made a sudden quick retreat back into the tree-tops. I was very relieved to have used my opportunity to take 'grab shots', as soon as I saw my subject.

Mike

[Wurzel]

Interesting to see the very pale Meadow Browns perhaps we're seeing more of these because the darker ones have all been eaten ? Also interesting to read about the continued unusual behaviour of the Brostreaks. I had a male 'down' splitting it's time between two thistles for over an hour on two consecutive days at Shipton, they seem to become really attached to a particular flower

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Art Frames]

Hi Mike lovely to see so many nice pictures in your recent reports. I am hoping to get to Otmoor next week (and possibly Whitecross Green Wood on the same day). So glad you had a good trip and hope I find your thistle! I was told there is another area where they are more readily found on brambles. Not the Roman road but a quiet track. If I find it I'll let you know.
kind regards
Peter

[Goldie M]

Lovely shots Mike, it always helps when some people are there to help point them out I hope I'm so lucky when I go to Gait Barrow to look for the BH soon. Goldie

[MikeOxon]

I had a male 'down' splitting it's time between two thistles for over an hour on two consecutive days at Shipton, they seem to become really attached to a particular flower

It seems curious when, at other times, nectaring visits are often very brief. On the other hand, if you are going to spend the day sitting around, it may be as good a place as any.

[David M]

Great image of the Brown Hairstreak, Mike. This species gives us all a chance to hone our photography skills at the back end of the butterfly season.

Hopefully there'll be lots of them around over the next two or three weeks.