Wisley "Butterflies in the Glasshouse"

[Pete Eeles]

A friend pointed this out to me - should anyone want to brush up on their butterfly photography early next year:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Wisley/Wh ... utterflies

Cheers,

- Pete

[Susie]

Thanks for the reminder, Pete. I'll certainly be going again.

£50.00 to £60.00 for the butterfly photographic mornings! Shows what good value the UK Butts photographic forum is.

[Pete Eeles]

Thanks for the reminder, Pete. I'll certainly be going again.

£50.00 to £60.00 for the butterfly photographic mornings! Shows what good value the UK Butts photographic forum is.

too right!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Susie]

Anyone going for the first time might want to give themselves a bit of extra time for their camera lense to unsteam when they first get into the glasshouse as it can be a problem.

[Paul Wetton]

Too right Susie.

Some butterfly houses have hot air blowers to remove the condensation from cold glass lenses to speed up the process.

[Lee Hurrell]

I'll be going again this year but earlier than last year. I went in the last few days and it was winding down.

It took about 10-15 minutes for my lens to de-mist!

Cheers

Lee

[Susie]

when I went last year they had had trouble with butterflies emerging, or rather lack of them, and it was a bit poor to be honest but at the same time lovely to be so warm and even see just a few of them flying. The year before I went at the start and it was excellent. I hope to go near the start this time.

[Susie]

I had a lovely time there today, it's well worth a visit. I plan to go back with my proper camera and get some nice shots later in the month.

[Lee Hurrell]

RHS Wisley are this year once again running butterflies in the glass house, starting from the 14th January:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardens/Wisley/Wh ... utterflies



Cheers

Lee

[MikeOxon]

This event is on from 14th January to 26th February, 2012. I went today and found it a most enjoyable way to spend a chilly January afternoon - in a tropical greenhouse with gorgeous tropical butterflies gliding around! Even on a Tuesday, it was quite busy and, judging by the crowd-control measures they have in place, it's probably hectic at weekends.

If you are planning to take photos, be prepared for the hot, humid, and crowded conditions. I kept my camera inside its padded case until I was inside the first of the greenhouses. Once inside, i fitted my macro lens and entered the tropical zone. The filter on the lens steamed up at once but, after I had wiped it a few times with a tissue, it acclimatised. Some people were finding it took half-an-hour with a cold camera, but I was up and running in about 5 minutes. I used my 90mm Tamron with a 1.4X converter to give a good working distance and moderate tele-effect for those butterflies that stayed high in the foliage. I would not advise changing lenses in the very humid environment as it would be recipe for condensation inside the camera - not a good idea! The light is not good under the dense foliage and I used my Nikon SB600 flashgun with a diffuser. I use manual exposure mode on the camera - in this case 1/180s and apertures between f/8 and f/16 depending on distance from the subject. In the fairly crowed conditions, I was tending to fall back on autofocus (which I usually avoid in macro work) and found the Tamron too slow for in-flight photos. Later I went back to the cooler house and changed to my 70-300VR, which has much faster AF but cannot focus closer than 1.5m. It proved useful for species that were settled higher in the canopy, but I did not get any satisfactory in-flight shots.

In all, I managed to get photos of 16 different species. I like large blue, iridescent butterflies, so the Morphos were favourites. As well as the adult butterflies, there are also displays of caterpillars and pupae. When photographing iridescent butterflies with flash, it is wise to take lots from different angles, since the results are rather unpredictable.

Blue Morpho - RHS Wisley
Nikon D300s with Tamron 90mm+1.4X TC - 1/180s@f/11 with flash

I can recommend this as good day out and, if you know an RHS member, they can take a guest free - so hassle any relevant friend! (my wife obliged in my case)

Mike

[Goldie M]

When I was at Lancaster Butterfly House last week, i took this photo, I've tried to find out what it's name is lots of times, because when I was on the Norfolk B two years ago, I spotted it in the tree's, I assumed then it was an escapee, no one seemed to know what it was called, anyone Know
All the Butterflies you've shown were also there at the Lancaster BH Mike, so if anyone fancies a visit to "Williamson's Park Lancaster" it's open all year round Goldie M

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Goldie,

It looks like the Common Crow (Euploea core) to me.

Hope that helps.

Kind regards. Mark

[Goldie M]

Thanks Mark, do you know where it's from The names of some of the tropical Butterflies are astounding. "Common Crow"
and "Common Mormon" they don't do them justice really. I wonder who named them in the first place. Goldie

[Padfield]

I agree. Here's one I photographed in 2010, in Mysore, southern India:



I also saw them in Kolkata and believe they are found all over India.

Guy

[Goldie M]

India, that's great Padfeid, Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Here's a selection of butterflies you can expect to see at Wisley. I described the methods I used for photography in a previous post.

These contact sheets were made using Irfan View software - very useful for collections of photos. Click to enlarge images.

Great Mormon, Blue Morpho, Tree Nymph
Owl, Clipper, Great Mormon (fem)

Autumn Leafwing, Diadem, Diadem (fem)
Great Mormon (fem), Tailed Jay, Malachite

Malay Lacewing, Malay Lacewing upr, Blue Morpho
Blue Morpho, Common Mormon, Indian Leafwing

African Swallowtail, Pupae cage, Pink Rose
caterpillars and pupae

All my i.d's are from the 'Spotter Guide' available at the display. Any corrections or additions will be welcome!
EDIT - i.d's updated to reflect following comments, gratefully received.

Mike

[ChrisC]

i went last year and it was a great place to try to get to grips with my new camera. i was even adventurous enough to have a go at one of the swallowtails hovering over one of the bushes, nippy little beggars. this was the best effort and as it was my first time out i was really quite pleased. it has been cropped but not by much.

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Mike,

Nice pictures. I trust you enjoyed your visit as much as I did?

You asked for comments on the IDs.

I think you are correct on your first group of six with the exception of the bottom right, which you have down as an Asian Swallowtail. I think this is actually a female Great Mormon, a species that is sexually dimorphic and has a number of different forms. Regarding your second set of pictures you have the bottom left identified as a Scarlet Swallowtail. I think this is incorrect and once again should read female Great Mormon. Regarding the top right image I’m not sure and can’t say I saw one when I visited. If you can send me a high-resolution image(s), including an underside shot if possible, I may be able to help further. I agree with your third and fourth sets.

To confuse you even more the following are all Papilio memnon.

http://en.butterflycorner.net/Papilio-m ... 248.0.html

I hope this helps?

Kind regards. Mark

[Padfield]

I think the 'no ID' one is a form of Hypolimnas bolina - another very variable butterfly. The spotless body certainly suggests Hypolimnas rather than any of the Danaids this group mimics.

Guy

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Mike,

I agree with Guy.

I think the 'no ID' one is a form of Hypolimnas bolina - another very variable butterfly.

The male of Hypolimnas bolina is pictured top centre in your second set of images, the query picture being the female.

Kind regards. Mark