Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
- Vince Massimo
- Administrator & Stock Contributor
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- Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2008 7:36 pm
- Location: Crawley, Sussex
Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
Week 17.
Here is the opportunity to post your favourite photo(s) of a particular species taken in 2013 (or the last time you saw one!).
This is part of a series of topics which will grow over 20 weeks throughout the winter, eventually covering all 59 species which are regularly found in the British Isles. The intention is to showcase three species per week (in alphabetical order), so please wait until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos. Our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants.
Details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome and please feel free to contribute observations of behaviour, stories of personal encounters, anecdotes or other interesting points.
Vince
Here is the opportunity to post your favourite photo(s) of a particular species taken in 2013 (or the last time you saw one!).
This is part of a series of topics which will grow over 20 weeks throughout the winter, eventually covering all 59 species which are regularly found in the British Isles. The intention is to showcase three species per week (in alphabetical order), so please wait until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos. Our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants.
Details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome and please feel free to contribute observations of behaviour, stories of personal encounters, anecdotes or other interesting points.
Vince
Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
Small Copper
This was the first ‘favourite’ which I really struggled to choose just one image for. All the others jumped out at me almost immediately but I was lucky to capture so many different attitudes and Coppers from such a range of sites choosing juts one proved to be a major headache.
Somehow I whittled it down to two. The first of which was from our visit to my in-laws in Ffos-y-ffin in early August. The small field behind their home was a mixture of tall grass and boggy flowering plants and it proved a rich hunting ground for the duration of my stay. Having discovered that they were there over a few visits I racked up the full range of shots. This is my favourite of those because as I was photographing it feeding it turned, looked directly at me and we shared a moment. The second is from Martin Down later in the month and classed as my fave as it possessed so many features of interest. It was possibly my only ‘blue spot copper’ of the year, I liked the attitude of the pose, its tail was quite pronounced and to cap it all (quite literally) it had a gorgeous ginger fringe. Have a goodun
Wurzel
This was the first ‘favourite’ which I really struggled to choose just one image for. All the others jumped out at me almost immediately but I was lucky to capture so many different attitudes and Coppers from such a range of sites choosing juts one proved to be a major headache.
Somehow I whittled it down to two. The first of which was from our visit to my in-laws in Ffos-y-ffin in early August. The small field behind their home was a mixture of tall grass and boggy flowering plants and it proved a rich hunting ground for the duration of my stay. Having discovered that they were there over a few visits I racked up the full range of shots. This is my favourite of those because as I was photographing it feeding it turned, looked directly at me and we shared a moment. The second is from Martin Down later in the month and classed as my fave as it possessed so many features of interest. It was possibly my only ‘blue spot copper’ of the year, I liked the attitude of the pose, its tail was quite pronounced and to cap it all (quite literally) it had a gorgeous ginger fringe. Have a goodun
Wurzel
- Chris Jackson
- Posts: 1929
- Joined: Mon May 06, 2013 6:35 am
- Location: Marseilles, France
Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
Here we have two individuals from the south of France, one earlier in the season on April 12th, and the other a later brood on August 25th.
Chris- CFB
- Posts: 590
- Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:06 pm
- Location: Valbonne, Alpes-Maritimes, France
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Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
I like this f. caeruleopunctata because of the size and brightness of the blue spots. It's a pity about the damaged wings though.
This one was in the garden:
Two and a half hours later it was still there but on a different flower, a Salvia 'Wendy's Wish' according to my wife:
--
Colin
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
This one was in the garden:
Two and a half hours later it was still there but on a different flower, a Salvia 'Wendy's Wish' according to my wife:
--
Colin
Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
My favourite photo's of a Small Copper were taken at Fleetwood on 28th Sept. The day was a bit cool so I was suprised to see it. Goldie ![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
This one was brushing up its plant names when I spotted it in the gardens at Waterperry.
Mike
Mike
- Padfield
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Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
It was showing an admirable grasp of Latin, too! Aurea = gold, golden or gilded - perfectly describing this little butterfly (and she even got the gender rightMikeOxon wrote:This one was brushing up its plant names when I spotted it in the gardens at Waterperry.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Guy
Guy's Butterflies: https://www.guypadfield.com
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The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
I have singled out a somewhat dark individual seen at Bedfont Lakes Country Park on 20th August. I think I read somewhere that the hotter the weather, the darker the butterfly, so that late broods in Southern Europe are noticeably different. If this is so, maybe the good summer here influenced this one. It was certainly very warm and sunny when I took this picture.
Dave
Incidentally, can anyone identify the flower? The leaves you can see belong to it, I think.Dave
Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
What a clever girl!padfield wrote: It was showing an admirable grasp of Latin, too! Aurea = gold, golden or gilded - perfectly describing this little butterfly (and she even got the gender right).
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
- Neil Freeman
- Posts: 4465
- Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 6:25 pm
- Location: Solihull, West Midlands
Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
My first Small Coppers of 2013 were seen at the Wyre Forest in early June where I saw a couple of males...
...which for a few weeks were the only ones that I saw.
After a poor showing in 2012 around Solihull I was beginning to get a bit concerned again about them until I finally found good numbers of second brood at all of my usual local spots, including those where I had totally failed to find any in 2012,
I particularly like this nice f. caeruleopunctata seen at Castle Hills near Solihull,
Like Daves example above, I noticed that some of these second brood individuals had a nice dark 'dusky' look to them,
Small Coppers are a delightful little butterfly and one that I was especially pleased to see had bounced back from some worryingly low numbers locally the previous year.
Cheers,
Neil.
...which for a few weeks were the only ones that I saw.
After a poor showing in 2012 around Solihull I was beginning to get a bit concerned again about them until I finally found good numbers of second brood at all of my usual local spots, including those where I had totally failed to find any in 2012,
I particularly like this nice f. caeruleopunctata seen at Castle Hills near Solihull,
Like Daves example above, I noticed that some of these second brood individuals had a nice dark 'dusky' look to them,
Small Coppers are a delightful little butterfly and one that I was especially pleased to see had bounced back from some worryingly low numbers locally the previous year.
Cheers,
Neil.
Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
This was my favourite Small Copper image from 2013. It was taken in our garden (Bucks), 28th July and was feeding on Miss Willmott's Ghost (Eryngium giganteum).
N
N
Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
This was taken on a trip to Dudmaston Hall and my enthusiasm for photographing butterflies must be rubbing off on my family, as my brother pointed this one out for me.
Re: Small Copper - Favourite Photo of 2013
This Small Copper, seen at Aston Rowant on 8th August, was notable for three reasons - it was quite dark in colour, the forewing spots were very large and it had a pronounced tail: