MikeOxon

[Wurzel]

Cheers for the PM Mike - I will get round to replying properly but this is just a quick catch up as I've just gotten back from holiday Good luck with the Brostreaks, I'm glad I'm not the only one to have my head turned by a Hedge Brown

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MikeOxon]

Yesterday (7th August), proved a rather frustrating day, at least from a photographer's point of view. With a less-settled spell of weather in prospect, I decide to make the most of the sunshine and went out to look for Brown Hairstreaks in the BBOWT Meadow reserve at Bernwood, Oxon. The meadow had been mown and looked very different from my previous visit in the Spring, when I went to photograph the carpet of Green-winged Orchids.

BBOWT Meadow, Bernwood, Oxon - 7th August 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/1300@f/6.3 ISO160

Although Adrian Riley commented recently that he "Always found the females easy enough at Bernwood Meadow.", this was not to be the case for me There were all the usual decoys, including this Meadow Brown that,with its twin spots, also seemed to be trying to substitute for a Gatekeeper!

BBOWT Meadow, Bernwood, Oxon - 7th August 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/800@f/4 ISO160

Another 'decoy' was a female Common Blue that jinxed around the sloes in the ancient hedgerow, in excellent mimicry of BH flight!

BBOWT Meadow, Bernwood, Oxon - 7th August 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/500@f/4 ISO160

There were several Common Blues keeping low over the grass of the meadow while, overhead, squadrons of dragonflies were circling, perhaps persuading most of the butterflies to lie low. Along the path that skirts the southern fringe of Bernwood, adjacent to the meadow, there were several Silver Washed Fritillaries, continuously patrolling and not interested in posing for photographs.

As it was by now very hot in the open meadow, I decided to go to the shadier Roman Road, leading on to Otmoor from the village of Beckley - another good location for BH. At least I did see one here, but only high in an Ash tree, with no indication of any intention to descend lower! Along the ride were several Comma, Speckled Wood and, this time a 'genuine' Gatekeeper posed for a photo.

Roman Road, Otmoor, Oxon - 7th August 2014
Nikon D300s with Tamron 90mm macro lens - 1/180s@f/8 ISO400

I continued through the 'forbidding' gate at the end of the enclosed part of the lane, out onto the open moor. There appeared to be no bulls or even aggressive cows with calves, and there was no shooting on the adjacent rifle range, so I felt quite safe! The grass had been cropped very short and, as I walked along the blackthorn hedge, I suddenly spotted a flash of orange as a butterfly skimmed just above the short grass - Clouded Yellow and my first this year It seemed to pause and, keeping my eyes fixed, I walked towards the spot where I had last seen it but got no further sign. I continued my walk, enjoying the open space and watching Buzzards rising from the trees to circle overhead. When I turned back, the Clouded Yellow appeared again, in almost the same place and, again, I tried to follow it by eye but soon lost it. It appeared a third time, very close, taunting me to chase it but, as many others will have experienced, I had no chance against its rapid flight! In compensation, a bright Small Copper landed in the grass close by but moved off again, before I could get more than a 'grab shot'.

Otmoor, Oxon - 7th August 2014
Nikon D300s with Tamron 90mm macro lens - 1/125s@f/8 ISO400

So, a pleasant, if rather hot walk, though disappointing from the photographic angle.

Mike

[Wurzel]

Love that Hedge Brown shot Mike! I wish I'd taken that Better luck with the Brostreaks next time

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[jonhd]

Hi Mike. You mentioned, a while back, the problem with inadvertent button presses on the FZ200 - have you tried Graham Houghton's simple 'mod' - see "Preventing Unwanted Button Presses on the FZ200" at http://www.grahamhoughton.com/fz200-specific-pages/ ?

One other tip, relating to your frustration with the slow startup, resulting in missed shots. This drove me to distraction until I went through the Setup menus, and disabled the LCD timeout, and Lens resume - the thing now stays on all of the time (just like my DSLR). Disabling Lens resume is essential, to stop that daft message appearing, during which time you can't do anything. A second battery is advisable(!), and I do switch-off when I'm certain that I'm not going to be taking a photo. I get ~ 300 (JPEG + RAW) shots per recharged battery, so it generally does for a day's photography (and I keep the spare battery in a pocket).

I've put a sleep-inducing post about my modus operandi with the FZ200 in the Photography forum "FZ200 thread"...

Cheers, Jon

[MikeOxon]

Hi jonhd,

Thank you for passing on these tips - I think I'll try the rubber washer idea, to shield the buttons.

I'd thought about disabling the time-out, though I can see it is a recipe for flat batteries! A nice thing about the Nikon is that there is no need ever to switch it off, since it automatically powers down to a very low consumption state, while remaining ready for instant action - I often find it left switched on in my bag but it's no problem.

I enjoyed your post on the other thread - I tend to do most of the same things. I find a 1 dioptre close-up lens works well with the FZ200 and feel that the 2 dioptre strength of the 'proper' Lumix accessory would often be too much in the field, though great for egg shots, etc., in a studio. The 1 dioptre neatly takes over where the unaided lens leaves off. Your 150 is probably a good compromise.

Mike

[jonhd]

I'd thought about disabling the time-out, though I can see it is a recipe for flat batteries! A nice thing about the Nikon is that there is no need ever to switch it off, since it automatically powers down to a very low consumption state, while remaining ready for instant action - I often find it left switched on in my bag but it's no problem.

Funny you should say that... During a break in the rain, I popped out for a quick lunchtime recce, and discovered that I'd left the FZ200 switched on - must have been like that for a couple of days - with the LCD screen closed, and the lens cap on - and, there was still 2/3 battery left. According to the specs, the power consumption difference between the EVF and the LCD screen is quite minimal, but I've noticed that the battery life is much better than my first Panasonic bridge (an FZ7, I think).

Cheers, Jon

[MikeOxon]

... discovered that I'd left the FZ200 switched on - must have been like that for a couple of days - with the LCD screen closed, and the lens cap on - and, there was still 2/3 battery left.

That's very reassuring - perhaps I should be less cautious! I notice that, while there 's an 'LCD-off' timer in the menus, there's no equivalent for the EVF, which perhaps suggests that Panasonic think it unnecessary.

Mike

[MikeOxon]

On my third (perhaps fourth) attempt, I finally managed to catch up with several Brown Hairstreaks along the Roman Road at Otmoor. this morning (18th August) They were in their favourite Ash Tree and never descended really low down, but they were moving around quite a lot and resting in visible, sunlit positions

I almost missed seeing my first one, as it was amongst brightly-coloured Hawthorn berries:

Roman Road, Otmoor, Oxon - 18th August 2014
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR lens - !/350s@f/8 ISO400

After that, I watched several, looping around the leaves of the Ash Tree and occasionally pausing in the sunlight. I think this one may be a Male:

Roman Road, Otmoor, Oxon - 18th August 2014
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR lens - !/500s@f/8 ISO400

My last shot of these shows how closely the perched butterfly can resemble a dead leaf, in both shape and colour - at first, I thought there were 2 or 3 butterflies here!

Roman Road, Otmoor, Oxon - 18th August 2014
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR lens - !/500s@f/8 ISO400

An unexpected bonus was to see another small butterfly behaving in a very similar way but, as it flew, I saw the silvery-flash of a Purple Hairstreak. As usual, it was very difficult to follow its rapid flight by eye but I eventually managed a grab-shot when it paused, apparently to sample the sticky coating of the new buds.

Roman Road, Otmoor, Oxon - 18th August 2014
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR lens - !/500s@f/8 ISO400

The most common butterfly on the wing was the Speckled Wood and, on many occasions, it was easy to be misled by these, while looking out for the Hairstreaks

Roman Road, Otmoor, Oxon - 18th August 2014
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR lens - !/350s@f/9.5 ISO400

There were also several Green-veined Whites - a challenge to photograph in the bright sunshine. For these shots, I selected Spot-Metering, to avoid burning out the highlights - note the shorter exposure:

Roman Road, Otmoor, Oxon - 18th August 2014
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR lens - !/750s@f/13 ISO400

A similar challenge was presented by a male Brimstone that was systematically visiting Convolvulus flowers along the edge of the ride. I believe that this species has a long proboscis, which enables it to take nectar from Primroses in the Spring, and it seems that this facility is equally useful in the Autumn.

Roman Road, Otmoor, Oxon - 18th August 2014
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR lens - !/750s@f/13 ISO400

So, a successful visit, even if there was a sudden sharp downpour just as I was leaving In addition to butterflies, there were plenty of dragonflies on the wing, including Migrant Hawkers and both Common and Ruddy Darters.

Mike

[Wurzel]

I'm glad that you eventually got your Brostreaks Mike, and with the added bonus of the Purp and the crash landed Brimstone

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MikeOxon]

Thanks Wurzel. Temperatures dropped sharply after my visit and it now feels as though Autumn has arrived locally.

Mike

[Pauline]

I like your BH on the Hawthorn berries Mike. For a couple of years now I have wanted to see one on berries (any sort of berries) but without success. The Brimstone is also worthy of a second look - you did well to get that.

[MikeOxon]

A cool, cloudy morning today (24th August) in Oxon (15°C in the garden) and forecast of rain and wind for the Bank Holiday, tomorrow, so I thought I would look back over my year. Of course, it's not over yet and I'm hoping for the usual good showing of Vanessids on the herbaceous borders at Waterperry, in late-September/early-October.

Considering that I didn't make any special, longer-distance trips this year, I am pleased to have seen a good selection of species, including most of my 'favourites': 40 species seen and 38 photographed. I missed photographing a High Brown Fritillary at Old Castle Down, near Bridgend in South Wales, although I positively identified several through binoculars, and I only got fleeting views of a Clouded Yellow as it zipped past me on Otmoor.

I was going to make a simple list to summarise my diary for the year, so far, but then I thought it would be good to add some photos, so preparing this post took rather longer than I initially anticipated! What follows is a visual synopsis of my 'butterfly year', in chronological order (click to enlarge each spread):

I was sorry to miss Purple Emperor this year - I believe it flew fairly early in Bernwood Forest - and I also failed to make contact with any Painted Ladies. Apart from those, the gaps were mainly species that would have required special trips, including all the 'Northern' species.

I've been photographing butterflies for very many years and, sometimes, I look back and feel saddened that so many species have disappeared from where I used to see them - Marsh Fritillaries from several sites, Wall Browns, which I used to find on my own drive at home, as examples. But there are gains, too, since Silver-washed Fritillaries and Purple Emperors seem much easier to find than they were in my younger days.

Mike

[David M]

There's still time for Painted Ladies, Mike.

Keep perservering!

[Goldie M]

Just Catching up on Postings Mike, I saw a Painted lady, much to my surprise a Arnside Knot, it was in very good condition about a week a go, so still time for that one like David said.

I think your Photo's are great, I've not got has many species has you though this year, I'm still on the hunt for a clouded Yellow has you know Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Thank you David and Goldie MM. Perhaps, if the rain clears, I shall get my chance!

I still miss the easy access to the Northern species from when I was in Lancashire, Goldie - the M6 is a real 'off-put' from here.

Mike

[David M]

Perhaps, if the rain clears...

Good luck with that one!

[Wurzel]

When I read your posting when you looked back over the year I initially thought "bit previous Mike", but then this bad weather hit and will be with us for some time so I was wondering what Shamanic powers you have Mike If it clears you could still pick up a late Painted Lady - I got one at the end of October in the New Forest last year - good luck in your next endeavour

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MikeOxon]

I was wondering what Shamanic powers you have Mike

I was struck, on my last visit to Otmoor, by how autumnal the vegetation was looking. It seems as though, having started early, the plants have decided they've done enough! In addition, in previous years, I have always associated the appearance of Silver-spotted Skippers as marking the end of the mainstream season, and they were around locally in early July.

I'm sure there will be plenty of butterflies around for a while yet, as I mentioned I my post, but I'm not expecting to see more species, unless I strike lucky with a Painted Lady

Mike

[Pauline]

I love the way you've presented your summary Mike. I was looking to do something similar but haven't a clue how. It seems that you might have actually photographed 39?

[MikeOxon]

I love the way you've presented your summary Mike. I was looking to do something similar but haven't a clue how. It seems that you might have actually photographed 39?

Thank you Pauline. If you look closely, you'll see that the Clouded Yellow photo was taken last year, but I included it because it represented exactly how I saw one this year- flitting rapidly across the grass from flower to flower. In addition, I wanted a number of species divisible by three, to fit my format!

I make these selections using the brilliant Irfan View program, which I have recommended on several occasions.

WARNING - However, another member has advised me that when she downloaded it recently, her computer became infected with the Trojan program 'Blasteroids' , so at present, I cannot recommend downloading it.


Mike