www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Your shots are stunning Mike, I love the Heron with the fish and your Dragon Fly. I was at Penn Flash last week and watched a Heron fishing but he didn't catch anything , I love action shots like that, I managed a shot of a Dragon Fly in Flight but certainly not as near as yours or as good as yours:D Goldie

Thank you, Goldie. You know how to do it. A great thing about digital is that it costs nothing to experiment, so keep practising

I have been popping in to view your diary and super pictures.

Malewarebytes is a good free programme to use for computer bugs - always restart computer after removal.

Thanks for looking in, Debbie and I'm pleased you like the photos

I agree that 'Malwarebytes' can do a good job. It's such a pity that previously reputable download sites now try to trick you into downloading unwanted advertising software, just to make a fast buck! Some of these programs can be rather difficult to remove. I have found that the 'Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10' can be very effective against these. It runs from a CD or USB stick and has its own operating system (Linux), so that Windows is never started when it works. This enables it to find things that hide themselves quite deeply inside the Windows OS.

Mike

Hi! Mike I may be over cautious, I've got both on my Computer, I'd so much trouble in the past with bugs. I get them to check every where once a week and so far so good Goldie

Better safe than sorry, Goldie

Yesterday (30th September), I visited the Oxford University Arboretum at Nuneham Courtenay.
I find this a delightful place at all times of year, with splendid specimen trees and flowering shrubs, but especially so in Autumn, when the 'Acer Walk' turns to a blaze of red.
The only butterfly i saw was a Red Admiral, enjoying the small white flowers of a Strawberry Tree. It was quite high in the tree against a bright blue sky and my photo was not very good so I decided to apply the 'Dynamic Auto Painter' software (from http://mediachance.com/dap/index.html ), to create the following:
Rather better than I could manage with a paint brush

Mike

Yesterday (2nd October), I made my annual pilgrimage to Waterperry Gardens, Oxon, to see the magnificent herbaceous border.
Unfortunately, unlike previous years, when the border has been 'swarming' with Vanessids, there were, initially, no butterflies to be seen at all! I thought I was going to have to content myself with this plant - Gaura lindheimeri 'Whirling Butterflies'
Then, as the warm sun continued through the afternoon, I encountered my first Small Tortoishell, not on the profusely flowering borders but in the small rock garden:
A little later, on the horticultural beds, I spotted a Peacock, so things were definitely looking up
I decided it was time to attach my 1 dioptre close-up lens and took the following, to demonstrate that the Lumix can do differential focus:
Next up was another Small Tortoiseshell, though i didn't recognise it at first sighting, as it was unusually tiny - more like a Large Skipper at a glance!
Returning to the main herbaceous border, a lone Red Admiral was taking advantage of the nectar bounty:
And then, at around 4pm, Whites suddenly started to appear. I missed photographing a Green-veined White, which appeared close by, while I was concentrating on the Admiral but, shortly afterwards, I caught this Small White. I noticed that the whites were favouring the white flowers as though they knew they were better camouflaged on these!
In the end, then a satisfying visit,though by no means the great Autumn butterfly-fest that I have experienced in previous years. In particular, I saw no Commas.

A parting shot of the amazing border above a group of Naked Ladies (Colchicums)
With temperatures now set to fall, this may have been the last chance for a mass showing. Perhaps there is still a chance for some late migrants to appear.

Mike

...1 dioptre close-up lens...

Mike. Is that a simply plano or did you mange to source a 1 dioptre achromatic? I have a +2 achromat but have been unable to find a +1 achromat only a plano which (despite your photo) can never be quite as good.

Jack

Gorgeous colours in your last couple of postings Mike - both plants and butterflies. I am always interested to see the camera settings you have used to achieve various effects.

Hi Jack - It's from a Hoya set of three. I think it's a simple meniscus, which seems OK at +1, though not for anything stronger.

I find that +1 is the most useful in the field. Higher powers become very critical on focus and are prone to introduce more aberrations (not in the butterflies, before you comment!!!)

Glad you like the colours, Pauline. I should have mentioned that I used quite a lot of exposure 'correction' for some of the shots. -1EV for the white flowers and butterflies, for example. I found the Lumix to be excellent on this visit - versatile for a very wide range of shots, with no lens changes, and so light compared with my DSLR. Although most of the shots shown here were taken at f/4, I was actually varying the aperture quite a lot, to optimise depth of field in particular shots.

Because the butterflies were rather sparse, they needed tracking down and I became totally absorbed in the chase - the afternoon flew by

Mike

I will dig out my +1 plano (meniscus) and make some direct comparisons with my +2 (nominal - actually measured at +1.75) achromatic.

For those who don't understand these terms (you can ignore this bit Mike as of course you DO understand!), different wavelengths of light refract by different degrees. A simple lens ignores this and usually the results are adequate for many purposes (eg spectacles lenses). An achromatic is made from two pieces of glass of different refractive indexes cemented together so that refractive errors are cancelled out. The achromatic lens was first used by astronomers with large refracting telescopes but was complex and costly; that was one reason why reflecting telescopes were developed as they do not suffer from chromatic aberration.

Out of interest, at one time my spectacle prescription just happened to be +1.75 in one eye and of course, the lens was a simple plano. By looking through my +1.75 (camera) achromatic I had a marginally but discernibly sharper image. Seemingly, achromatic lenses are not available for spectacles.

Jack

Hi! Mike, I love your photo's, the Autumn ones are lovely and the Butterflies unreal I don't know much yet about Photography, But trial and error gives experience so I'll battle on Goldie

Jack Harrison wrote:I will dig out my +1 plano (meniscus) and make some direct comparisons with my +2 (nominal - actually measured at +1.75) achromatic.

I'll be interested to see your results.

Goldie M wrote:.....trial and error gives experience so I'll battle on Goldie

Thank you again, Goldie. You know how to take good pictures, so keep experimenting! Digital cameras are great for this, since they record all the exposure data and you can see what works (or doesn't!)

Mike.

Absolutely cracking final shot of the Red Admiral - it's in my collection of "shots I wish I'd taken"

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you, Wurzel. The RA was very mobile and, just after my shot, it flew up into the trees and disappeared, so I was lucky

Hi Mike,
I have just been catching up with some of your fantastic photos. I am particularly interested in that Heron picture. I have seen them spear large fish before and leave them on the bank if they are unable to swallow.
It might even be a large Rudd ? (very similar to a large Roach) as the fins are a very deep red making me think that unless of course, that's blood?
I think it has been a good end of summer & September for Herons generally because they are wading birds and it's been quite dry leaving low water levels in some ponds and lakes. I never feel sorry for them as they always have a fresh supply of goldfish to fall back on as people tend not to build their goldfish ponds 1 metre deep or more for safety reasons leaving Herons with a big
Superb butterfly shots. You have clearly had some very memorable experiences and good days out this last month or so,
Thanks for sharing,
Philip

Thank you for looking in, Philip. I think you're probably correct about the fish, since others have also suggested to me that it was a Rudd. I took lots of photos at the time and here is one that shows more of the fish with a very happy-looking Heron!
It has now turned much colder locally, so butterflies are getting few and far between. I saw a Small Tortoiseshell yesterday battering itself against the windows inside the beautiful church of St John at Wickhamford (near Evesham). It was a dilemma whether to let it risk damaging itself or to take it outside in the sunshine. In the end, I took it out and hope that it found another roost before evening.

Apart from that, the only other butterflies I have seen in the past few days were set specimens in cases, at the AES show at Kempton Park. As always, there were lots of youngsters there and I do hope that they gain a wider interest in the natural world, apart from just collecting dead specimens.

One more photo from Waterperry Gardens, last Thursday, of a Small Tortoiseshell that I feel would make a nice painting:
Mike

Mike:

I feel would make a nice painting

I though you might do this (or similar) Mike. (Click on thumb for full size).
Jack

Thanks Jack. I recognise a DAP pic when I see one! for those who don't know 'Dynamic Auto Painter', mentioned earlier in my diary - Oct 1st)

Actually, I'd already had a go with the 'Aquarelle' theme but I think it needs a real artist
It was a good full moon this evening - hope others enjoyed it!
Mike