Pauline

[Wurzel]

Fascinating moult and emergence sequences Pauline Your DGFs are mighty fine in my book I reckon you could try for them in the evening when they come in too roost, try finding a site like Martin Down where the Knapweed they use grows as tall as the grass?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Jack Harrison]

Pauline.

I am told in personal e-mails from someone who knows you that you are passionate about all animals and in our ukb context, breeding butterflies.

I am aware of course that Pete Eeles is shortly to publish a book about the life cycles of British butterflies. But you seem to have considerable expertise in rearing them. Maybe it’s worth thinking of writing a complementary book about home rearing techniques. My own skills are limited to easy species such as Orange Tip but I would love to learn how the experts breed, for example, Purple Hairstreaks.

Despite my penchant for juvenile humour, for once I am being serious.

Jack

[Goldie M]

Some great shots and sequences lately Pauline, you've certainly got the patience and no how Goldie

[Pauline]

Cheers Wurzel - thank you for the compliments. I THINK the DGF at this site roost in the trees. Do they roost low down elsewhere?

Jack, I'm massively flattered but honestly, with the butterfly rearing I am just a novice. I have made a couple of mistakes and many will recall I attracted a certain amount of criticism (unfairly in my opinion) when my WLH emerged early. I am learning. Your source is quite correct and I am in the process of writing a book about foxes having kept them for 10-12 years. I can't let the opportunity pass to show you a couple of shots of these delightful, amazing creatures which are so mis-understood:

Just right place right time Goldie. Lovely to see you posting again.

The Straits, Alice Holt used to be an amazing place for butterflies. I keep hearing that the numbers of SWF and WA are building. Perhaps they are but it depends where your baseline is. It seems the days are long gone when there were dozens of SWF on every patch of bramble and thistle head and WA everywhere. I remember MO calling me over to look at the spectacle which included a mating pair of SWF. A visit today revealed a very few SWF and I left with a feeling of disappointment, despite the number of 'Black Admirals' seen here.

I have never been to Chiddingfold Forest late afternoon or early evening but that was where I headed later. Several enthusiasts were still about and told me that they had seen 5/6 PE but they had been there all day and covered a lot of ground. I only saw 2, possibly 3 PE but as on my previous visit they were very skittish so no great shots - almost a repeat of before:

Good on ya Katrina for getting such cracking shots from this venue.

[MrSp0ck]

"Pauline" I THINK the DGF at this site roost in the trees. Do they roost low down elsewhere?

I have found DGFs roosting amongst Common Blues head down on long grass stems, at Hutchinsons Bank.

[David M]

There's always a plethora of different themes running through your diary. Pauline. You know that I love to see your domestic pets but even they take a back seat to that puss moth larva sequence - absolutely fascinating.

[Jack Harrison]

You say:

butterfly rearing I am just a novice. I have made a couple of mistakes and many will recall I attracted a certain amount of criticism (unfairly in my opinion) when my WLH emerged early. I am learning. Your source is quite correct and I am in the process of writing a book about foxes having kept them for 10-12 years.

Well there you are Pauline – perfectly qualified. Already writing about foxes (presumably under the nom-de-plume “Foxy Lady”) so you’re obviously happy as an author. Your butterfly breeding experiences, including the failures, are exactly what I for one want to read about. I hadn’t heard about the too-early WLH but that is a common problem with captive rearing: it’s why I use the fridge to overwinter as it keeps them dormant until the appropriate time.

So do think about it. You can be assured of at least one sale

Jack

[Wurzel]

Still cracking shots even if they were a bit skittish Pauline - I've still to find His Nibbs - he's been a bit slow off the mark this year
The sites round here that I know of for DGFs are pretty much grasslands so they roost down in the sea of grasses although I don't know about Bentley - I guess that they find the nearest and most 'secure' place?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Cheers Martin - another example of butterflies behaving differently at different sites.

Cheers Wurzel I have been wondering how the PE has been doing at Bentley. Guess I'll find out around September

Perhaps a project for the future Jack when life is a little less hectic as I do need a few hours sleep each night I do like the nom-de-plume of Foxy Lady though - Perhaps you should refer to me as that from now on

Your views and comments are always appreciated David.

It was good to see Gatekeepers today among the Meadow Brown and Ringlets, one of which was quite accommodating:

[Pauline]

Just as an aside - my adapter and camera seem to have parted company due to a problem with the thread. Does anyone know where I can source an adapter for a close-up lens for my lumix FZ38.The part number I believe is DMW-LA3 but I believe these have now been discontinued?

[Jack Harrison]

The Panasonic adapter is an expensive piece of kit for attaching a filter or close-up lens. You don't really need that adapter.

The filter thread is 52 millimeters and it is easy to simply screw in a supplementary lens or filter lens of that size.

You are in effect giving the camera the equivalent of reading spectacles.

Ideally a close-up lens should be an “achromatic”, ie made of two pieces of glass cleverly designed to deal with different wavelengths of light. It might be difficult to source an achromatic (and in any case, they aren’t cheap) but almost as good results can be had from a simple single element lens. (plano). Unfortunately, these are usually sold in sets of three or four of different strengths. For example for around £10

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Polaroid-Optic ... I0194?th=1

The +4 and especially the +10 are next to useless (too much distortion) but come with the package. However, the +10 makes a useful hand held magnifying glass.

Your existing lens (that you use with the adaptor) is probably a +2 achromatic (+2 is also known as a 500 D – slightly technical way of stating the focal length). It might be possible to fit that lens directly to the camera but I don’t know. Although I have owned some of the Panasonic FZ range, I have never used or handled the official expensive adapter so don’t know the design details.

Jack

[Pauline]

Thank you so much Jack for those helpful suggestions. I did eventually manage to find the exact same item in America for 8 dollars - but they don't ship to the UK. I found several others in America who do ship to the UK at a cost of 85 dollars. I kept looking and found someone in the UK who claims to do a compatible item for a tenner so I thought I'd start with that and see how it goes.

Still thinking about the dreadful lack of SWF and WA in the Straits, I realised that this is the first year for many years that I have had neither in the garden. The Skippers seem to be doing well though and I watched this one egg-laying yesterday - the Small variaety:

The eggs are quite different to those of the Essex as can be seen in this shot from a couple of years ago:

I know I say this each and every time I post a shot of these eggs but I am not going to apologise for repeating myself. If you ARE tempted to check out the eggs, please, please be ever so careful - these eggs are not fixed with anything, they roll about and it is just so easy to lose them.

[Jack Harrison]

One point about supplementary close up lenses. Don't be put off if the blurb says "For Nikon, Canon" or whatever. The model of camera makes no difference to how "close up specs" work but make sure you have the correct 52 mms thread.

In practice, the +2 (diopters) is probably the most suitable for butterflies. With that, you would be working at a distance of 50 centimetres and perhaps (depends on camera's auto focus) down to about 35 cms. It wouldn't focus beyond 50 cms. However, a +1 would give you an operating range between about 65 cms and 100 cms. Of course at greater distance, the subject would fill up a smaller part of the frame.

Jack

[Wurzel]

Interesting shots Pauline They do look different from each other, the Essex look more like Tic-Tacs than the Smalls my eyes

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pauline]

Hi Jack

I'd like to say that I'll bear that in mind but I am in no way 'technical' and will probably have forgotten it by tomorrow. Instead, if I have a camera (technical) problem I'll just come to you direct, if that's OK?

They're very different Wurzel but I had never thought of tic-tacs

Today I found myself surrounded by White butterflies. Because this is both unusual (at least this season) and because I have neglected them for the past couple of years, I thought I'd better take some shots. There were GVW, Small White, Marbled White and Large White. I never managed to catch up with the latter but here are a few shots of the others. Literally just snapshots with not much thought to composition and still depth of field issues tho' I pushed the F number up as high as poss. (that's right, isn't it?):

[Goldie M]

Hi! Pauline, I love your Marbled Whites, I think they make a great photo taken from any angle, it's good to see the Gate Keepers too they don't seem to have arrived here yet and I don't think the Ringlets are this side of the River Ribble
Any way hope fully I'll be coming south shortly so I hope the MW are still around Goldie

[Jack Harrison]

I'd like to say that I'll bear that in mind but I am in no way 'technical' and will probably have forgotten it by tomorrow. Instead, if I have a camera (technical) problem I'll just come to you direct, if that's OK?

MikeOxon is much more technical.

Jack

[David M]

Fascinating Skipper sequence, Pauline. Sorry to hear of the paucity of SWFs and WAs, although those are nice 'Whites' in your last post (even though one is a 'brown').

[Pauline]

Now don't go getting all pedantic on me David Am I not allowed a little poetic licence?

[Wurzel]

Lovely sequence Pauline The second brood Whites are generally much more approachable I don't know about you but I'm finding the Browns much harder work this year - they are really twitchy and zoom off after the slightest movement

Have a goodun

Wurzel