Neil Freeman

[David M]

Great images, Neil.

Just goes to show that inclement conditions can sometimes be advantageous (particularly regarding photography).

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks all for the great comments, very much appreciated

Nick, no eggs on my garlic mustard yet, I keep looking, maybe soon. Mind you I have Brimstone eggs on Alder Blackthorn to keep an eye on

Pauline, I have given up chasing butterflies, they are far more agile than I am These days I try and anticipate where they may settle and lurk in wait

Wurzel I feel for you with the garden, even though I didn't go anywhere today I still managed to get my butterfly 'fix' in short bursts.

David, you are quite right, I went out on Bank Holiday Monday in near perfect weather and although seeing loads of butterflies only took 30 odd photos. This afternoon I took 120+ in a few short spells in the garden.

The weekend is looking like a proper mixture of showers and sunny spells, thinking I may go out looking for some more Grizzled and maybe Dingy Skippers and possibly Green Hairstreaks.

Bye for now.

[Pete Eeles]

Just to add to everyone else's comments - superb images Neil!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks Pete, much appreciated

Saturday 11th May

Well, the sunshine and showers forecast for today turned out to be showers of rain with some hail thrown in and a few short bits of sun, all against a backdrop of a blustery wind.

Even so I ventured forth on a bit of a circle around starting off by heading down the M40 for the 45 minute drive to Bishops Hill. Arriving there just as the heavens opened, I decided to carry straight on to Harbury, in which direction the clouds looked a lighter grey.
Pulling into the layby at Harbury 10 minutes later, the cloud had thinned a bit and the sun popped out and I immediatly saw an Orange Tip as I got out of the car.

Within 10 minutes or so I had found what I was looking for, a Grizzled Skipper buzzing about in a sheltered corner.

Grizzled Skipper - Harbury 11.05.2013

I watched this one individual for a few minutes until it landed on a seed head where it stayed for a while bobbing about in the breeze like it was on a spring. It stayed there for a good 15 minutes while the sun went in and out a few times and I took loads of photos trying to catch it during brief halts in the wind.

Grizzled Skipper - Harbury 11.05.2013

Grizzled Skipper - Harbury 11.05.2013

Grizzled Skipper - Harbury 11.05.2013

After about half an hour or so it clouded over again and started raining so I decided to carry on to Ryton but on arriving there the rain had set in properly and the sky showed no sign of any brightness heading over so I headed home.

No luck with any Dingy Skippers or Green Hairstreaks today, I believe that both species have been reported in Warwickshire over the past few days but I will wait for better weather before having another look.

Bye for now.

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Lovely shots of Grizzlies Neil , I think they're a great species! What was the temperature like when they were flying? I'm hoping to get out tomorrow at some point but it's forecast to just scrape into double figures?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel,

It was cool and blustery to be honest, no idea of the exact temperature, it seemed to jump a couple of degrees when the sun popped out albeit that wasn't for long. I only saw the one Grizzly today and it wasn't keen on flying far, happily for me as it gave me a good photo opportunity, when it stopped bobbing in the wind for a bit that is

Cheers,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Monday 13th May

It has been decidely nippy the past couple of days with rain most of yesterday afternoon and some hefty showers today, mind you I was stuck in the office all day today so I didn't see much of it anyway.

Nothing lifts the spirits however like getting in from work and finding a pair of Orange Tips settled in for the night on the Garlic Mustard in the garden

Orange Tip male - Coverdale 13.05.2013

Orange Tip female - Coverdale 13.05.2013

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Pauline]

Great shots Neil. Don't know how much more of this orange torment I can take - they seem to be everywhere apart from where I am

[ChrisC]

Great shots Neil. Don't know how much more of this orange torment I can take - they seem to be everywhere apart from where I am

oh you're not alone Pauline. i'm orangeless too. but green with envy of flowering garlic mustard let alone the butterflies on them.

[Wurzel]

Cracking shots Neil I too don't mind the rotten weather - so long as it happens while I'm at work . I just hope the weekend will be alright but it's not looking good

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the comments all, much appreciated as always

Pauline, I am jealous of your Duke of Burgundy and Green Hairstreak photos, I suppose the grass is always greener......

Chris, my garlic mustard is a good three weeks later flowering than last year and there is much less of it.

Wurzel, you and me both. The weather for the weekend looks a little warmer but still showery and not much sun. Lets wait and see, every update on the met office site and it changes.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Wednesday 15th May

Mid-week and work and family 'stuff' has taken up all my time as usual. The weather has been pretty grotty but at least we missed out on the snow that they had a bit further north in Shropshire Its all leading to loads of comments on the local TV about the snow in June 1975 that famously stopped a cricket match in Derbyshire.

I checked the garden earlier to see if the two Orange Tips were still there from the other day. The male had moved on sometime in the past two days but the female was still there. It appears that females like it a bit warmer than males before they will move, hmm, seem a bit familiar that does

I took a few more photos and went in for a bit. A little later the sun appeared for a while so I went back out to try and get an open wing shot but she had beaten me to it and carried on her way.

Orange Tip female - Coverdale 15.03.2013

Orange Tip female - Coverdale 15.03.2013

I have been trying different settings and working distances both with and without the close up lens fitted to my lumix. Most of my recent photos, including the two above, have been taken without the lens fitted and from further back from the subject. I am finding that I prefer the results this way with the FZ150, the zoom especially is smoother to use and seems better stabilized.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Thursday 16th May.

For a couple of hours late this afternoon, from about 5.30pm, the clouds rolled back and it was glorious with the sun actually feeling warm on the back of my head as I took the opportunity to potter about a bit in the garden
I was soon treated to a couple each of Green-veined and Small Whites that seemed to be still warming up and landed frequently.

Green-veined White - Coverdale 16.05.2013

Green-veined White - Coverdale 16.05.2013

Small White - Coverdale 16.05.2013

Small White - Coverdale 16.05.2013

As I was taking photos of the Small White above, a flash of Orange alerted me to a Comma that landed and basked for a while before nectaring on Forget-me-not.

Comma - Coverdale 16.05.2013

Comma - Coverdale 16.05.2013

At around 7.00pm the sun was getting lower and the shadows were lengthening in the garden when I noticed a couple of whites fluttering about a variegated Weigela shrub. They both landed on this shrub and shortly after were joined by another. A close look showed them to be two GV Whites and a Small White that appeared to be settling in for the night.
Checking a little later after the sun had gone down all three were still there tucked up for the night.

Whites settled on Weigela

Small White on Weigela

Green-veined White on Weigela

Second Green-veined White on Weigela

I have noticed before that whites seem to be attracted to this shrub and often settle on it but this is the first time that I have seen three on it together. In previous years it would have flowered by now but like most things in the garden it is a good three or four weeks late this year.
Other butterflies seen were Speckled Wood, Holly Blue and Orange Tip.
Although the HB and OT were both seen a number of times I believe that it was the same one or two individuals that kept coming around on their patrol routes.

All in all a cracking hour or so that helped to lift the spirits after another long day at work

Bye for now,

Neil.

[David M]

Some lovely images of a much under-rated butterfly there, Neil.

[Wurzel]

Some lush photos Neil , the yellow on the under wing is lush. I am coming round to the subtle beauty of the whites

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Thanks for the comments David and Wurzel

I have mentioned before that Green-veined Whites are one of my favourites, there is just something about their delicate beauty.

Friday 17th May

I finished work at noon today and as it had been a cool and cloudy morning I figured that the three whites would still be on the Weigela in my back garden. I went out to check and sure enough they were still there. Around 1.00 the sun made a few half hearted attempts to break through the cloud and this proved just enough to stir the whites into movement.
First to take off were the two Green-veined Whites, one of which fluttered feebly over to a patch of Spanish Bluebells and spent about 15 minutes settling on various ones which gave me a few good photo opportunities.

Green-veined White - Coverdale 17.05.2013

Green-veined White - Coverdale 17.05.2013

Green-veined White - Coverdale 17.05.2013

As well as the blue and white flowers there are some mauve ones in this patch and I was hoping that it would settle on one of these as well to give another attractive colour combination but alas it was not to be as he must have decided that he was warm enough and carried on down the garden and over next door.

By this time the Small White had also warmed up and departed.

For the next 30 minutes or so there were a few weak sunny spells during which a couple of Orange Tips passed through including a nice fresh looking female.

Orange Tip female - Coverdale 17.05.2013

There were also two Speckled Wood males doing their usual thing of intercepting each other whenever they strayed into each others airspace.

Speckled Wood male - Coverdale 17.05.2013

Speckled Wood male - Coverdale 17.05.2013

The sun then gave up its feeble attempts and for the rest of the afternoon it was wall to wall grey clouds so I went out and did a few Friday afternoon errands.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Saturday 18th May

Yesterday (Saturday) was the Warwickshire BC open day at Ryton Wood Meadows. Due to some family 'stuff' I did not think I would be able to make it but in the end I managed to get over for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
The weather had been cool and cloudy all day and not much had been seen, some Brimstone and Orange Tip eggs and a single Peacock was the only butterfly 'action' along with a few moths seen before I arrived.
After having a chat and doing a bit of catching up I decided to walk through the woods and look at the Bluebells which had only just started coming into their best.

Ryton Wood - 18.05.2013

Ryton Wood - 18.05.2013

Sods Law being what it is, today (Sunday) turned out much better so I decided at the last minute to pop back over to Ryton this afternoon. Loads of photos to sort through from today both from the garden in the morning and Ryton in the afternoon.

Bye for now,

Neil.

[Neil Freeman]

Sunday 19th May, Part 1 - Morning.

After the cool and cloudy day on Saturday as described in the previous post, Sunday morning was entirely different with clear blue sky and some proper warmth in the sun.

Making a coffee in the kitchen at about 10.00am I looked out of the window and saw a Holly Blue pass by. Taking my coffee to sit outside I soon saw a procession of butterflies including Orange Tips, Large, Small and Green-veined Whites and Speckled Woods.

Walking down the garden to the nettle patch at the end produced a female Comma flitting about amongst the nettles which gave me a total of seven species all before 11.00am

Orange Tip female - 19.05.2013

Speckled Wood male - 19.05.2013

Speckled Wood male - 19.05.2013

Comma female - 19.05.2013

At one point the male and female Orange Tips below were on separate garlic mustard flower heads just a couple of feet apart.

Orange Tip female - 19.05.2013

Orange Tip male 19.05.2013

The male then spotted the female and flew over to her to try his charms which she rapidly rejected. I took a few quick photos and was pleased when I captured the shots below

Orange Tips in action

Aww, come on then....

Gerroff, leave me alone....

With the morning getting warmer and the butterflies getting more flighty, I went back in to get on with my domestic duties before I suffered the same fate as the male Orange Tip

Bye for now,

Neil.

[David M]

Great, clear images of a moving subject, Neil.

How were you able to capture photographs of such clarity?

[Wurzel]

Cracking behaviour sequence Neil I hope that you earned enough brownie points in the garden to keep you out of the doghouse

Have a goodun

Wurzel