www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Alrightee then... shall we give the separate species threads a go? I propose...

A separate thread for your favourite photo(s) of 2011 for each of the 58 UK species.
Three new threads per week (as suggested by dilettante) to space it out through the winter season.
Placed in the Species Forum (as suggested by Susie, and seconded by Mike Oxon).
In alphabetical order (seems as good an order as any... unless anyone has a better idea...).
Observations, stories and details about the whens, wheres and hows also all very welcome.

I'll set the ball rolling....

The best mechanism for this is not to have a separate thread per se, but a different subforum - one per species. So I've just created subfora for Adonis Blue, Black Hairstreak and Brimstone, and moved your posts. Let me know what you think. My thinking is that this will keep species-specific items with the same species!

EDIT: In fact, I've actioned something I've been meaning to do for some time. The original "Species" forum (under the "General Forums" category) has been promoted to become a category in its own right, with species-specific fora underneath it. I'll complete the species list when I get a mo!

EDIT: And all of the original posts under the "Species" forum are now in the "General" subforum of the Species-Specific Forums category. Unless anyone complains, I'll move species-specific items to the relevant subforum, once they're in place. It will then be easier to find all of the items relevant to a particular species (that had been placed in the original forum).

Cheers,

- Pete

Pete Eeles wrote:EDIT: And all of the original posts under the "Species" forum are now in the "General" subforum of the Species-Specific Forums category.

Pete,

When I click on 'General' in the Species-Specific Forums I'm told that:
"You do not have the required permissions to read topics within this forum."



Paul

That all seems like a great idea Pete.

At the moment I can't access the 'General' topic in the Species section sub-fora either... though I assume this is just part of the teething troubles that also seem to have duplicated the three species-specific threads I made... and rendered viewing and posting in (one version of) them impossible.

I'm sure it'll all be sorted the next time I have a chance to log on...

Access to the "General" forum should be OK now. Please let me know if not!

Cheers,

- Pete

We have now opened seperate topics on all the British species (except for Cryptic Wood White) and this a further opportunity to select one or two of you favourites from your personal collections from last season.

Vince

This has been a splendid activity for the winter months and I hope will be repeated in future years. Congratulations to ChrisC for starting this thread and to Vince, Celery and everyone else who maintained it. Now, what do we do until the Brimstones appear!

Mike

Go Birding Mike - I saw Long Tailed Duck, Great Northern Diver, 2 Razorbills and Avocets to add to my year list today - but I did dip on Spotted Sandpiper Oh well I'll be back there on Wednesday here's hoping it turns up again!

I do agree this has been great at keeping the blues away - perhaps next year we could start a month later so we end just as the spring is starting? Big thanks to Chris C, Celery and Vince (and anyone else who's name I forgot to mention).

Perhaps we could also have a "worst" or "least favourite photo" section just for a laugh?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

The Favourite Photo Topics have been a great success and we will definitely be doing the same thing for 2012. Credit for the initial ideas and organisation is owed to a number of individuals who have already been mentioned (except for dilettante, who got missed off the list, so I am putting that right ).

In all the excitement I forgot to choose my own favourite for the year. I ended up with two images, both of which are favourites for different reasons. The first falls into the "Lucky Shot" category. It was my first Small Heath of the season on Easter Sunday at my local site. I watched it land on a Dandelion head and saw the potential for an interesting and rare shot. I only got one...........................
The second category is "I went for the arty shot and it actually came out the way I wanted.........but still a bit lucky". I had a bit of time to set this one up and had a chance to try a few different settings before the butterfly flew off.
Happy days indeed

Vince

Wurzel, i wouldn't be able to choose a worst out of all the bad ones i have

Wurzel wrote:Go Birding Mike

Thanks Wurzel - I'm off to North Norfolk next weekend!

Re: worst photo - it's too horrible to contemplate. I can offer countless plant stalks, where there was a butterfly just before I pressed the shutter. I also have a Silver-washed Frit in the jaws of an Emperor Dragonfly, which might not be a favourite on this site.

Mike

Very, very hard to choose a single favourite.
But I do like this one, which probably looks as it does due to an accident.
Hadn't noticed my hand had nudged the white balance button on to 'flash'.
Sure makes the grass an interesting background.

True Chris - even with the very worst deleted before I even plug the camera into the laptop there would still plenty to choose from for that category

Actually Mike that photo of the Silver Washed sounds like a cracker and I wouldn't mind having a look - good luck in Norfolk!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Wurzel wrote:I wouldn't mind having a look

As requested:
Alas, I cannot claim that no butterfly was harmed during the taking of this photo. It is actually on my website, on the 'Dragonflies' pages.

Definitely not a favourite butterfly photo!

Of my 2011 photos, my favourite was the open-winged shot of the Brimstones (in the appropriate thread), which I never thought I would see.

Mike

That's nature for you. Don't be too downcast. These things happen.

My favourite 2011 photo of a butterfly on the British list (though not photographed in Britain, obviously, as it is currently extinct there...) is this:


(27th June, Switzerland)

It's a strikingly beautiful form I've never seen before and I was very lucky that it permitted such close approach.

Guy

Awesome shot, Guy.

That is a cracker of a shot Mike and definitely my least favourite of the year!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

David M wrote:Don't be too downcast.

Thank you David for your concern. I think that I am reasonably realistic about these things. I remember a warden at Old Winchester Hill telling me that one year they were extremely pleased to have a good emergence of Adonis Blues ..... and then a flock of rather rare migrant birds (I forget which) arrived and scoffed the lot! As the guy said, these are the dilemmas of nature conservation.

Mike

Best not to interfere too much with nature. Spiders, dragonflies and birds need sustenance too!

I admit that I'll rescue the odd butterfly if I see it mortally imperilled, but I have no objection to images of predation being posted. It's all part of the machinations of life.