www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Although I have been contributing to the forums for a while, I have not previously started a personal diary, mainly because I have my own website and this seemed enough. I'm finding now that posting yet more photos of well-known butterflies has a declining appeal and so I have decided to try the diary format, to see how a new 'butterfly year' pans out.

I always find this time of year amazing - one moment it's Winter - cold, gloomy, damp days and early nights - and then, seemingly so suddenly, the evenings are lighter and the sun appears again. Of course, there is still plenty of time for spells of really cold weather but, nevertheless, the mood is definitely upbeat!

Last year, I was fortunate to see and photograph, in early March, five species at one of my local reserves - Dry Sandford Pit, near the village of Cothill between Oxford and Abingdon. It is one of a small cluster of reserves, which share an unusual alkaline fen habitat that produces a range of interesting flora and fauna. See http://www.bbowt.org.uk/reserves/dry-sandford-pit for more info.
So, with the onset of warm, sunny weather, I made my first trip of the year to Dry Sandford this afternoon (9th March). At first, it seemed very quiet and I scanned the warm-coloured sandstone quarry face in vain but, early in the afternoon, a coolish breeze dropped and suddenly, there were Peacocks ad Brimstones basking on the warm stones or patrolling the length of the low cliff.
I walked to a small patch of Primroses that were providing nectar for several visiting Brimstones.
One Brimstone seemed to be having trouble with its proboscis and settled on a leaf for some time, cleaning it. Suddenly, all was well again and it took off in an instant to resume its search for females - of which I saw none at the Pit, although there were some in my garden this morning.
Returning to the cliff, there was now much more aerial activity with, at one time, a foursome of Commas and Peacocks sparring in the air, before going their separate ways to bask on the rocks.
Then, at last, I found a Small Tortoiseshell, which seemed to prefer the more vegetated parts of the cliff face and was far more difficult to spot, when it landed, than the other Vanessids, which liked bare sandstone.
The bright sun on the rock made exposure difficult, so I was using spot metering for many of my shots, I find that most species are very easily disturbed at this time of year, so I used a telephoto lens rather than attempting to get close enough for macro shots. In fact, I find that my Nikon 300mm f/4 lens, with a 1.4X converter attached, provides remarkably good detail, even when the photos are cropped to show details (as in the Brimstone proboscis example)

Only four species this year (missing Red Admiral cf.2013) but still a very satisfying start to the year

Mike

That Brimstone feeding on Primrose is lovely Mike - a real spring shot, one that I would love to get

Lovely close-up of the Brimstone Mike. Looking forward to seeing many more of your splendid photos.

Thank you for commenting, William and Pauline. I must try experimenting a bit more with my photography and also explore the earlier stages of the life-cycle.

Mike

Great start to your diary Mike with some lovely photos

Looking forward to see what you post as the season progresses.

Neil.

Glad to see you've taken the plunge and started a PD
Looking forward to seeing some more posts.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you for your kind remarks, nfreem and Wurzel.

It's been a beautiful sunny weekend in Oxon so, yesterday afternoon (Saturday 15th), I decided to take a walk on Otmoor, just North of Oxford.

Otmoor is a fascinating place - an unexpected wetland in the heart of Oxfordshire. It was drained in the early 19th century and became a patchwork of fields that are supposed to have inspired the chess-board in 'Alice Through the Looking Glass'. More recently, this idea inspired opponents to the M40 motorway, which was planned to cut across the moor. A field (called Alice's Meadow) was bought and sold off in small lots, to create a huge complex of compensation claims that would all have to be considered individually! In the end, the M40 was re-routed and Otmoor was saved; a large part of it is now an RSPB reserve and the large reed-beds have returned.
Unfortunately, yesterday, there was a cool wind blowing across the moor, which was sufficient to suppress the butterflies. I only saw a single Peacock, which was flying low in the shelter of one of the drainage channels. On the other hand, I heard the evocative call of a Curlew and managed to get a photo as it flew past:
Although the butterflies were lying low, a Chiffchaff was loudly announcing the arrival of Spring from a branch over the Roman Road that cuts across the moor.
Today, Sunday, I stayed at home, enjoying sunshine in the garden. Several Brimstones passed through, including a pair (M&F) circling around each other, though they didn't stop in my garden. There were also several Peacocks passing through but none paused for their portrait!

Mike

Great shot of the curlew, Mike. Nice image too of the Chiffchaff. We heard this bird's call whilst doing scrub management at Alun Valley in Glamorgan on Sunday, but none of us could locate the bird itself.

I'm pleased you like the shots, David M.

My 300f4 lens has a focus range switch, which allows selection of either the full range (down to 1.4m) or just the distant range (>3m), where the AF is much faster. When I am hoping for butterflies, I set the full range so, when the Curlew suddenly appeared, the AF was too slow to grab it. Fortunately, after I had switched range, the bird returned, so I got my shot after all! It doesn't happen like that very often

The Chiffchaff also needed some field-craft, since it was ahead of me on the track and directly into the sun, when I first spotted it. I walked very slowly along the path, keeping my eyes down and hoping not to flush it, then, when it was behind me, I turned and managed just this one shot before it decided it did not like the look of me! The ruffled nape is evidence of the fairly strong wind that was blowing across the moor.

Mike

I'm in awe of your bird photos Mike as I still struggle with mine. Lovely Chiffchaff which is a bird I've often heard but never seen.

Thank you Pauline. Early Spring,before the leaves are out, is the best time to see Chiffchaffs. They often sing from a high exposed branch but, I agree, they are often surprisingly difficult to spot.

I think bird photography is an area where the DSLR with a fast AF lens really comes into its own. I had no success at all before digital and have a better rate with my D300s / 300f4 combination. than with my older D70. The AF is now lightning fast and tracks a moving bird. Combined with a shooting rate of nearly 8 frames per second, it almost makes the job easy

Mike

Great start to your PD Mike, some splendid images already. I particuarly like the Otmoor landscape and bird shots, very nice Chiffchaff photo.

Mike

It was a glorious day of sunshine on Saturday (29th) at the RHS Wisley garden, where we had gone for the Orchid Show - what astonishing variety is to be found in the plant world! The Alpine House is also looking excellent at present, as are the Camellias and Magnolias on Battleston Hill.. Not surprisingly, there were plenty of Brimstones and Peacocks out in the sunshine. In the Glasshouse, I saw just one deceased reminder of the Butterfly event earlier in the year:
With fine weather continuing on Sunday (30th), I paid a visit to my local BBOWT nature reserve at Dry Sandford Pit. Spring was firmly in the air, with plenty of Catkins on the trees and Primroses and Violets in profusion.
Let's hope that the Violets augur well for Fritillaries later in the year!
I took several photos of Brimstones, Peacocks, and Small Tortoiseshells at this site, many in excellent condition, presumably as a result of a mild Winter. I've decided to have a go at taking photos of butterflies in flight, so practised on some of the Peacocks that were spiralling overhead. It's not easy to keep them within the frame and in focus, and my attempts were not very successful. It's interesting to see how close the encounters can be; possibly, these are the source of some of the wing damage that is often seen.
The camera settings were a mistake, as I had left the aperture that I'd been using for close-up shots. I generally use aperture-priority mode and should have set the aperture wide open, to secure the fastest possible shutter speed. No matter how automated the camera, the photographer still has to remember to make appropriate choices

Butterflies in flight are especially difficult, because of their erratic, rapid flight. I had much more success with some Hover Flies which, although much smaller, do stay in the same place for short periods. I was interested to see the way they sometimes held their legs outstretched in a cluster. Is this, perhaps, a way of stabilising their flight during the hover?
Perhaps someone can identify the species from this photo?

Mike

Interesting experiment, Mike - and I think the flight pictures are great!

I can't ID the hoverfly - but yes, hoverflies do often appear in crystal-clear focus in mid-air in butterfly photographs. They are much more obliging flight subjects because they take the trouble to pose for one!

Guy

Hello Mike,

I like the flight shots and will be having a go at that. It's useful to see habitats as well, as a change from basking butterflies!

Rob

After several good days, the weather locally has turned very dull, plus a liberal sprinkling of Saharan dust over the cars! In these circumstances, it is hardly surprising that the local butterflies seem to have taken cover!

I was very pleased, however, to be able to photograph, once again, the leucistic Starling that has been visiting our garden for several years.
This story started for me when I spotted a young, pure white Starling on a neighbour's roof on 8th October 2008. A year passed and I saw nothing more of the bird until, suddenly, on 9th September 2009, something unusual caught my eye and I looked out of my window towards the garden bird feeders to see, once again, a pure white Starling! 2011 marked a major milestone in her life since, towards the end of May, she appeared at my feeders with two offspring, both normally coloured. She was back at the garden feeders in May 2012, with a new brood of two offspring and it was during that Summer that she posed for my favourite photo of her.
She returned again to my garden last year to breed successfully but I did not seen her again after 28th May 2013 although I had received one or two reports of sightings, from around the local area. Then, she paid a fleeting visit on 12th February, this year. Over the last few days, she has, once again, become a regular visitor, so I am hoping she may breed successfully again in her sixth year.

She has certainly proved that, despite being 'different', she could survive and succeed in fulfilling her role within the Starling community! There are more photos of her on the 'Birds' pages of my website at http://home.btconnect.com/mike.flemming/birds2.htm and on some later pages

Mike

An amazing bird and an amazing story,

Rob

Have you got room for another visitor for a couple of weeks Mike? I know I have seen some of these shots before but they still amaze me and it is something I would love to see. The closest I have ever got was some years ago with this Crow (please feel free to delete)

Hi Pauline,

Thank you for showing me your photo. I believe that Crows and Blackbirds do show some white fairly frequently but, from my web searches, it seems very uncommon in Starlings. What I find so amazing is how, with such a 'different' appearance, she has survived and proved such a successful breeding bird. When I had not seen her at all since last May, I thought that perhaps her time was up. it's hard to explain how delighted both my wife and I were to see her again

Mike

Hi Mike,
That's a remarkable bird and an excellent image of it with its youngster.
BWs, Neil