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Ringlet - Favourite Photo of 2015

Week 14

I would think that almost all of the 'non-retired' are now back at work so here continues the sequence of posts giving one and all the opportunity to showcase their favourite shots of 2015 and cheer ourselves up in the drear that is January!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As like last year details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

I remember this pair because they were very awkwardly placed for photography - on the side of a ditch and backlit by a bright afternoon sun. The exposure compensation indication in the viewfinder of my Olympus E-M5 was a great help in getting a reasonable exposure on the wings, while endeavouring not to fall into the ditch:)
Mike

Nice image, Mike, which shows the subtle difference in shade between the sexes.

Ringlets are quite an attractive species when fresh, and the only reason I don't take more images of them is because they're so darned common!

The only one I took in 2015 was when I encountered my first, in mid-June, at the Alun Valley HBF site near Bridgend:

I didn't take many shots of the Ringlet they never seem to keep still for very long and if some thing else comes along I tend to photo them instead So I've only got a few , one taken at Warton Craig 15th July and the other in Blean Woods on the 2nd of August Goldie

Although a very common and widespread species, I've never found them on any of my local patches in London, until that is this year when I doscovered they had colonised my place of work, only a couple of miles from the centre of London, making this one of my favs this year: My other fav is this ab with an extra eyespot. Taken in the same place where I discovered loads of White-letter Hairstreak feeding low down, it reminds me of a couple of very pleasent days in Essex .

Ringlets are not very common on my local patch, but appear most years in ones and twos. On 12th July 2015, one popped up away from their usual haunt. It turned out to have a few extra spots, and oddly the two wings also didn't quite match each other. Dave

Swarms of Ringlets around my patch in June/July again in 2015. This is one species that is quite happy to fly in quite dull conditions and has done well with the lush grass growth during the past couple of years. I took a few photos but have still to capture that shot of a nice fresh example that I am really happy with.
On July 15th I went to Fermyn Woods and as I have previously mentioned the day started off dull and cloudy with rain showers for the first part of the morning. Nevertheless the Ringlets were soon about in large numbers and I spent some time with them until it brightened up enough for other species to come out and play later in the morning.

The first one was seen around 08.50 flying in a slight drizzle,
Soon followed by loads more which seemed to erupt from the sides of the rides between the showers, including the two females below which show the variation to be found in this species.
Cheers,

Neil.

Ringlet

This was taken on one of my many morning stop-offs at Larkhill. It’s my fave as the morning sun brought the colours alive and it’s almost shimmering. Ringlets for me are always an ‘annual’ surprise as over the winter months I forget how subtle they are and I just remember them as l.b.j’s. This image serves to remind me of how exquisite they are in amongst the sheen on the velvety wings are all the colours of the rainbow, with no spots breaking up the ‘block’ of colour. Have a goodun

Wurzel