Anyone else like moths or shall I shut up now?

[vienna]

Oooh, that pun is a bit buggy...








<O>

[Eichhörnchen]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Found two in the conservatory last night they were quite large and chocolate brown in colour with a couple of white spots but never thought of taking a picture because the match was on and I was in the middle of a drink or three

Maybe one of these, a Ringlet

Or a Meadow Brown

[Jimbuna]

In truth Glynn they could have been either, I wasn't functioning exactly at 100%

[Eichhörnchen]

I was pleased to find a couple of these pretty insects today. The Speckled Wood... like the 'Comma'... will defend a favourite perch from rivals, when they will spiral upwards in a mock combat. It's a butterfly of dappled sunlit woodland rides near the end of Summer, where it may be quite common (not usually found in gardens except they be very rural ones)

[Eichhörnchen]

I found this Brown Argus butterfly in the 'hotspot' today. I photographed one there before... they can sometimes be seen in the company of Common Blues, to which they are related

[Eichhörnchen]

Underside markings of a Speckled Wood, photographed today

[Eichhörnchen]

A real herald of Spring, the male Orange Tip butterfly is very fast and hard to photograph. He's usually hunting for a mate, so very restless, whereas she will settle to drink nectar. The sexes of this butterfly are very easy to distinguish, as they are identical but for the male's vivid orange wingtips. The female can be overlooked as just another 'white' until you see the fabulous green-mottling beneath her hind wings; both sexes have this as can be seen on this male I managed to photograph today along a hot sunny bank, among the vetches and cow parsley

[Eichhörnchen]

I found this female Holly Blue in our garden today. These butterflies hibernate as a chrysalis so are the first 'blues' to be seen and, as such, this first brood is another signifier of Spring, like the Orange Tip butterfly above

The female has broad sooty borders to the forewings, whereas the male only has a narrow black edge. They are not confined in habitat like some butterflies so can be seen anywhere... town or country

[Catfish]

Very nice and interesting photos

I wonder.. i tried to photograph some distant object with a Canon Eos 500 and telephoto lens, and it was "ok". A girlfriend of me and my wife used a Coolpix (don't know which exactly) from the same distance, and it was so much better !
I am looking for a camera that makes good telephoto shots, but is also capable for very near objects. Maybe i should look for the one or similar you mentioned


The one above should be a "Faulbaum-Bläuling" or Celastrina argiolus in cunning notation ?

[Eichhörnchen]

Thanks, Catfish. I'd recommend Moira's camera; if I did get my own then I'd go for one of these for sure

I used just a little bit of telephoto lens, relying on the camera's really super clarity/massive dpi (if that's the correct term) so that I could crop the image later but still get a good "close up". The orange tip was hard to approach without spooking, so I had to do it this way. The photo below is the uncropped original, although reduced in pixels to be able to show it here, otherwise it would be as big as a bedsheet



As for your other question, we call that the "Holly Blue" here but 'Tree Blue' sounds a good description, since it's often seen high up around trees and bushes rather than flowers or grasses; the Latin name is indeed the one you quote

[Eichhörnchen]

Another very early butterfly is the Green-veined White, here feeding on some rape flowers... headland remnants of a past crop. These were also frisky, so just now I had to take this shot from too far away

[Texas Red]

My brother is a HUGE wildlife enthusiast. He is only 7 though. He catches snaked, butterflies, frogs, and even moths.
This is the only way I like moths:

[Eichhörnchen]

The best way to get moths is with a light-trap: just a white sheet with a strong lamp in front of it

Collectors in the past used to go "sugaring"... plastering thick mixtures of beer and molasses onto tree trunks on the fringes of woodland. Moths are very sensitive to barometric conditions, though, and not every night is a flight night... even if it seems warm enough to us

Another technique (which I've used successfully) is 'digging'... but I'll shut up now

[Texas Red]

Maybe I should try to convince my brother to join the forums? He'll teach you all a few lessons on wildlife.
But he won't stop posting either.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by the beast

Maybe I should try to convince my brother to join the forums? He'll teach you all a few lessons on wildlife.
But he won't stop posting either.

Must run in the family.