LOCAL BUTTERFLIES.

I thought I would post a few images of local butterflies to brighten up a dull wet and windy October day.The first two images are of a small copper,No 3 is an orange tip,4&5 are comma butterflies while 6 is a peacock,7 is a small tortoiseshell while the last but not least is a speckled wood.I hope the photographs brighten up your day.

LEARNING CURVE.

I`ve recently bought a s/h canon flash gun and have been practising with it in the garden trying to capture images of starlings in flight.The starlings are very unpredictable visiting the garden and the weather has been very unpredictable as well.I`ve not had the two together yet but I will keep trying and hopefully everthing will come together (watch this space) I`ve posted my efforts below in very dull grey sky conditions.

HASLAM PARK FUNGI.

My first serious attempt at photograpning fungi,don`t know the names of thes,HELP PLEASE.I`ve alot to learn about photographing fungi and more research is required to show the fungi to it`s full potential in the natural habitat

GARDEN SPIDERS.

Over the last couple of days I`ve been trying to capture images of the garden spiders around cottam.The first image was taken in next doors garden,image two I`ve called breakfast dinner and tea,number three I like as the light catches the web as the spider wraps the prey up with it ,4 and 5 are shown with early morning dew.

GRAYLING BUTTERFLIES AT FAIRHAVEN.

Over the last couple of years I`ve been trying to photograph grayling butterflies,chasing them up and down the sand dunes at Fairhaven but when they landed on the paths their wings were always closed and they looked such a dull butterfly camouflaged into the sand.That all changed this year when I found the butterfly feeding on sea holly,what a butterfly and a privilege to photograph.Upto nine butterflies were feeding on the same plant with lots of interaction and I was treated to a true spectacle of the graylings lifestyle.I`ve posted a series of images showing some of the action and was very pleased to capture images of its wings open showing the true beauty of the butterfly.

COMMON DARTERS AT COTTAM.

Over the last couple of weeks I`ve been trying to photograph common darter dragonflies at Cottam,there`s been about 40-50  of these dragonflies on the wing and I`ve  been trying different methods of attack to capture images,chasing,sitting down and waiting or selecting a nice perch and hoping.Concentrating on getting better composition and clear background I`ve been very selective of the kind of image I wanted.All the images I`ve posted are taken with a canon 100mm macro with no is hand held,on occasions with stealth I could get very close to the dragonflies and have posted a few of my efforts below.

THE COMMON BLUE BUTTERFLY.

Over the last couple of weeks I`ve been concentrating on photographing butterflies and dragonflies.On the Fairhaven sand dunes [contrary to what Peter Woodruff has found on his local patch at Cockersands] hundreds and hundreds of common  blue butterflies along with good numbers of meadow brown,small heath,grayling have been present along with small numbers of small copper butterflies.The grayling has been my target butterfly this summer but I couldn`t resist photographing the beautiful common blue and some of my efforts are posted below