Small Pearl-bordered and Marsh Fritillaries

Sadly today's outing would have been much better had we made it at least a week before. Both subjects were past their best and although numerous, the quality of freshly emerged butterflies was not there. That said, we still had a great day at two different venues capturing shots of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Marsh Fritillary.

First up was Bentley Wood, a well known butterfly venue just to the east of Salisbury. We parked up and made our way to the Eastern Clearing, unfortunately I made an error in navigation and we ended up at the wrong entrance. No matter, just two minutes later we spotted our first Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Finally, we found the right area and located lots of specimens, most of them nectaring on brambles. As the temperature rose in a clear blue sky they were joined by Large Skippers which were a minor distraction. During the search I managed to capture a Golden-ringed Dragonfly,  which, as I tried to alert Martin, did the Houdini trick and vanished.

 



Brown eyes indicate immature specimen

 Having taken sufficient photographs of the SPbF we wandered along the ride going north from the car park. A small clearing was reported as having Marsh Fritillaries present, alas nothing found. On our return we came across another obliging dragonfly, this time an immature male Black-tailed Skimmer (subject to confirmation)

Second venue for the day was Cotley Hill near Warminster, home of numerous Marsh Fritillaries. Martin had secured sound advice from another butterfly enthusiast and yet again the information was perfect. Within minutes a Marsh Fritillary landed in front of us. During our stay we probably never ventured more than 50 yards from the original sighting, the butterflies were everywhere, unfortunately most of them showing signs of age, faded and missing bits of wing indicative of the hard life they had endured.

"I've had a hard life" -  most specimens were worn...

....or faded....

...but still photogenic.

 

 

As the afternoon progressed more and more came out to nectar on the brambles and we made a conservative estimate of 40, just in the immediate locality. Lots of other butterflies present, we noted Small Tortoiseshell, Common Blue, Small Blue, Dingy, Large and Grizzled Skippers, Green Hairstreak, Whites and Small Heath.

Small Blue

For some unknown reason I find it difficult to obtain decent photographs of the Small Blue, Cupido minimus. So, after an unsuccessful three hour butterfly chase at Steyning Rifle Range in search of a drop dead gorgeous Swallowtail (thanks to Leigh Prevost for the tip) I decided to revisit the Small Blues. I managed some photographs but nothing that said "nailed it" . Numbers have reduced since my last visit and in the end I was concentrating on a single specimen, trying to get the exact shot. Never mind there is always another time - probably next year.

Nightjar - on The Commons.

It's a simple question - "Would you rather have someone who is lucky or an expert as a birding/butterflying buddy"? My compatriot Martin has many qualities but the most valued is his Serendipity or "fortuitous happenstance". Time and again the dialogue has been "Where shall we go"?  My normal response is a cautious "Pagham  - there is always something there". Martin's selection was "Lets go to the commons" and so began another cracking day out.

As we arrived at "the common" in sunshine we visited one of the pools that are surrounded by Juncus and Heather. Sure enough Dragonflies were on the wing - Four Spot Chaser definitely and probably Broad Bodied Chasers.

Over in the distance a bird going through a familiar routine - singing from the top of a tree and then flying straight up and "parachuting" back down to its favoured perch - Tree Pipit. In our attempts to get closer to the obliging bird we flushed a Woodlark - of course it didn't pause for a photo. Having got closer to the Pipit by using all our fieldcraft skills,  I was distracted by the dayflying heather moths which are almost impossible to capture. Never mind, at least I got a record shot of a year tick but sadly, dipped the moth.

 

Next we chased a rather nice example of a Beautiful Demoiselle that was willing to perch but always deep inside the dense gorse patches. At his point a large yellow object caught my eye - a Hornet and a big one at that, alighting on a bramble leaf in front of us. We had just been discussing which lens to have on for the next part of the walk, the demoiselle had convinced me to be using a 100mm macro. So when the hornet presented itself I was ideally equipped whereas Martin still had his 500mm mounted. Whilst this is fairly comical the roles were to be reversed shortly after.

Carrying on with a circular perambulation we spotted a Woodlark up in a tree at a fair distance, as we closed to get a shot I was again distracted, a sheet of corrugated iron lying in the heather just had to be lifted. Sure enough, underneath, a Slow Worm, unfortunately not living up to its name as it made a bolt for a hole in the ground and before I knew it had half disappeared. I am old enough and wise enough to know that if you grab a Slow Worm by the tail you end up holding just that - the tail, whilst the main body is long gone. So that's my excuse for not capturing the Woodlark.

After this we were buzzed by a large dragonfly hawking around some gorse bushes, a green specimen which I believe was a female Emperor. We observed it catching the heather moths, eating them in flight and discarding the wings. At this stage I had my first "heart attack" of the day. We saw the dragonfly going into the gorse and believed that it had landed so I peered carefully through some branches and came face to face with old whiskers. Just a few feet away a superbly camouflaged Nightjar. Tying to convey the information to Martin, whilst realising that I had the 100mm macro on and that I was probably going to spook the bird anytime soon, meant that I achieved only a few shots. But who cares - a stunning bird and another unexpected year tick.

On the way back to the car park I had my second "heart attack" - I had my lens carrier on my back, in my right hand the camera and in the left my monopod. Unfortunately I turned my ankle in a rut and took a real purler. Conscious that my camera should be protected I held it aloft and fell with some force on to the monopod. Martin turned round to find me groaning and clutching my chest. Sorry to frighten you Martin and I can assure you that there is no real damage save the imprint "Gitzo" just under my left nipple.

On then to Houghton via Bury where I recorded my first Bee Orchid of the year. Now in butterfly mode we found our first Large Skipper. The ride off Madehurst Lane was particularly quiet, just a few Speckled Woods and a very faded Brimstone where I expected to see plenty of skippers.

Very fresh

So on home where I immediately tweeted the hornet to see if I could get it on Springwatch Unsprung's "Bug of the day" - beats a Bittern any time.

300 up!

When I started this blog never did I imagine that I would make this milestone. I have never kept a diary and couldn't see any reason for doing so, but a blog is different. There was a pause between my fourth and fifth postings of about nine months, why did I continue - probably because the photographs started to improve and I wanted to share them.

Late morning I had to make a visit to Phil, probably the best dentist in the world. It's an amazing fact that, having filled your mouth with dental paraphernalia and numbed half your head,  dentists then ask you a question and expect a coherent reply. Well today wasn't bad at all and Phil showed  a genuine interest in what I might be getting up to in the afternoon. I explained that I would be visiting Anchor Bottom to capture some orchid shots. Flowers are obliging in that they don't move much and that I would utilise some artificial backgrounds to improve the composition.

My backgrounds are made from Daler or Foam board of neutral hues held in place by a bulldog clip on a ground spike. Of course the distance between subject and background is important as none of the background should be in focus.

Fragrant Orchid taken "au naturel",  with some care to keep the background "quiet".

Much improved ...but you have to watch the colour shift - more photoshop attention required.

Possibilities are endless - do you aim for it to be aesthetically pleasing or visually correct?

Perhaps a few more wispy bits of grass lessen the "museum shot" effect.

 Pale form of the Fragrant Orchid

Fragrant Orchids  grow large here...



..as do Common Spotted Orchids.



 

As the afternoon progressed the temperature rose and Adonis Blues emerged but lack of sun meant they stayed in cover.



 

 Though some wasted no time.

  Technique also works for butterflies

Set the pose

Position the background.... perfect.



On the way back to the car park a nice specimen of Sainfoin, Onobrychis viciifolia

Dave's artificial background holder.

And a couple from Monday's visit to Kithurst and Chantry Hills