Visit to Alners Gorse at the end of July
At the end of July I visited, for the first time, Alners Gorse, a Butterfly conservation site in Dorset. The site lies on the north side of the road between Hazelbury Bryan and Kings Stag, close to Sturminster Newton. The parking is limited, room for only 2 or 3 cars on the grass verge, just before the village and speed limit signs for Hazelbury if heading from Kings Stag. The entrance to the site is found on your left as you walk towards the village of Hazelbury.
Once through the gates you walk down a reasonable incline to a scrubby grasslands and woodland area, where you can wander around, taking a circular route if you so wish. The Butterfly conversation site states it is a wonderful remnant of one of the old Blackmore Vale Commons.
In my personal opinion this proved to be one of the best sites I have visited for butterflies, and I was lucky enough to capture, amongst others, both a Brown Hairstreak (Thecia betulae) and a Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia), two species I have never seen before. The Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia) was kindly identified on the Natural History Museum bug forum, whereas the Brown Hairstreak (Thecia betulae) was identified on the UK Butterflies forum. Links to both sites can also been found on my links tab.
The other butterflies shown here are the Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) and the Marbled White (Melanargia galathea).
All of the pictures were taken using my Olympus OM4 ti camera with the Zuiko Olympus OM 90mm F2 macro lens, with the exception of the last where I used the Zuiko Olympus OM 38mm F2.8 macro lens for the extra magnification.
The Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia), Aperture F8 on Fuji Velvia 50, using the Olympus OM T28 twin flash & Olympus OM T32 wide angle filters.
Brown Hairstreak (Thecia betulae), which I am particularly pleased with. Aperture F8 on Kodak EBX using the Olympus OM T28 twin flash & Olympus OM T32 wide angle filters.
A Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris). Aperture F11 on Fuji Velvia 50, using the Olympus OM T28 twin flash & Olympus OM T32 wide angle filters.
and finally a Marbled White (Melanargia galathea). Aperture F11 on Fuji Velvia 50, using the Olympus OM T28 twin flash & Olympus OM T32 wide angle filters.
The Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) was kind enough to pose for some time, allowing me to switch lenses to the Zuiko Olympus OM 38mm F2.8 macro and hand hold at a magnification of 3.5x. Aperture F11 on Fuji Velvia 50, using the Olympus OM T28 twin flash & Olympus OM T32 wide angle filters.
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Now that Brown Hairstreak is a very nice shot. Great pose and detail. What is Kodak EBX is it a negative film and what is it’s ASA. Seems to have a brighter colour in the background than the Velvia. Is this down to the film do you think ?
Also WOW! on the magnification on the close up. Did you crop it much ?
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your comments and to answer your questions:
Kodak EBX is Kodak’s professional elite chrome extra color ASA 100 slide film, and I do think the difference is down to the different film makes, rather than the ASA (ISO). In my experience I have found Fuji Velvia 100 will also provide a more deeper background colour. I believe the difference is that Fuji Velvia is a high saturation slide film, so bringing forth the deeper tones in the background. The Kodak’s range of slide film’s that I have trialed so far will provide a more natural look.
Did I crop? Not at all. The slide is exactly the same as what has been scanned into my computer. This is all down to my Zuiko Olympus Om 38mm F2.8 lens combined with the Olympus OM Telescopic Auto Tube 65-116.