Macro

Butterfly photos from the weekend

The title of this post is only slightly misleading in that all of the photo’s bar 1 relate to butterflies from the weekend just gone at 3 different locations, Broadcroft Quarry, Alners Gorse and Lydlinch Common. The one aberration is that of a Common Darter dragonfly, the last photo in this post.

The first few shots are of a butterfly I have neither spotted nor photographed before, the Clouded Yellow butterfly (Colias croceus).  I was fortunate to find these at Lydlinch Common, including this pair.  Although I did not manage to get both in sharp focus I do like they way the one on the underneath of the leaf looks to certain extent like a reflection of the one above.

Pair of Clouded Yellow butteflies
Pair of Clouded Yellow butteflies
Olympus OM-D EM-5 DSLR & Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens at F5.6

A portrait of one.

Clouded Yellow butterfly
Clouded Yellow butterfly
Olympus OM-D EM-5 DSLR & Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens at F5.6

They appeared to prefer to rest on a plant with yellow flowers, unsure which as plant identification is not my forte. Anyway here is a record shot of the above at a longer focal length to show the plant more fully.

Clouded Yellow butterfly on plant
Clouded Yellow butterfly on plant
Olympus OM-D EM-5 DSLR & Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens at F5.6

The next specie of butterfly, is the Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) found at both Alners Gorse and Lydlinch Common. 1st is from Alners Gorse and 2nd taken at Lydlinch Common.

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly
Small Tortoiseshell butterfly
Olympus OM-D EM-5 DSLR & Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens at F5.6

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly (2)
Small Tortoiseshell butterfly (2)
Olympus OM-D EM-5 DSLR & Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens at F5.6

Next up are Chalk-hill Blues (Lysandra coridon) and a Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) spotted at Broadcroft Quarry on Portland.

The Chalk-hill Blues

Chalk-hill Blue
Chalk-hill Blue
Olympus OM-D EM-5 DSLR & Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens at F5.6

You may think with the next shot that for the background I used a colour card or altered this in Photoshop, however you would be wrong, it is in fact a greyish patch of ground.

Chalk-hill Blue
Chalk-hill Blue
Olympus OM-D EM-5 DSLR & Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens at F5.6

The Common Blue butterfly

Common Blue butterfly
Common Blue butterfly
Olympus OM-D EM-5 DSLR & Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens at F5.6

I also saw lots of chrysalis, which butterflies emerge from.

Butterfly Chrysalis
Butterfly Chrysalis
Olympus OM-D EM-5 DSLR & Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens at F5.6

and finally the aberration, the Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) photographed at Alners Gorse.

Common Darter dragonfly
Common Darter dragonfly
Olympus OM-D EM-5 DSLR & Zuiko Olympus 90mm Macro F2 lens at F5.6. Image cropped

Broadcroft Quarry map

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Alners Gorse map

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Lydlinch Common

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Pete

I have been shooting nature with Olympus digital & Olympus OM camera gear on film since 2004

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