All Things Not Birds

It was a quiet time for birds a few weeks ago, but the weather was lovely and warm and perfect for other things to be on the wing. In particular the butterflies and dragonflies around Lapwing Lane Pool in Chelford. I had more than a dozen species of butterly and 3 or 4 species of dragonfly. They don't always make it easy for you to identify them though, and even harder is trying to get them to stop still where you'd like them to. That said, I had a great couple of hours stretching my patience.

One of my favourites, the Comma butterfly.

And with wings closed, resembling a leaf.

Small Copper. Very small and not easy to photograph.

Speckled Wood

Common Darter Dragonfly

Butterfly Season

I'm really enjoying this butterfly season. It seems like there has been a real explosion just recently. Speckled Woods seem to be the most abundant, but they are real pains to get a picture of. Move within a metre or two of them and they're off, and waiting for them to settle again is a pointless task. LA long lens was my only hope, as I managed to get a couple of okay shots, but not the open winged ones that I wanted.

The Brown Argus was a new butterfly to me this year. This one was found on the chalky slopes of Martin Down in Salisbury, and it is actually very small. A great looking butterfly though.

 

 

Common Darter Dragonfly

At Burton Mere last weekend, we came across quite a lot of dragonflies with most of them perching on the fences and railings along the boardwalk. They were kind enough to let me get a few shots. These I believe are the Common Darter variety.

A lovely Speckled Wood butterfly joined them for good measure.