May ButterfliesIt's that time of year once again when my attention gets uncontrollably drawn to the smaller winged wildlife of the UK - primarily butterflies and dragonflies. Whilst I've had some great moments with the latter already this year, this post is all about the former, and has a definite feel of deja-vu about it... My first butterfly photographed this year is one I've struggled with in the past. They're normally seen when I'm driving or when I haven't got my camera with me so when I found a roosting male Orange-Tip after work when looking for dragonflies I was very pleased indeed. I was obviously fully expecting it to fly off as soon as I got set up but it obliged and remained perfectly still! It was a windy evening so I came home with a memory card full of slightly blurred shots however a handful were fine. Yay!
During this same period, the marsh fritillaries have emerged at Strawberry Banks and to me at least they seem to be even more numerous than they were last year! My first visit was on a cool evening and I found at least a dozen without even trying, including two roosting in very photogenic spots.
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() A terrific couple of weeks and I haven't mentioned the Red-footed Falcon that's taken up residence in the Cotswold Water Park over the last fortnight. Thankfully I have managed to see it though it proved a hard-to-find bird and has not been easy to get on camera but it's a terrific looking adult female. A lifer for me and I hope I get to see it again before it moves on. It will no doubt have been taking advantage of the many dragonflies and damselflies that have emerged during the last month and I've seen plenty of species in good numbers and I'm planning on dedicating a post to those over the coming weeks. Plenty to see locally and keep me busy so hopefully lots more excitement to come!
Keywords:
Butterflies,
Butterfly,
Butterfly photography,
Cotswolds,
Gloucestershire,
Lepidotera,
Macro,
Marsh Fritillary,
Nature,
Orange-Tip,
Pearl-bordered Fritillary,
Strawberry Banks,
Wildlife
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