Speckled woods, 5th June
I was walking at the eastern end of Ffos Las on 6th June when I saw a pale butterfly out of the corner of my eye which I initially thought was one of the whites so I didn't pay much attention until it started to oviposit on alder buckthorn which certainly isn't a brassica! It was the palest female brimstones that I have ever seen and unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo of it. However investigation of the shrub revealed some well grown brimstone caterpillars as well as a couple of eggs, photos below.
Above, meadow brown first seen 6th June
I think that this is a silver ground carpet moth, 7th June
The dragons and damsels are out in good numbers now on Ffos Las. This is an emperor ovipositing on 7th June
This is a not very good photo of what I think is a small yellow underwing, 8th June
Drinker moth caterpillar, 9th June
My first ringlet butterfly, 9th June
Painted lady, first seen 6th June, this photo 13th June
I've seen a few of the bright yellow chrysalis cases of the 5-spot burnet moth over the past couple of weeks but this is the first adult that I have seen this year, 13th June
As always any corrections or additional information are gratefully received.
Lovely photos Maggie. Yes, small yellow underwing and a good record too. Interesting stuff on the brimstones. I wish people would plant more alder buckthorn.
ReplyDeleteYes excellent photography Maggie, you must have a very good macro zoom on your camera. I think you'll find that the caterpillar is a Drinker Moth.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ian and Chris for your comments. I have corrected the identification of the caterpillar - a mental block as I have identified both species of caterpillar several times before.
ReplyDeleteI have a nikon P900 bridge camera with a 83X optical zoom which is equivalent to 2000mm in old money so I can photograph flighty subjects from a distance without disturbing them. Subjects such as the caterpillars I take at max wide angle close to the subject which gives a better depth of field and hopefully more in focus as the lens doesn't have macro on it.
Thank you for the camera details Maggie, I have always wondered what equipment fellow contributors are using when they produce such good images, but the information isn't often provided. Up to now I have favoured small compact digitals (Panasonic DMC-TZ10 and Olympus TG4) because they're easy to use, but since I've been concentrating on micros their limitations have become apparent.
ReplyDelete