A trip this lunchtime to Westland Green to check on the marbled white butterfly colony that first established itself in 2009. Pleased to find in excess of 30 insects flying and feeding on red clover and, occasionally, bird's foot trefoil. Also on the wing were 100+ meadow browns and a few large and small skippers. No Essex skippers noted.
However, it was mainly the marbled whites that I wished to photograph and this can p[rove tricky as they are relatively flighty butterflies. Making sure not to cast my shadow over them was the first rule as I fired off some distant shots with a 400mm lens. Easy enough to get a record shot, such as these:
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| The distance with a 55mm lens. Need to get closer |
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| Another distant shot with 400mm lens |
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| Another 400mm shot that loses clarity and sharpness |
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| 400mm shot showing upperwing pattern. |
These were good enough record shots, but to improve meant either stalking them and hoping to get close by stealth or just sitting next to a nectar plant and waiting for one to come to feed. The former can be most frustrating as just as you're about to take a photo, the insect flies off. The latter just requires patience and was the approach I chose. After 15 minutes or so, I got lucky as one decided to aligth on a clover next to me.
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| With a 55mm lens |
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| same insect. |
Finally, success and not before I had recorded a Silver Y moth flitting through the long grass as well.
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