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Show us your butterflies...


Game Warden

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Game Warden

African, Indian, European, American etc. Please include when and where taken, tech specs and any other pertinent information about the sighting.

 

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kitefarrago

Here's one to get us started: From my holiday in India. Taken outside Tadoba NP in the lodge grounds.

 

This one's a plain tiger. A fairly common species in Central India.

 

gallery_20026_839_4798.jpg

 

The owners of the lodge were trying to re-plant agricultural land, with the ultimate aim to return it to forest, but for the time being it's a very good place for butterflies. It was rather pleasant to come from the grim European winter into this!

 

I've got quite a few more butterfly pictures from that holiday in my gallery and will post more to this thread if there's interest. Photographing butterflies and dragonflies was a rather pleasant way to spend time between game drives.

 

Andrea

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africapurohit

After this beautiful picture by @@kitefarrago, I will not degrade this thread by adding my picture of the butterfly on baboon poo (from the animal tracks thread) - although I'm sure that photo must have inspired @@Game Warden to start this topic :D

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Game Warden

Fantastic image Andrea. What was the body and lens combo? Should I start a dragonfly thread for you? :)

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moths...they are related to butterflies. Taken on a window ledge near Bonnieux, France. I think it belongs to the saturnids but could not identify...not an expert here..

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kitefarrago

Thanks, @@Game Warden!

 

This is with the Sony A77 and the 70-300G lens. I've had this camera for less than a year (I've got quite a bit of old Minolta lenses, some of them inherited, hence the unusual brand). The 300mm end allows me to get fairly large format shots of insects that are unlikely to get me close - an unusual choice for macro, but it can work.

 

This camera has 24MP, and I find that for insects in particular it can give spectacular results in terms of detail. I tend to do bursts of shots, and then at home look for the one where the finest hairs are still resolved. In the days before digital this would have been impossible. The large sensor also allows cropping the image quite severely and still having a good resolution.

 

I do have some dragonfly pics too, but I'll add some more butterflies over time as well.

 

Andrea

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Double Dare

post-17536-0-66640700-1375059752_thumb.jpg

 

Tuscarora State Park, PA

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Game Warden

Keep them coming. And photo tips: what lenses are you using? Exposure? I recently planted out an area of the garden specifically for attracting butterflies with various lavender species, fennel, sages, parsley and buddleia. Still growing into the space and the really hot weather recently didn't help much but it is proving a haven to butterflies, moths, hoverflies, bees etc etc.

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kitefarrago

Some more from India, all taken in the zone around Tadoba, in Maharashtra which is in Central India.

 

All taken with the Sony A77 and the Sony 70-300G. This lens has a fairly good close focussing distance of 1.2m. That way one gets to go reasonably close to the subject, but not too close to spook it, while also getting the 300mm (all pictures were taken at maximum zoom).

 

All my images do have EXIF data with them, so by using an EXIF viewer plugin for your favourite browser you can look up all my settings. I try to go for a reasonably fast shutter speed, and tend to go with the biggest aperture of 5.6 to keep the ISO down. However, that gives a very small area that's in focus. As long as the eye is in focus I don't mind that, but some people think the whole animal should be in focus.

 

Common emigrant:

 

gallery_20026_839_243679.jpg

 

Tawny coaster:

 

gallery_20026_839_76848.jpg

 

gallery_20026_839_158177.jpg

 

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Plain tiger (this one is related to the Monarch butterflies):

 

gallery_20026_839_240899.jpg

 

Lemon pansy:

 

gallery_20026_839_206165.jpg

 

 

Some species of silverline:

 

gallery_20026_839_46940.jpg

 

Spottless grass yellow (or another grass yellow):

 

gallery_20026_839_157609.jpg

 

 

Three-spotted grass yellow:

 

gallery_20026_839_162170.jpg

 

There's an excellent website for Indian butterflies at http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/. It's not easy to navigate but it covers many Indian species, and it's the resource I used when trying to identify what I'd photographed there.

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kittykat23uk

A few from a very productive walk on Sunday around Hickling Nature reserve in Norfolk, all taken with Olympus E600, 50-200 and 1.4 converter:

 

 

9415530893_1da5ff830a_b.jpg
P7283667 purple hairstreak 2 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

 

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P7283709conv white admiral by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

 

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P7283691 Speckled Wood by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

 

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P7283718 Ringlet by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

 

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P7283735 Ringlet by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

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P7283760 Small? Skipper by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

9418315780_d0de76c207_b.jpg
P7283808 Comma by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

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P7283823 Large? Skipper by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

9415559223_eb98d0d6ba_b.jpg
P7283893 skipper by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

9415561563_086ab12bb2_b.jpg
P7283924 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

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kittykat23uk

This one we did see a specimen of but I didn't get a shot on this occasion, so here is an older one taken with the Panasonic FZ18

 

3600807703_6ca7bc41b4_b.jpg
swallowtail butterfly by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

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Very nice. I like the bokeh of your lenses too which sets off the butterflies.

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kittykat23uk

Many thanks John.

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Game Warden

Wonderful collection of images building up here.

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kitefarrago

A few more from India, these ones from the surrounds of Pench National Park, taken in January. Same camera and lens as above.

 

Common crow:

 

gallery_20026_839_206958.jpg

 

Mottled emigrant:

 

gallery_20026_839_28410.jpg

 

Baronet:

 

gallery_20026_839_2082468.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Let's see some more butterflies...

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A few British butterflies to add to the thread.

post-44245-0-06620100-1378151272_thumb.jpg

First a Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni photographed at Warton Crags, Lancashire using a Nikon D300s with Sigma 150mm at 1/2500s f4.5.

 

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Comma Polygonia c-album revealing how it gets its name from the mark on its underwing. (Nikon D300s 70-300mm at 300mm, 1/250s f10)

 

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A well camouflaged Grayling Hipparchia semele photographed at Aylesbeare Common in Devon (Nikon D300s Sigma 150mm 1/500s f5.6)

 

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A pair of Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi photographed on a bilberry plant Vaccinium myrtillus on Ilkley Moor, Yorkshire (Nikon D300s 70-300mm at 90mm 1/640s f10)

 

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Green-veined White Pieris napi photographed at Bolton Abbey Woods, Yorkshire (Nikon D300s 70-300mm at 300mm 1/800 f5.6)

 

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Large Skipper Ochlodes sylvanus photographed at Leighton Moss Nature Reserve, Lancashire. (Nikon D300s Sigma 150mm 1/800s f5)

 

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Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Panasonic FZ30 35mm 1/250s f8)

 

post-44245-0-08641100-1378151409_thumb.jpg

This Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus was photographed at Timble Ings near Harrogate, North Yorkshire (Nikon D300s Sigma 150mm 1/800s f5)

 

post-44245-0-50618200-1378151422_thumb.jpg

This fascinating reflection of a Small White Pieris rapae was photographed when it landed at home on a double-glazed window. (Nikon D300s 70-300mm at 300mm 1/1600 f8)

 

post-44245-0-38674500-1378151435_thumb.jpg

And finally a pair of Walls Lasiommata megera photographed at Timble Ings (Panasonic FZ30 25mm 1/100s f5)

 

 

 

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  • 10 months later...
offshorebirder

Falcate Orangetip (male) on the north edge of the Santee River Delta. Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center - March 29, 2014. This species is extremely skittish and rarely perches for long, making it difficult to photograph well. Canon 7D with 300mm/f4 lens, hand held, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/1000 sec.

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American Snout butterfly licking moist crevices between gravel. Canal Wildlife Management Area - Berkeley County, Sout Carolina. October 12, 2013. Canon 7D with 300mm/f4 lens, hand held, ISO 200, f6.3, 1/1250 sec.

10234321943_05d544e8e1_z.jpg


White Peacock nectaring on Frogfruit - east end of Kiawah Island, South Carolina. September 28, 2013. Canon 7D with 300mm/f4 lens, hand held, ISO 400, f7.1, 1/800 sec.

9988164136_f087b38f96_z.jpg


Queen butterfly, a tropical relative of the Monarch butterfly - east end of Kiawah Island, South Carolina. September 28, 2013. Canon 7D with 300mm/f4 lens, hand held, ISO 200, f6.3, 1/1000 sec.

9988237023_9c9984327f_z.jpg

9988233823_d8dd1d507d_z.jpg


Zebra Heliconian (formerly named Zebra Longwing) - east end of Kiawah Island, South Carolina. September 28, 2013. Canon 7D with 300mm/f4 lens, hand held, ISO 400, f7.1, 1/1000 sec.

9988110124_b68aafcfe2_z.jpg


Brazilian Skipper about to light on a Morning Glory flower at Patriots Point, on the north rim of Charleston Harbor. This is a very shy and hard-to-approach butterfly. Early the morning of October 6, 2012. Canon 7D with 300mm lens - unsure of settings.

9303756514_273dd5b909.jpg

Edited by offshorebirder
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  • 2 months later...
offshorebirder

This weekend I saw several aggregations of one of my favorite butterflies - Fiery Skipper, at Santee National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina. They are one of the "grass skippers" - charming little things who use various grasses as a host plant.

 

Taken on a mostly-cloudy day using a handheld Canon 7D + 300mm f/4 IS lens at f/6.3 ISO 640 1/640 sec.

 

15348995456_c41b17dd67_o.jpg

 

 

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Edited by offshorebirder
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  • 3 months later...

Time for some new butterfly photos. What have you got?

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  • 2 weeks later...
offshorebirder

A Phaon Crescent at Kiawah Island, South Carolina. They are a tropical species, ranging from Guatemala up through Mexico to southern California and Texas, as well as Cuba, and Forida up through coastal South Carolina.

 

Sorry for the partially obscured photo - they are skittish little creatures.

 

10007809513_3a22a933a4_c.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Monarch Butterfly on the last flower of summer. - Photo taken in Wisconsin, USA.

gallery_22564_950_236224.jpg

Monarch Butterflies stopping to rest on their fall migration to Mexico on a very windy day along Lake Michigan.

 

gallery_22564_950_417495.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

When you see a butterfly on the first day of April in Wisconsin, USA, it can only be one - the Mourning Cloak Butterfly. They live over winter by hiding in tree cavities or under loose bark and come out on the first day it hits 60 degrees F.


gallery_22564_950_214563.jpg


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A plain old Cabbage White Butterfly a second or so before landing on a flowering sea rocket stalk.

post-5120-0-69232900-1428039401_thumb.jpg

 

 

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