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Butterflies Page 16

Image Taken on 16 Jun 2023 at 13:19    Image of day on 13 Aug 2023

A second day photographing flying insects starts with this Meadow Brown Butterfly.


Ref: 20230813_da1_20230616_1319_065+20230614_1526_044_ft1 meadow brown butterfly in flight with red campion (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 29 Jun 2019 at 15:37    Image of day on 20 Aug 2019

A meadow Brown Butterfly shows us the bottom (left) and top (right) of its wings. The differing colours flicker in flight and can be momentarily confusing.


Ref: 20190820_da1_20190629_1537_134+133_ft1 meadow brown butterfly male in flight showing upper & lower sides of wings 2+1 of 2 (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 12 Jul 2020 at 09:12    Image of day on 19 Aug 2020

A Meadow Brown enjoying the same source of Nectar.


Ref: 20200819_d73_20200712_0912_063 meadow brown butterfly male on ragwort(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 19 Jun 2011 at 10:24    Image of day on 02 Aug 2011

Next frame the ant had landed (sort of).


Ref: 20110802_df1_20110619_1024_347 meadow brown butterfly with ant on wing + 2 large skippers on single thistle flower (crop of ant)(r+mb id@288).jpg


Image Taken on 29 Jul 2006 at 09:38    Image of day on 11 Aug 2006

Coiled like a watch spring below and left of its head the feeding proboscis will soon be uncoiled and back in action.


Ref: 20060811_d10_20060729_0938_005 meadow brown butterfly with coiled proboscis on teasel (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 01 Jun 2021 at 08:33    Image of day on 27 Jun 2021

A few second later the missing antler isn't so clear, but we can just identify on his flank a hitch-hiking small Orange-tip Butterfly!


Ref: 20210627_bu7_20210601_0833_054 muntjac reeves deer male (1 antler) in early morning sunlight + orange tip butterfly on flank(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 13 Mar 2021 at 14:01    Image of day on 09 Apr 2021

This male Reeve's Muntjac Deer is far from tolerant of humans. This brief sighting was followed by an unhurried departure, but not spotted again.


Ref: 20210409_df3_20210313_1401_029 muntjac reeves deer male among sprouting daffodils at east end of butterfly alley(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 09 Apr 2022 at 09:47    Image of day on 10 May 2022

One of the male Reeves' Muntjac Deer looks back at the photographer along 'Butterfly Alley' - a sun drenched path between a low hedge (left) and a wall of conifers on the right.


Ref: 20220510_df3_20220409_0947_222 muntjac reeves deer male looking back down butterfly alley(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 12 Apr 2020 at 16:17    Image of day on 01 May 2020

Orange-tip Butterflies males fruitlessly looking for females, not yet emerged from their over-wintered chrysalises, are now rewarded with a female to entice. Here are 4 moments from an attempted seduction.
The male has the orange tips, but the female doesn't. They both have that wonderful green and white marbling under the wing.


Ref: 20200501_d73_20200412_1617_154+1618_161+175+1620_191 orang-tip butterfly pair courting (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 17 Apr 2021 at 16:06    Image of day on 12 May 2021

Normally we see female Orange-tip Butterflies a week or two after the first see the males, but this year we saw first emergence at the same time. The females don't have the orange tip, but still have the delicate green tracery under the wing that you can JUST see showing through as a green haze on the rear wings. The Green tracery is present on the males as well but the picture of the male above wasn't optimised to show it.


Ref: 20210512_df3_20210417_1606_092 orange tip butterfly female (1st of 2021)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 29 May 2008 at 12:08    Image of day on 02 Jun 2008

This is an orange-tip butterfly - the female has no orange tip but the beautiful green and white mottled underwing is the giveaway. Haven't seen a male for a week or two.


Ref: 20080602_dc1_20080529_1208_114 orange tip butterfly female on red campion (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 01 Jun 2021 at 11:31    Image of day on 25 Jun 2021

Another flyby by this male Orange-tip butterfly shows you the underside of the insect including the intricate green lacework that provides disguise (on both sexes) when the wings are closed.


Ref: 20210625_da1_20210601_1131_060+1232_085_ft1 orange tip butterfly male in flight with garlic mustard flowers (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 11 May 2009 at 13:49    Image of day on 03 Jun 2009

Wow - an orange tip actually stopped flying long enough to get a pic 'in the field'!


Ref: 20090603_db1_20090511_1349_060 orange tip butterfly male on teasel leaf(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 16 May 2016 at 10:36    Image of day on 25 Jun 2016

A male Orange Tip butterfly perched on some fresh Blackberry leaves.


Ref: 20160625_df3_20160516_1036_016 orange tip butterfly male perched on blackberry leaf (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 19 May 2023 at 13:02    Image of day on 07 Jul 2023

At last we get to see a female Orange-tip Butterfly, here on the right of the male. They share the wonderful intricate green tracery on the underside of the wing.


Ref: 20230707_d72_20230519_1302_415+df3_20230521_1615_458 orange-=tip butterfly male (left) and female feeding on red campion (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 27 Apr 2011 at 16:12    Image of day on 22 May 2011

A pair of orange tip butterflies spent a couple of minutes fluttering round each other (very hard to photo) and then the female landed on the grass path and the male made his intentions excitably clear. Here one moment from the action - they flew off together & we lost sight of them in the undergrowth.


Ref: 20110522_df1_20110427_1612_092 pair of orange-tip butterflies courting 21 of 35 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 14 Apr 2020 at 12:52    Image of day on 01 May 2020

2 days later presumably a different couple of Orange-tip Butterfly 'getting to know each other'.


Ref: 20200501_df3_20200414_1252_047+1251_027 orange-tip butterflies courting on blackberry leaves (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 14 Apr 2020 at 14:55    Image of day on 01 May 2020

All this chasing girls is hard work.
Here a male Orange-tip Butterfly refuels on what we think is a Ground Ivy flower.


Ref: 20200501_df3_20200414_1455_060 orange-tip butterfly feeding on ground ivy flower(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 22 Apr 2019 at 13:03    Image of day on 18 May 2019

We caught another male Orange-tip Butterfly on this day, so took the opportunity to show you female (left) and male Orange-tip Butterflies, so you can compare.


Ref: 20190518_da1_20190422_1303_088+1319_121_ft1 orange-tip butterfly female & male in flight (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 18 May 2014 at 14:18    Image of day on 16 Jul 2014

Top right is the Male Orange-tip butterfly, together with an image of the female and a flowering Garlic Mustard - one of their favourite plants for egg laying which we encourage down our trackway edge. We would love to have caught this setup 'for real' but it's hard enough getting a decent image of one insect in flight at a time, so this is a montage of 3 images to illustrate what we see in the wild.


Ref: 20140716_da1_20140518_1418_265+1540_338+1529+332_ft1 orange-tip butterfly female & male in flight with garlic mustard (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


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