Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas), with a heather fly (Bibio pomonae) in the background.
Photographed near Rocher Head Farm, South Yorkshire.
[Please note: All of the images that I publish on the web are copyrighted: © Roger Butterfield, all rights reserved. Please do not download or use my pictures in publications, presentations, websites or blogs without first obtaining my express permission. If you do wish to use a picture, please contact me and I will respond as quickly as I can.]
One of my photos appears on the front page of the League Against Cruel Sports website.
The subject is a red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica), which I photographed on Lost Lad Hill in the Peak District back in December 2004.
[Please note: All of the images that I publish on the web are copyrighted: © Roger Butterfield, all rights reserved. Please do not download or use my pictures in publications, presentations, websites or blogs without first obtaining my express permission. If you do wish to use a picture, please contact me and I will respond as quickly as I can.]
Yesterday I headed out to Rocher Blog near High Bradfield, hoping to take some pictures of dragonflies. I got some fairly good shots of black darters there a few years ago and I wanted to see if I could do any better.
I arrived to find that the pools in bog had completely dried up. There were no dragonflies to be seen, so I decided to walk on to the ruined farm at Rocher Head. With an abundance of nettles and thistles, the old farmyard can be a good place to photograph butterflies.
There were a few butterflies around the buildings but, a short distance beyond, I came across a real insect hotspot: a small area of damp ground with tall, lush vegetation. At least seven different species of butterfly were feeding on the flowers of creeping thistle: red admiral, peacock, small tortoiseshell, gatekeeper, small copper, meadow brown and green-veined white. There was also a day-flying silver y moth, plus hoverflies of several species and swarms of red-legged heather flies.
These two shots were taken with an Olympus E-3, fitted with a Zuiko 50-200mm zoom lens.
[Please note: All of the images that I publish on the web are copyrighted: © Roger Butterfield, all rights reserved. Please do not download or use my pictures in publications, presentations, websites or blogs without first obtaining my express permission. If you do wish to use a picture, please contact me and I will respond as quickly as I can.]
Outside our back door is a large ornamental pot, which we planted some years ago with an African lily (Agapanthus sp). Thankfully, the plant survived last winter’s severe frosts and seems to be thriving. This season it has produced six large flower buds, which are gradually beginning to open.
When I opened the door this morning I found half a dozen marmalade hoverflies (Episyrphus balteatus) jockeying for position around the few flowers that have opened so far. This is one of the most abundant and easily recognised hoverflies in the British Isles, characterised by the pattern of orange and black bands on its abdomen. According to Natural England, it’s a beneficial species to have in the garden because its larvae eat aphids.
These shots were taken with an Olympus E-3, fitted with a Zuiko 50mm macro lens.
[Please note: All of the images that I publish on the web are copyrighted: © Roger Butterfield, all rights reserved. Please do not download or use my pictures in publications, presentations, websites or blogs without first obtaining my express permission. If you do wish to use a picture, please contact me and I will respond as quickly as I can.]
One of my photos of the Peak District appears on page 16 of Plantlife Magazine (Summer 2011 edition).
The image is used to illustrate an article about Plantlife's Deep Dale Nature Reserve, situated near the village of Sheldon in Derbyshire.
You can view more photos of Deep Dale on my website.
[Please note: All of the images that I publish on the web are copyrighted: © Roger Butterfield, all rights reserved. Please do not download or use my pictures in publications, presentations, websites or blogs without first obtaining my express permission. If you do wish to use a picture, please contact me and I will respond as quickly as I can.]
It's that time of year when grassland abounds with red and black burnet moths.
Last Friday I visited the flower-rich limestone grassland along the edge of Anston Stones Wood. Burnet moths were everywhere: feeding on flower-heads, buzzing slowly through the air and mating on plant stems. All of the specimens that I managed to get a close look at were the Six-spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae subsp. stephensi).
[Please note: All of the images that I publish on the web are copyrighted: © Roger Butterfield, all rights reserved. Please do not download or use my pictures in publications, presentations, websites or blogs without first obtaining my express permission. If you do wish to use a picture, please contact me and I will respond as quickly as I can.]
I have just finished revamping the Birds portfolio on my website.
Prints of the images are available via my Photobox Pro Gallery.
[Please note: All of the images that I publish on the web are copyrighted: © Roger Butterfield, all rights reserved. Please do not download or use my pictures in publications, presentations, websites or blogs without first obtaining my express permission. If you do wish to use a picture, please contact me and I will respond as quickly as I can.]
One of my photos of the Cornish coast appears across pages 84 and 85 of BBC History Magazine (August 2011 edition).
The image is used to illustrate an article in the 100 Places That Made Britain series, which describes the critical role that Porthcurno played in the development of global telecommunications.
There are many more pictures of Cornwall on my website.
[Please note: All of the images that I publish on the web are copyrighted: © Roger Butterfield, all rights reserved. Please do not download or use my pictures in publications, presentations, websites or blogs without first obtaining my express permission. If you do wish to use a picture, please contact me and I will respond as quickly as I can.]
I have just finished revamping the Fungi portfolio on my website. It now contains about 50 images most of which are identified down to species level. I plan to add a lot more pictures this autumn.
Prints of these images can be purchased via my Photobox Pro Gallery.
[Please note: All of the images that I publish on the web are copyrighted: © Roger Butterfield, all rights reserved. Please do not download or use my pictures in publications, presentations, websites or blogs without first obtaining my express permission. If you do wish to use a picture, please contact me and I will respond as quickly as I can.]
