Small Heath,Meadow Brown,Blues and Winking Lizards.
On Saturday 28th August I went to see what Stonehill Down (DWT reserve) was like, unfortunately climbing the hill I was disappointed to find just well grazed grass, not like the pictures on the website or in their brochure, so with no butterfly’s visible or likely it meant yet another visit to their close by Kilwood Nature Reserve .
As the season for butterflies draws to and end there were less to be found, but still some good specimens are about and these are the ones I caught best on this trip, including a Small Heath and Meadow Brown, and a couple of shots of a Common Blue. I also walked across to Norden in the hope of finding some dragonflies, but on this occasion did not get any decent images, though I did see some Common Darter and Southern Hawkers about on the wing. Nevertheless the walk over their yielded an opportunity to take a basking Common Lizard, which I managed to get two shots to combine into an animation, so that it appears to be winking.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/4.5, 1/160 sec, ISO400)Small Heath – Coenonympha pamphilus – on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro Lens. F4.5 1/160 ISO 400 Natural Light.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/8, 1/200 sec, ISO400)Meadow Brown – Maniola jurtina taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro Lens. F8 1/200 ISO 400 Flash Fill from Canon MT-24ex.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO400)Common Blue – Polyommatus icarus taken at Kilwood Nature Reserve on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro Lens. F8 1/125 ISO 400 Flash Fill from Canon MT-24ex.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/8, 1/200 sec, ISO400)Common Blue – Polyommatus icarus taken on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro Lens. F8 1/200 ISO 400 Flash Fill from Canon MT-24ex.
Below first is one of the two shots merged together to form the following animation of the winking lizard.
Canon EOS 50D (100mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO400)Common Lizard – Lacerta vivipara taken at Norden Nature Reserve on Canon 50D with Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro Lens F11 1/250 ISO 400 Natural Light.
And lastly that winking lizard!
Map of Location
A Dorset Wildlife Trust Site
