Favourite Photo of 2013

[Vince Massimo]

By popular demand, here is the opportunity to showcase your favourite SINGLE image (or video!) of 2013. There are no restrictions as to species, subject or location, although butterfly images are preferred . There is bound to be a story associated with each image, so please feel free to share it. Some people, like me, are going to find this an easy choice, but I suspect that others may have a more difficult time.

Here is my offering, which is of an egglaying Peacock.

Egglaying Peacock - Coulsdon, Surrey 19-May-2013

This was a piece of behaviour I had been wanting to observe and record for many years, so I was really pleased at the time. When the opportunity presented itself, I had to make sure not to disturb the subject whilst positioning for the shots and cutting away some obstructive vegetation. The fact that I had to work for the shot made it all the more rewarding. The experience stayed with me vividly for several days afterwards, because that's how long the nettle stings persisted on my hands and and arms .

Vince

[Wurzel]

Overall Favourite

This is my overall favourite of 2013. I remember seeing a dew soaked Common Blue on or in Butterfly magazine and thinking to myself at the time “I want one!” So this year with my gear sorted, local knowledge in place, Bushcraft brushed up I thought I’d have a go.

Well actually I have to admit that it was actually a lot more serendipitous that that . I’d stopped off on the way to work as usual and there amongst the mist were a few jewel bedecked white flags fluttering in the slight breeze. All it took was to position myself correctly so as to get them side on without soaking my trousers or trampling the undergrowth .Five minutes later I was back in the car and on the way to work, shots in the bag (well on the memory stick in my camera in a bag really).

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[downland boy]

My favourite photo of 2013 has to be of my very first sighting of a British born Long-tailed Blue. Once again I was in the company of Badger Bob and we were walking around Newhaven Tidemills on the rather unpromisingly misty morning of 25th September looking for our quarry (one had been seen the previous week). After a couple of hours, we had almost got to the point of giving up the search for another day when we noticed a blue looking butterfly fly over a nearby embankment. We gave chase and locked onto it as it zig-zagged up and down the bank. It eventually settled in the grass and we both held our breath as we approached what was clearly a fresh looking female Long-tailed Blue. What a great moment and a memory to be cherished forever.

[badgerbob]

After a year when I should have completed seeing all the mainland species, only to have to cancel my trip with Downland Boy to see the Chequered Skipper, (he had the first record for the year with a mating pair in Glasdrum on 19th May and I wasn't there)!! However, later in the year he dragged me down to see the only other species that I hadn't seen that was the Lulworth Skipper. Arriving early on site we split up to hunt for the butterfly. Right on the edge of the cliff I spotted the first one of the day which was a superb male. I managed several shots in between trying to get Downland Boys' attention, but he was too far away to hear. Although we saw many Lulworth Skippers during the day this one produced my best results. On the way home we stopped in the New Forest and saw the Bog Orchid which was a new species for both of us. A very memorable day with 2 new species as well as good company and great scenery. Will I manage to get away for the Chequered this year?

Male Lulworth Skipper

Downland Boy.

http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.com

[Butterflysaurus rex]

Cor Blimey Bob, a real Downland Boy! That's gotta be an aberration just look at those lunules

[Bill S]

This is mine, the story is a bit dull to most people but I hope some here will find it amusing/interesting and empathise with how sometimes it all just comes together in a lucky sort of way. I don't think the result is all that special but it is special for me and I hope I will remember taking this for a long time. I've just had a 18 x 12 metal print of this made after getting a 1/2 price promo code.

On my first day on holiday in France (August 2013) we had a couple of hours to kill before we could arrive at our accommodation so we went for a drive around the town of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val. Up in the hills I found a fantastic spot next to the road which was buzzing with butterflies. It was still very warm so I didn't unpack my camera but decided to come back later in my holiday at a cooler time of day when I would have more time.

I returned there one late afternoon early evening and took in the huge variety of species flying in this tiny oasis of wild flowers. Queen of Spain, Sooty Copper, Glanville Fritillary, Spotted Fritillary, Clouded Yellows and Cleopatra were just a small sample …. marvellous!

The butterfly in question had settled for a while on the knapweed (?) head and was soaking up the late sun. I moved into position to shoot it from underneath to make the most of the lighting. I was using a reflective gold disk to try and bounce light onto the underside, but the lighting conditions were very challenging. With the sun falling directly into the lens I was getting a lot of flare which was robbing my images of contrast and saturation.

But all of a sudden the sun moved behind a tree branch and the end of my lens was in the shade. Hurrah!

Crucially the butterfly was still in sunlight. Double hurrah!

And the final piece in the jigsaw was that there was a spot of sunlight near my left knee which I could use with my reflector. Triple hurrah and big

Cheers

Bill

[Neil Hulme]

For me it just has to be a Long-tailed Blue! This was one of the earlier British brood females I found, posing rather nicely for me at Kingsdown Leas on 20th September. This early on during the British flight I was still getting the shakes every time I found a LTB. I got plenty of blurred stuff before I was fortunate enough to get a sharp one!

My thanks go to Bob Foreman for sorting out the colour balance for me. I was pleased with the original in every respect other than the colour reproduction and the camera had made a real mess of that, which I suppose is one of the downsides to always shooting in idiot mode. With Bob's expert input (this stuff is black magic to me) the image has been elevated to my favourite photo of 2013.

[MikeOxon]

This is difficult, especially as Vince placed no restrictions on subject and I photograph lots of natural history subjects beside butterflies. Sticking with the 'preferred' butterfly theme, the highlight for me in 2013 was a trip in search of the Large Heath.

I only had a few photos of this species, taken many years ago (1992) at Meathop Moss. I decided that it was time to get some digital photos, so decided on a trip to Whixall Moss, on the Shropshire/Welsh border. It was bright and sunny when my wife and I arrived on the Moss but, although I could see my target flitting over the boggy ground, none came within range of even a telephoto lens wielded from dry ground!

After a while, we set up 'camp' at a likely spot on one of the paths and waited. Amazingly, a pair started courtship within a few feet of where we were sitting! I even managed to get shots of the elusive upper-sides of the wings. After that, everything seemed to 'come right' and I collected more shots of a seemingly bomb-proof individual basking on a bracken frond. The weather then started to cloud over and it was raining before we got back to the car-park.

After that success, we continued into Wales and, on the following day, enjoyed a trip to the summit of Snowdon on the heritage steam train, under cloudless skies with brilliant visibility.

The weather was holding so well that we decide to return home through mid-Wales and take in a stop at Cors Caron NNR (Tregaron Bog). History repeated itself, in that we only saw distant examples, flying over the bog far from any firm paths. Then, as we were walking back to the car-park, I spotted a dry track leading off the main board walk, which seemed strangely similar to the location where I had had success at Whixall.

A few yards down this track, I spotted a single individual resting in the late afternoon sunshine, and allowing me to take several photos, including the one shown below:

Cors Caron NNR - 12th July 2013
Nikon D300s with 70-300VR lens - 1/180s@f/8 ISO400

Overall a remarkably successful and satisfying trip.

Mike

[Katrina]

Hard to choose a favourite photo but I think the chequered skipper .

[John W]

Pair of mating Orange Tips, May 6th, Okehurst Lane, Sussex. The only static Orange Tips I saw all day!

Cheers
John

[Goldie M]

I think my favourite photo of 2013 has got to be a Small Tortoiseshell, their always the first Butterfly I see and usually the last, also I've got so many photo's of them nearly all in my back garden, I love sitting there and just watching them flying from flower to flower so I've picked this one out of my folder Goldie

[Reverdin]

Only just seen this thread, and the superb examples of butterflies herein.

My own fave from last year was this Chapman's Blue... I had been trying to get a decent shot of this species since I first went abroad... especially as the species looks so much like Common Blue...... well, high in the Taygetos, I got what I wanted... I had already posted it last year in Overseas, so sorry if it's same old, same old

[Katrina]

Lovely photo!

[Lee Hurrell]

I agree! Lovely image Rev.

Best wishes,

Lee

[Susie]

Last year I started my butterfly challenge with high hopes of all the places I was going to go to and all the butterflies I hope to see. Unfortunately events beyond my control meant that I wasn't able to travel as much as I had wanted and as the months ticked by and butterflies came and went I despaired of ever reaching the 43 species I wanted to see even though it shouldn't have been hard to achieve.

The wonderful summer and the kindness of Colin Knight came to my rescue though. The invasion of beautiful clouded yellows and a heads up to make my way to Kithurst Hill in West Sussex gave me a brief window to snap this lovely, and complete my challenge for 2013.

[ChrisC]

apologies as I am about to go non- butterfly, makes a change for me I know.... not. Anyway, not necessarily my favourite photo of last year but probably one of the most important I may have ever taken. Let me introduce Erotettix cyane,

otherwise known as the pond weed leafhopper. I know we have some general naturalists on the forum so I thought I would bring this wee beast to the attention. The reason for the choice, well it turns out that it is a previously unknown site and now only the 6th site in the UK known for it. So if you are around any smallish ponds looking for dragonflies keep an eye out for this little blue gem.

Chris

[Coopera]

Brown Hairstreak at Alners Gorse, Dorset in 2013.

One of my favourite images of the year simply because it was my first shot of this beautiful butterfly!

[DaveO'B]

This is my favourite shot of 2013, because I spent about 2 hours of wandering in circles, in a bog, on a cold drizzly morning, getting eaten alive by midges, before I found this little beauty posing perfectly!