Since my first climb up Great Gable with the twitteratti Here when we didn't get to see any of the amazing views, i promised myself i would return on a clear day. So today is the day , forecast is looking good for sunny periods but more importantly no low cloud :)
so arriving at Seathwaite car park early in the morning, i was surprised to see very few other cars there! my route starts with climbing up Sour milk gill then across Gillercomb up to Green Gable.
up the path that runs beside the falls
i am up high now, looking down to Seathwaite and Thorneywaite farm in the distance.
walking through Gillercomb and say hello to the locals :D
looking back from where i have just walked.
here is a view of Base Brown on the right, but having come up the path from the left i have turned right to head towards Green Gable now .
a first view of Buttermere , what a view with Haystacks and High crag/High stile on the left ,Fleetwith pike, Robinson/Whiteless pike/Grassmore over to the right. i think lol
Shot with 300mm lens , you can clearly see Rannerdale knots in the centre of image, amazing in the spring when the bluebells are in flower Here and Melbreak on the left.
Heading up to Green Gable the views are superb, and i have not seen a single person up here on such a wonderful morning . i am at the summit cairn looking across Ennerdale and Buttermere valleys. Kirk fell and Pillar on the left side , High stile near the centre.
and the Helvelyn range in the distance in the opposite direction
now heading down into windy gap and then up the steep climb up to Great Gable summit:D
Panorama from Great Gable summit ,looking across Ennerdale & Buttermere valleys again VIEW LARGE
looking down on to Wastwater,Scafell on left, Illgill Head next to Wastwater, and Kirk fell and Yewbarrow on the right.
it is so nice up here, only 2 other people here, a bit chilly but sheltering out of the wind very pleasant to take in the views and relax :D using my 300mm lens to pick out "Inominate tarn" on Haystacks, AWs resting place. a really special tarn that i must visit again sometime.
and Wastwater and Great Gable's cairn
after over half an hour here i decide to make my way around to shoot a view of Napes Needles
what a wonderful location, i spend another half hour here sitting in the warm sun with this amazing view :D but it is time to start the long way back now :( one last shot :)
the way down , and its clouding over fast now!
this is Styhead tarn
the path decends down Styhead Gill back to Seathwaite
and eventually back down to the car, i have only seen a couple of people all day, very strange!
the views have been amazing all morning :)
In between all my butterfly and mountain trips i managed a few short trips to Chester Zoo. the butterfly house was today's trip as it was raining out. so a warm tropical greenhouse seemed like a good decision.
it is only small but enough butterflies to shoot for a quick 2 hour visit. i will just let the images tell the story, not a lot to write about but all shots taken hand held using high iso due to low light.
an Ithomid butterfly, my fav image of the day f6.3 , iso 1000 , 1/125th sec
A pair of Owl Butterflies f7.1 iso 1000 1/100th
Owl butterfly wings f4.5 iso 1000 1/60th
Indian leaf butterfly f5 iso 640 1/100th
Ithomid f4 iso 1000 1/80th
f9 iso 320 1/200th flash used
f4.5 iso 640 1/200th
f9 iso 1000 1/200th flash used
f4 iso 1000 1/80th
and finally a tropical frog, natural light, 5 frames focus stacked shot through glass
it is always nice to spend a few hours in here, just watching the butterflies flitting around, so peaceful until school parties come through and disturb the peace and tranquillity :( Arghhhhhhhhh
Today was to be my final Butterfly trip of the year, so sad to think the season is over. But today's species the Brown Hairstreak is probably one of the most beautiful , and so rarely seen. i always seem to be lucky when i visit Grafton wood in Worcestershire , except 2 weeks ago when they didn't show themselves :) but all species are late this year, compared to last year when i visited on 17 th Aug and 24 th Aug. . So today has to be my only chance this year , fingers crossed the weather is looking perfect, warm and sunny :) i arrive at Grafton flyford at 10.25 am and parked by the church, the best time to see the female hairstreaks is between 11 and 1.30 for some reason.
i make my way through the farmyard , past the cows and down the track to the wood and start looking along the blackthorn hedges along the way, i have already noticed that some of them have been flailed already Arghhhh. all the fresh growth that the butterflies usually lay on has been destroyed but at least it has been done Before the eggs have been laid.
I have arrived at one of the best areas, just where the track branches to the left to go towards the "orchard" a noted hotspot. i watched Hairstreaks laying eggs here last year so i am giving it a good search but not a sign of any unfortunately. i carry on walking and come to a recently flailed section, and almost straight away i have just spotted my first Brown Hairstreak of the year, perched at eye level Yay!
i only managed the one shot before she flew high up into the tree :( but she was perched nicely so out comes the 300mm lens and i manage to take a few images, this is the best one.
then she suddenly flew down onto the blackthorn about 12 ft from me, at eye level again , perfect i though and proceed to take these images, the blue sky really making a good background to show off these beautiful butterflies :)
she didn't stay long and fluttered of over the hedge , so i continue along towards the orchard, as you can see in this image , cattle wires have been put up since last
time which might be a problem trying to get close to any butterflies low
down!
walking all the way along the hedge , through the orchard and have seen nothing , not even any dragonflies which is quite unusual for this area. i did however shoot this Brimstone feeding :)
i have started walking back towards the place i shot the first one and as i was looking up at the blackthorn a fellow photographer coming the opposite way shouted my name , it was Dave who i have met previously. we started talking and suddenly he shouted out "THERE'S ONE" low down on the blackthorn , then i spotted another one about 12 ft to the right :) they where basking in the sun and then occasionally going down a blackthorn stem looking for a suitable spot to lay eggs .
i decided to try shooting a video clip, its not great and sound no good obviously lol
i followed one along the hedgerow for about 40 ft and it perched perfectly on a leaf tip, unfortunately the electrified cattle wires were in the way! i knelt down and put the camera between the wires, keeping my eye on where the wire was , i almost had a perfectly composed in focus image in the viewfinder when "BANG" i was knocked backwards into Dave! he said " are you alright" my forehead must have touched the wire Arghhhh i have touched these low voltage wires before and they do give a large jolt ,but in the head was completely different.
my head was ringing and a big headache coming on!!! and on top of that i Didn't get the shot!
i felt a bit dizzy for about 5 minutes after this incident! the things we do to get a perfect shot :D
walking up and down this hedgerow we spotted 3 or 4 different Hairstreaks laying eggs intermittently , here are a few images
watching them laying eggs, they are crawling right down to almost ground level , making it impossible to photograph. presumably because all the higher growth had been flailed, walking down a blackthorn stem and resting for a while in the sun before seemingly looking for a suitable leaf joint to lay in.
i have managed this video clip of one attempting to lay an egg , could not see whether she had actually layed one for sure though!
here is an image of an egg shot last year at high magnification, size approx 0.7 mm diameter.
look at this , perfect perch and a dam grass stem gives a shadow Arghhhhhhhh
another really bad video clip, by now my head is really hurting!!
This one is feeding on what looks like honeydew dripped from an ivy plant above onto the leaf.
By now i decided to go and have a look around the rest of the wood,saying good bye to Dave,i start with the pond , hopefully get a few dragonfly shots. there are a few migrant and southern hawkers flying but not perching as usual, but i have just spotted what looks like a Ruddy Darter , using 300mm lens i got this shot
walking into the wood along the main track that runs right down the centre i take a side path to go and check out the very good blackthorn on the outer edge of the wood , there are some wonderful "lone" trees in the fields, always wondered WHY!
i have searched all the blackthorn and spotted no Brownies :( but i have just shot a lovely Comma near to this old building.
and opening wings to show the bright colouration :)
making my way back onto the main track and have come across an area with loads of freshly emerged Brimstones :) amazing , i can see about 8 all within 10 ft.
leaving them to carry on feeding i want to check on the flowers down at the opposite end of the main path , this is where the male brown hairstreaks come down to feed in the afternoon. when i arrive all i can see are hoverflys, hundreds feeding on the flower heads, and one common darter dragonfly which i have shot with 300mm lens.
making my way around to the bridalway i notice a nice spider on one of the fence posts, cant resist a quick natural light shot :)
again i have not seen anything else along this track so back into the wood , as i pass the Brimstone spot i take another image :)
My head is really banging now, i just have to head home, really not feeling good! a quick Nutty shot on the way back.
This was the last Butterfly trip of the year, its been a very good season considering the really bad weather we have had this year and numbers are well down on previous years, but i have seen 45 species,way more than i expected :D
I had quite bad headaches for about 4 days after the electric head shock,
"note to self - never touch cattle wire with head again" Arghhhhhhhh
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