The Bigger Picture
Although I like to capture what I see with a camera, I do not class myself as a photographer; my passion is the subject, not the photography. Don’t get me wrong, I want to take pictures that please me, and hopefully others, but I have no real interest in the photographic process or the ‘black art’ of post image capture manipulation software, other than that which allows me to slightly sharpen or carry out other minor adjustments. My pleasure comes from finding subjects to photograph, primarily entomological, and then producing the best possible pictures I can using my camera and fieldcraft. If I don’t succeed first time I need little excuse to go back and try again.
Which often happens ...
To me, a picture is not just about the quality of the captured subject but also, and possibly more importantly, the circumstances under which it was achieved. The location, weather conditions, temperature, time of day, the perfumes present in the air (particularly those that appear heightened at dawn), ambient sounds and, not least, if I was not on my own, the company with whom I shared the experience; the detail, the bigger picture. I know this all sounds a little 'airy-fairy' but it is important to me and is all part of my experience of being at one with nature, the environment and myself ...
With over a month's rain having fallen over West Sussex during a 24 hour period in early June 2012, several of my local rivers and smaller water courses had, not suprisingly, burst their banks. Extensive flooding occurred throughout West Sussex. After the storm came the calm and on the morning of 12 June I headed for Iping and Stedham Commons to look for the beautiful Silver-studded Blue, which had only recently started to emerge. It took little persuasion to tempt good friend Colin Knight to join me, who was also desperate to be out and about. We headed for a small south facing area of heathland where I discovered good numbers during their peak last year. In the poor light and low ambient temperature, I managed to find and photograph just three males in the short time I was there. On 27 June I returned, alone, to Stedham Common; my target, a female Silver-studded Blue. It did not take long before I found the first of many males, as they took flight from the purple heather and birch scrub; the smell of damp pine filled the air. Others, roosting amongst the undergrowth, gradually started to stir and as they did so they revealed their wings to the warmth of the new day. A slow walk through the heather finally produced four females; two rather tatty specimens and two very fresh individuals whose tiny gemstone adorned wings glistened in the hazy sun.
Considering all of the above comments, the female Silver-studded Blue below is my favourite shot of 2012; not only because the composition and subtleties of colour please me, and its not the best picture I've ever taken, but more importantly because of the total experience and the memories which are consequently evoked ...
Pirbright Common, 2 July 2012
The Met Office has now confirmed …
“Provisional Met Office figures for June show double the average amount of rain has fallen, making it the wettest June since records began in 1910. This is the second record-breaking month of rainfall this year, with April also topping the rankings. The period from April to June is also the wettest recorded for the UK. It is also the second dullest June on record with just 119.2 hours of sunshine, narrowly missing out on the record of 115.4 hours set in 1987. To complete the disappointing picture, it has also been the coolest June since 1991 with a mean temperature of 12.3°C”.
So that’s the good news …
Hopefully things can only get better, or at least that’s what I keep telling myself and particularly with Emperor season upon us. The message that clearly comes across to me, is that although opportunities to get out and see butterflies this season may be few and far between, we need to grab every single opportunity we get. Earlier today, with an 11.30am business meeting rescheduled to 1pm at short notice, and finding myself just outside of Guildford, I decided to pay a brief visit to a very overcast and windy Pirbright Common in Surrey. The last time I visited this small area of heathland was on 25th July 2011, when I visited the site to see the Grayling and Silver-studded Blue colonies that are to be found there. Today, despite far from ideal conditions, it was not hard to find small numbers of male Silver-studded Blue hunkered down in the heather.
Get out there when you can ...
Stedham Common, 27 June 2012
Amongst all the gloom and doom of what has undoubtedly been a difficult start to the 2012 butterfly season, I thought I'd share a ray of personal hope.
Despite previous losses of the Silver-studded Blue (Plebeius argus) from so many sites across Sussex, the last couple of years have seen Iping and Stedham Commons in West Sussex remain a key stronghold for this charismatic and beautiful butterfly, thanks to the combined management efforts of the Sussex Wildlife Trust and the various organisations and conservation volunteers involved with its management. 2010 proved to be a very positive year for the species in Sussex and show that it is possible to create and sustain ideal habitat conditions to save P. argus, at least in West Sussex. In 2011, despite inclement weather conditions at the time of the expected first emergence at Iping Common, adult butterflies were found and still being tended by ants that would have helped them through their early stages. In some areas, such as at Chapel Common on the Sussex / Hampshire border, numbers seen were up by 161% on 2010. In 2012, in a similar manner to 2011, we have seen poor weather follow a warm spring. My personal observations to date, based purely on my own site visits to Stedham Common, indicate a positive season for this beautiful butterfly, at least in this part of West Sussex.
Long may this positive trend continue ...
Stedham Common, 27 June 2012
Earlier today, before heading into local woodland, I paid a brief visit to the beautiful Stedham Common in West Sussex, my target, a female Silver-studded Blue.
It did not take long before I found the first of many males, as they took flight from the heather and birch scrub. Others, roosting amongst the undergrowth, gradually started to stir and as they did so they revealed their wings to the warmth of the new day. A slow walk through the heather finally produced four females; two rather tatty specimens and two very fresh individuals whose tiny gemstone adorned wings glistened in the hazy sun. The mating pair I was hoping for did not transpire, nor for that matter did the freshly emerged male sitting high on a single stem of purple heather with a host of ants in attendance, though perhaps that was being a little hopeful ...
Maybe next time ...
Iping and Stedham Commons, 12 June 2012
With over a month's rain having fallen over West Sussex in the last 24 hours I was desperate to get out. Continuous rain and serious flooding of many areas yesterday, accounted for several of my local rivers and smaller water courses bursting their banks; the speed and intensity of the rising water quite frightening in some cases ...
After the storm came the calm and this morning I headed for Iping and Stedham Commons to look for the beautiful Silver-studded Blue, which have only recently started to emerge. It took little persuasion to tempt Colin Knight to join me, who was also desperate to be out and about. We headed for a small south facing area of heathland where I discovered good numbers during their peak last year. In the poor light and low ambient temperature, I managed to find just three males in the short time I was there and left Colin in his search for a female. Their emergence this year is some two weeks later than last, with the first individuals of 2011 noted at Iping Common on 26th May. I look forward to watching their peak period of emergence over the next few weeks and getting some pictures in better light.
A butterfly I will never grow bored of watching ...
