A visit to Goss Moor and Breney Common

With very few birds in Cornwall, a visit to the east of the county was in order to find some butterflies.  I was hoping to see two species in particular but sadly dipped.  The Grizzled Skipper at Goss Moor was not recorded last year and it seems the same for 2013.  Alas it is most likely now extinct from this site.  I searched for a couple hours until the motor bike scramblers arrived.  I did see eight Dingy Skipper and one Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.  Given that this was probably the hottest day this year (18.5 degs), I was surprised how few butterflies there were.

On to Breney Common where I was hoping to see Marsh Fritillary.  I met John Cook and he had seen two here today but I failed to find them.  But I did find another two Small Pearl-bordereds, one Small Copper, three Four-spotted Chaser and very good numbers of Large Red Damselfly.  Some images of the day are below - all taken with D3x and 105mm macro.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary at Goss Moor



Dingy Skipper at Goss Moor

Small Copper at Breney

Large Red Damselfly at Breney

Four-spotted Chaser at Breney Common

(I also heard one Garden Warbler singing at Goss Moor).

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary at Breney

These shots were taken today at Breney Common nature reserve near Bodmin.  Although the weather was dull today, around twenty were counted around the reserve.  The species is locally common and widespread in Cornwall.  Inland populations and greatest concentration is Goss Moor, eastwards towards Breney Common and Bodmin.  Other concentrations include the Lizard and far west, where it is mainly restricted to the coastal areas.  The species is normally single brooded and is on the wing from early May to June. (Source: Cornwall Butterfly Atlas).

Settled on Marsh Cinquefoil

French fritillary's steal the show

This post is a summary of all the fritillary's that we saw over the last couple weeks here in the Dordogne / Bordeaux area of France.  The genus is easily the most common type of butterfly and to put it simply, they are everywhere.  They have dominated every day's sightings.  Glanville and Meadow Fritillary are the commonest.  The image above and below are Glanville's.

The majority of the shots were taken in farmland, near vineyards and virtually all beside the road in the numerous ditches and drains.  The French roads and highways are maintained differently to the UK.  Every road seems to have a drainage ditch which are left to nature.  The ditches are splashes of colourful flowers which in turn supports these stunning butterflies. 

Above:  Glanville Fritillary.  Below: Knapweed Fritillary

Meadow Fritillary above and lower three.

Small Pearl-bordered being shown some unwanted interest from a Silver-washed Fritillary.

Above and below: Spotted Fritillary.

Above and below: Silver-washed Fritillary.

All of the images were handheld.  Taken with the macro 105mm with VR constantly on.  Aperture used was F/10 or greater depending on available light.  Thanks to John Chapple for verifying the ID.  Any ID comments very welcome.

Cornish insects in macro

The images in this post were taken at the weekend at Stithians and The Lizard. All were taken with a Sigma 1:1 ratio 105mm F2/8 lens. I took about 200 shots of at least eight species of dragonfly, half hand held, half on a tripod. The latter method easily outweighs handheld in terms of in-focus images. The drawback with a tripod is manoeuvering the tripod close enough to the insect without scaring it. However, my obvious preference is to use a tripod every time.

The image above is a Common Darter taken a distance of about three inches.

The image above is an Azure Damselfly resting on Sorrel.

Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary using a tripod at a distance of about six inches.

Common Blue resting on a young fir tree in dull light. This individual allowed close approach to about four inches. A tripod was used.

EXIF Detail: Aperture priority. Ap F/10. ISO 320. Shutter speed average 1/160s. Exposure 0.oEV.