Painted Lady

If you're in the south east of England you can't fail to have noticed the blizzard of painted ladies that has appeared over the past week. They're everywhere, and it's impossible to step outside without seeing large numbers of these delightful butterflies. Although always among the more common visitors, the sheer number this year is exceptional.
A pair of painted ladies

A pair with wings closed

A closer look

A different perspective

The damsel flies are also beginning to emerge. There were several dancing outside my window at work today, but none so far in the garden. More pond squatting looks likely over the next few weeks as I go in search of photos.

No luck with cub-watching tonight, though Bold did pass through several times, and the cub did put in an appearance on the trail cam overnight. The Bold Vixen
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: the two shots of a pair of painted ladies were taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens. I used the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro for the others, and added a touch of flash (in-built) on the final shot. The vixen was photographed with the EF70-300mm 4.5-5.6 DO IS lens.

Tags: , ,

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. gdare

    29 May 2009

    Bold Vixen is spying through your window 😛

  2. SittingFox

    29 May 2009

    Good grief, she'll be sitting on your sofa and watching TV next! 😉

    The butterfly shots are great. We've missed out on the "blizzard" 🙁

  3. Words

    29 May 2009

    Darko, that's not quite so clever when I'm standing behind her 😉

  4. Words

    29 May 2009

    Adele, she's still very busy looking after the cub (which I missed again last night). She trots through several times a night.

    The blizzard seems to have abated. None in the garden tonight and far fewer at work. Maybe they're heading your way.

  5. annoushkiss

    30 May 2009

    Lovely shots!
    Painted ladies are nice, and esp I like the shot taken at unusual angle :up:

    BV seems to be very busy 😉

  6. Words

    30 May 2009

    Thanks Anna. We've had so many of the butterflies this year that it's been easy to get interesting shots. Yes, the vixen is a busy mum at the moment. 🙂

  7. Flying Red Fox Blog

    2 Jun 2009

    Beautiful Butterflies :yes: and Bold is beautiful too! 😀

  8. Words

    2 Jun 2009

    Mark, the butterflies have been great. The best year for Painted Ladies since 1996, but that time there were lots Red Admirals as well. Very few of those this time around. Bold is being great, though I've missed her the last couple of nights.

Comments are closed.

Close Menu