Swallowtails and a surprise

ByDawn

Phew, what a day! Headed out to the Broads to try and find some Swallowtail butterflies, we found several on the wing, but they didn’t settle, and I was surprised to find a lack of flowers. We decided to go back to Strumpshaw for the afternoon.

The place was alive with Swallowtails!

We must have seen at least 10 butterflies in total, all over the reserve. One section of path was especially good, as it was sheltered from the wind and in the bright sunshine. The light was a bit harsh and difficult to handle, but gave a nice quick shutter speed to capture these fast moving animals.

Some of these butterflies were more relaxed, resting on nettles, giving some great photo opportunities. Occasionally these would take to the air, with a beautiful gliding flight up and down the path, very different to the quick flickering fluttering flight when they feed. They’d then settle again and pose nicely.

This shot below is probably my favourite from the day…

They hardly ever seem to rest with their wings raised, so I was pleased to get this, and the back-lighting is nice too!

Finally to top off an already great day, we continued walking round the reserve, and saw that the entire gull colony was in the air and shouting about something. Ducks were panicking and zooming over us, circling round the fen. An otter perhaps? Nope – a large long winged raptor slowly flying towards us, being mobbed by angry gulls… We couldn’t believe our eyes – it was an Osprey!!!

The first time I’ve ever seen one, and absolutely amazing! Didn’t get any photos of course as I still had the macro lens on from photographing the butterflies, and the big lens was in the car. Another photographer did get some great shots of it though, which he kindly showed us.

So a brilliant day, with very friendly people and photographers, and fantastic wildlife!

 

Similar Posts

  • At Last

    ByDawn

    As regular readers will know, the Turtle Dove is a bird very close to my heart. It was the bird that inspired my passion for all things wild, and an equal passion for it’s conservation. Since June, I’ve had this remarkable bird visiting the garden, but have struggled with time and light to actually get…

  • Close encounters

    ByDawn

    A dull and dreary start to the day at the Fen, with a heavy blanket of low cloud and mist. Nothing doing with the Sedge and Reed warblers, they were keeping low down in the reedbed, but still singing. Spotted the Little Grebe on his regular pool, shame there’s nowhere to get a clear view…

  • White Wings

    ByDawn

    Change is part of life. Every new day is an opportunity to begin again. The seasons turn, the tides change, the sun rises and sets. We humans assume we can always remain the same, but we are part of nature, and therefore change is inevitable for us too. Something I have discovered only too painfully….

  • Blog catch up time

    ByDawn

    I realise I’ve really neglected my blog recently, instead I’ve just been adding recent photos to my Facebook page, but I’ve been missing writing, so it’s time for a quick update. Since my last blog in late Summer I continued photographing the bees, and had the pleasure of photographing this beautiful Common Carder bee, a…

  • Exhibition News

    ByDawn

    I am very excited to announce that I will be exhibiting my work in Santiago’s Art Café in Botesdale, Suffolk. It’s actually my first exhibition in many, many years, so I’m really looking forward to it. There’s something about seeing photos printed that is so refreshing in our increasingly digital world, and that was one…

  • In the evening

    ByDawn

    With the lovely long days at this time of year, I can spend a few hours out on the fen after work. The atmosphere in the evening is very different to sunrise, which is when I’m normally there. The reeds buzz and flicker with insects, damselflies and dragonflies, birds cruise through the warm sky and…

One Comment

  1. Hi Dawn.
    Been following your blog since I saw some of you Snow Bunting shots from Salthouse on Birdguides back in February and realised I was there that day too, (parked at the far end of the car park shooting from the car).
    Just last week I was lucky enough to capture my first Turtle Doves shots also but got to say I think your Swallowtails are fantastic.
    Keep up the good work.
    Regards
    Barry

Leave a Reply