Large white

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insect on lavender
About the only good thing about having a full hard drive is that it forces me to revisit old files, looking for things I can delete. In the process, I often find images that didn’t make the cut first time around but have grown on me since. These two butterfly shots are the case in point, taken in July 2011 at Mayfield Lavender farm, Banstead, Surrey.
insect on lavender
The large white butterfly, so prosaically named, is ubiquitous here in Surrey (and probably everywhere else in England) and it tends to get overlooked for more unusual species, but actually it is really quite pretty when you look closely. I like the eyes, with a subtle hint of green. If it was rare, we’d all be waxing lyrical about its ghostly beauty.

Fort Grey

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Guernsey

 

I have done battle with the binding machine and submitted the hard copies of my dissertation.  It is well and truly done.

I have already visited a few blogs and have plans to visit many more – I have missed the fun of sharing this great hobby with other enthusiasts.  I have lots of plans, plenty of photographic projects in the pipeline.  But I also want to share some of the photos I took during our holiday to the Channel Islands this year.    This is Fort Grey, on Guernsey’s West coast.  Inside, there is a fascinating shipwreck museum which I heartily recommend. It is never easy trying to do landscape photography on a family holiday.  At this location I noticed the best viewpoint of all just as we were driving away and couldn’t bring myself to ask the family to stop again while I captured it.  This will have to do.  Mostly it was too hazy while we were there and there weren’t enough clouds to make interesting sunsets, but this evening was an exception.

Common Blue

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butterfly

It’s been several weeks since I was last here. I’ve missed it.  I just pressed the button on my dissertation!   I can no longer tinker with it; it’s done.  All I need to do now is bind and drop off the hard copies tomorrow.  I am excited to be able to get back to the blog.  I hope you haven’t all given up on me!

I couldn’t completely leave the camera alone for the whole summer.  Here’s a shot of a lovely little common blue butterfly, captured while on holiday in Sark in July.  See you after college tomorrow!

Garden critters

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bombylius major

Bee fly again

As the deadline for my dissertation inexorably draws nearer, and with school holidays approaching even faster, I am having to put photography on the back burner, again. But it is bug season! Not fair! I can’t ignore all that gorgeous mini-beast action in my garden completely. So here are a few shots grabbed in illicit moments away from my studies.

insect macro

Capsid bug

These capsid bugs normally hang out on oak trees. Luckily, my neighbour has a whopper of an oak tree so we get a lot of extra bug action. Oak trees rock.

insect macro

Really very tiny anonymous fly

This fly is so small I can’t make out the detail until I grab a macro shot and view it at native resolution on my desktop. It’s too small even for my insect field guide, so I can offer no ID.  Do step up if you know what it is!

insect

What am I?

This might be a moth. It too is very small, but rather cute, in my opinion.

I have a few more shots to share but I am going to have to be strict with myself about spending time on-line for the next few weeks. So sorry if I don’t manage to visit your site for a while. But, come September, there will be no stopping me!