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Last Sunday I was 'en route' with Frank & Gerard again and we visited the same area as one year ago to search for the Queen of Spain Fritillary. We knew that the chance finding one of them was low. The first hour we did not find any living creature at all. But then we entered a meadow and found the first of 15 Small Coppers.
It's remarkable because the evening before I found two coppers roosting nearby my home and during my stay in the Vosges earlier, I photographed this species a few times. It looks like the third generation has better conditions than the first and second one!
Unfortunately all of them were roosting on places where it was impossible to catch them with the first or last warm light in the background. So I waited to catch them with open wings:
Although I found them in four different areas they had one thing in common....they were all roosting on brown/dead flower buds for optimal camouflage!  Small Copper - De Kempen Kleine Beerze
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This morning I photographed the most beautiful fritillary we have in The Netherlands. As there was no wind I tried my MP-E 65 mm for the big pearly spot. With 4 x magnification the distance between the lens and subject was very small and the depth of field extremely low (always with this lens). After a few images the wind started blowing so I switched my camera again as I liked to photograph this species with open wings. I waited and waited but by the time the sun arrived the fritillary flew away. Do you know which butterfly species the 'owner' of this pearly spot is?  Pearly spot - Canon 7DMKII, tripod, remote release, MP-E 65 mm, 8 sec, F 10, ISO 100 Since my trips to the Mercantour I was longing for a photo of the Grisons Fritillary on which the difference, the pearly row, between this species and the Heat Fritillary is clearly visible! In Aosta - Gran Paradiso I found them!
Except butterflies I miss the great view of our accommodation, the delicious ripe gorgonzola and the good italian wine......and last but not least the company of my two friends Frank & Gerard. I hope to return to this lovely place in 2021.  Cheers to the good life!!! It's hard to believe that I left this butterfly paradise almost three weeks ago....I miss this mountain area with its butterfly spots badly! Like I wrote before, one spot was my favorite as it was the 'main supplier' for my Aosta - Gran Paradiso gallery.
We visited this spot four times with a small interval and every visit it seems that the selection of butterflies was changed. And I'm convinced that this place has much more to offer.....so I will return for sure to this area!
From the terrace of our accommodation we had a great view to the Mont Blanc. Although I knew this beforehand I was too much focussed on butterflies that I forgot my 35-350mm lens at home. So when the Mont Blanc showed up after a few days I had the choice using my 100mm or 180 mm macro lens.  Mont Blanc - Sony A7RII, tripod, remote release, 100 mm, 2 sec, F32, ISO100 Photographing butterflies in the Aosta-Gran Paradiso area was a long cherised wish. During our stay we counted more than 80 different butterfly species. One spot was our favorite one which we visited four times and during every visit we found some 'for Dutch butterfly photographers' rare and beautiful species like the Geranium Argus and this Silvery Argus:  Yesterday I returned from a fantastic two weeks stay with Gerard & Frank in the Aosta-Gran Paradiso area in Italy. We had a great accommodation with Monte Bianco view on almost 1500 m in a small hamlet which was surrounded by meadows full of butterflies!  Our small hamlet (smartphone) Every evening Gerard and I were searching for butterflies near the accommocation and almost every evening we found at least one roosting Apollo (next to a lot of other species). During our stay we visited a lot of places/valleys/meadows every morning and mostly it was 'hard' work finding butterflies; I expected larger numbers. But, I will not complain as we found beautiful (fresh) species surrounded by impressive nature! The discovery of a Pearl-bordered Fritally on geranium was one of my highlights as this species is very hard to find roosting.  Pearl-bordered Fritillary - Sony A7RII, tripod, remote release, 180 mm, 1/3 sec, F10, ISO100 Last weekend I visited the Eifel together with the Jordan brothers. The accommodation was booked in January so we decided to face the elements of a rainy and stormy weekend! On our way to the accommodation we visited an old location but we couldn't find much butterflies there. On a second location Gerard and Frank stayed wisely in the car; I went out searching butterflies but it was getting darker and darker.....partly drenched I returned to the car. We drove to a third location which we discoverd last year and after the rain stopped we tried again to find butterflies. Last year we visited this 'new' area one week earlier and we did not find much butterflies.
This year was different! On the big meadow I found a fresh Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and I was happy with the first butterfly at all. Some later Gerard found in a very small bog meadow surrounded by the forest a lot of Bog Fritillaries and some Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries....as the sky was getting darker again we decided after some photos to leave for dinner and to return the next morning.
On Saturday morning we had some moments with less wind but it was still a challenge to get sharp photos and within one hour the heavy wind returned. After breakfast we visited some other meadows and area's and at the moment I started photographing this Large Skipper the sun arrived and he flew away.
Sunday morning we visited a large area and very soon Gerard found a fresh Purple-edged Copper and when I photographed this butterfly a soft sun arrived and for some minutes the light was fantastic. Unfortunately it started raining again and the biting midges became very active but I will not complain as we found some beautiful fresh butterflies in this area!
The only thing that I missed was our favorite 'Kaffee & Kuchen' place which was closed due to the corona rules. Yesterday evening I found again a butterfly on dandelion in my garden so my alarm clock went off early this morning. Because there was a strong wind I built a kind of wind-protection-wall with crates....unfortunately the wind came from the same direction as the sun was rising that I capitulated after a lot of unsharp photo's. Some later I saw the first reflections of the sun in the window of the chicken shed and after a look into my viewfinder I started photographing again. Fortunately I have some sharp images and while I was editing these files I was listening to a masterpiece of music from Mike Oldfield which brought me back to 1984.  Green-veined White - Sony A7RII, tripod, remote release, 180 mm, 1/13 sec, F9, ISO100 I will not complain about my neighbours but they have a different relationship with nature than I and in their opinion a garden must be clean and empty. Years ago they were talking a little bit too loud to friends about my 'gribus zooi' mess garden'. This morning I was thinking about this comment and that due to my messy garden I could stay at home for photographing butterflies....because they love my messy garden with dandelions!  Small White - Sony A7RII, tripod, remote release, 180 mm, 1/13 sec, F5.6, ISO100 Last week I visited the meadows (Maasheggen) near the Meuse three times; these meadows are characteristic as they are small and surrounded by blackthorn and hawthorn shrubs. The shrubs are full of (nesting) birds and in front of/near the shrubs I found some roosting Orange-tips. One of these mornings was a special one as the sky was extremely coloured red for a long time .  Orange-tip - Sony A7RII, beanbag, remote release, 180 mm, 1/6 sec, F5.6, ISO100 For more than an hour I photographed the above female Orange-tip with the rising sun and on my way back to the car I checked the other female Orange-tip and saw the beautiful orange reflections in the background. Fortunately just in time!  Orange-tip - Sony A7RII, beanbag, remote release, 180 mm, 1/50 sec, F5, ISO125 |
Jibt dir dit Leben mal een Buff, denn weene keene Träne. Lach Dir'n Ast und setz Dir druff und baumle mit de Beene.
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