Butterfly & Nature Photography by Silvia Reiche
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      • Reverdin's Blue
      • Ripart's anomalous Blue
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      • Marbled Fritillary
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      • Mountain Fritillary
      • Nickerl's Fritillary
      • Niobe Fritillary
      • Pearl-bordered Fritillary
      • Queen of Spain Fritillary
      • Shepard's Fritillary
      • Silver-washed Fritillary
      • Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
      • Spotted Fritillary
      • Titania's Fritillary
      • Twin-Spot Fritillary
      • Weaver's Fritillary
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      • Arran Brown
      • Chestnut Heath
      • Dusky Heath
      • Gatekeeper
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      • Large Wall Brown
      • Marbled White
      • Meadow Brown
      • Pearly Heath
      • Ringlet
      • Small Heath
      • Southern Grayling
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      • Wall Brown
      • Woodland Grayling
      • Woodland Ringlet
    • Metamorphosises >
      • Spotted Fritillary
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      • Black-veined White
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Fingers crossed

19/3/2020

0 Comments

 
Three weeks ago I noticed that in the forest nearby (which I visit regularly with my 'new' dog) a lot of trees near the path were cut down....some of them were oaks so I had to come back to search for Purple Hairstreak eggs.
Last Saturday I visited this area with a friend who found the first egg. Some days later I returned to collect more branches for breeding this butterfly species and to search for more eggs.
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Egg Purple Hairstreak - Sony A7RII, tripod, remote release, 65 mm, 2,5 sec, F 11 , ISO 100
I also discoverd a lot of empty eggs (which I found out at home after looking at them  with the MP-E 65mm lens at 5x zooming). Fingers crossed that the little caterpillars found their way into the oak bud and that they survived!
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New generation

29/4/2018

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For weeks, even months I was longing for spring and suddenly it was summer and within a week nature has changed completely. On Thursday evening I checked an area nearby and found out that the majority of the Cuckoo flowers are on their return and instead of Orange-tips I found eggs.
Picture
Egg Orange-tip - Canon 7DMKII, tripod, plamp, remote release, 65 mm, 1/4 sec, F 6.3, ISO 100
On Friday morning the weather was ideal (no wind at all) photographing butterfly eggs (with the MP-E 65mm) on their larval food plants. On the small fresh buckthorns leaves I found eggs of the Brimstone. 
Picture
Egg Brimstone - Canon 7DMKII, tripod, plamp, remote release, 65 mm, 0,5 sec, F 5, ISO 100
​The interesting thing was that three females must passed this buckthorn bush and they all liked the same leaves/places as I found three eggs under the same leaves.
0 Comments

Friederike

27/1/2018

1 Comment

 
On Thursday 18th January a storm, called Friederike in Germany, 'visited' the Netherlands and caused a lot of chaos and damage. The next day I walked with Wanda through the forest and noticed that a lot of trees had fallen down and that the paths were covered with branches. The majority were pine trees and branches but inbetween I discoverd one oak branch. I took him home and with the help of my magnifier I found one eggs of the Purple Hairstreak. A few days later I found on an other path some oak branches on which I found two eggs. A hand full of branches earned three eggs!
Picture
Egg Purple Hairstreak - Canon 7DMKII, tripod, remote release, 65 mm, 0,8 sec, F 10 , ISO 100
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Egg Purple Hairstreak - Canon 7DMKII, tripod, remote release, 65 mm, 0,3 sec, F 7.1 , ISO 100
So if there are butterfly lovers who like to 'breed' purple hairstreaks.....the floor (forest paths) is yours!
1 Comment

The First Supper

5/6/2016

2 Comments

 
A lot of fennel was growing in the meadows of the accomodation in France and with a lot I mean hundreds of plants. So it was no surprise that the Swallowtail was a regular visitor and that the females were laying eggs. But when I liked to photograph an egg a few days later the egg was gone; instead I found some fat ants. I watched this proces, called nature, some days and decided to intervene. I took some fennel with yellow eggs and put it outside in the window-sill of the accomodation. Afer a few day, more by accident, I noticed a little dark spot and after I found my glasses I noticed that the dark spot was a hatching egg. With my MP-E 65 mm I could follow the birth but there was too much wind outside to photograph this proces. After the birth this tiny little caterpillar started to eat the egg shell and inbetween he took a break....time for me to make some photos. Ever tried to photograph something with a longer shuttertime on a fennel leaf?​
Picture
Caterpillar Swallowtail - Canon 7DMKII, tripod, remote release, 65 mm, 0,3 sec, F 16 , ISO 100
The leaves of fennel are always in motion. After some photos I relooked them in the screen of my camera and could see that the tiny caterpillar started in the choosen (higher) position and after some shots he was that low that I needed to change again the compositon. Fortunately I had enough time that day to repeat that proces again and again and again. I'm happy that I can add this young caterpillar (5:1 magnification) to my personal Swallowtail image collecion.
2 Comments

An egg is an egg

27/3/2016

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Happy Easter everybody!
In a few weeks, when temperatures finally will rise and oak buds will unfold their first leaf , these two eggs will hatch and a new life cycle of the Purple Hairstreak will begin. I can't wait to follow it.
Picture
Eggs Purple Hairstreak - Canon 7DMKII, tripod, remote release, 65 mm, 1,6 sec, F 16 , ISO 160
In the meantime I take care of myself with the AH Moestuintjes (vegetable seeds). Last year it was a big success for the Dutch white species. This year I will also try to tempt the Swallowtail again by sowing fennel; fennel is one of the larval foodplants of the Swallowtail. The fennel will be planted next to the buddlejas (butterfly bush) which are magnets for hungry butterflies.
0 Comments

New Year's Day

1/1/2016

2 Comments

 
All was quiet when I stepped outside early this morning with Wanda; we enjoyed the first sunrise and sunlight of 2016. In the afternoon I visited a forest area nearby where I discovered earlier an oak tree which has been blown down a few weeks ago.
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With the help of my reading glasses I inspected the oak buds hoping to find some eggs of the Purple Hairstreak. Just by the time I started wondering if I would find any egg, I found the first one....in total I only found 4 eggs: 3 on an oak bud and 1 on the twig.
Picture
Egg Purple Hairstreak - Canon 7DMKII, tripod, remote release, 65 mm, 12 sec, F 16 , ISO 160
2 Comments

The first life of a Holly Blue

2/9/2015

1 Comment

 
The Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) is one of my faithful garden butterflies.....probably because I have a lot of Holly, Purple Loosestrife and Ivy growing. It's one of the first blue species in springtime and one of the last early autumn. While the females are searching for nectar, the males are searching for females in a very busy, almost spastic, flight high off the ground.
Some weeks ago I noticed how a female was inspecting a huge Ivy hedge and a few days later I found (with the help of a magnifier) an egg and followed its secret life:
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Egg on Ivy bud
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Empty egg after hatching (4-5 x zooming)
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Caterpillar 4 days old (2 x zooming)
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Caterpillar 14 days old (1 x zooming)
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Fullgrown caterpillar 19 days old in rest
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Pupa just after transformation
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Egg on Ivy bud (5 x zooming)
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Caterpillar a few hours old (5 x zooming)
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Caterpillar 4 days old (5 x zooming)
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Caterpillar 15 days old
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Caterpillar 21 days old before transformation
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Pupa two days after transformation
The chrysalis is hanging upside down under the birch leaf so for the last three photos I had to turn around the leaf. The first two weeks, I used my special macro lens, the MP-E 65 mm; afterward I could use my 'normal' macro lens.
I hope that the chrysalis will survive the winter outside and that I can 'catch' the second life of the Holly Blue next spring!
1 Comment

AH Moestuintje

14/8/2015

3 Comments

 
A little introduction for the non-Dutch people: AH is the abbreviation of Albert Heijn which is one of the biggest supermarket chain in the Netherlands. In February and March this year, for every 15 Euro, I received some vegetable seeds to create my own vegetable garden.

After a lot of caretaking, I now have a lot of tomatoes and all stages of all Dutch white species. Their favourite of all vegetable/cabbage plants is broccoli. They ‘adore’ the leaves and some caterpillars have no problems with devouring all yellow flowers of the broccoli. 
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Part of the caterpillars of the Large White (pieris brassicae)
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Egg of the Green-veined White (pieris napi)
A nest of about sixty caterpillars of the Large White I found in their third skin; a few days later I decided to take them inside and feed them on my kitchen table. 
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Caterpillar Large White (pieris brassicae) on broccoli
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Transformation Large White from caterpillar into chrysalis
After almost a week I found out that none of these caterpillars was infected by the White Butterfly Parasite (a wasp with the name Cotesia glomerata). That is a remarkable fact as normally a big part of the caterpillars is parasitised.
A second notable fact was that the caterpillars did not accept little branches or other dead natural material which I offered them; a big part of the caterpillars pupated in a group on the plastic of the insect box and the other part on the green broccoli leaves. Fortunately one caterpillar transformed into a pupa on a day I did not have to work (see sequence 1).
In the meantime I found an other caterpillar nest of the Large White on broccoli and some new eggs of the Green-veined White and/or Small White but they have to survive outside as I have no more space available on my kitchen table!
3 Comments

Liar Liar

2/5/2014

1 Comment

 
In my last blog I wrote that I have enough photo's of the Orange-tip; actually I ment the DUTCH Orange-tip. Arriving in my beloved France, one of the first butterflies which welcomes me was the yellow Provence Orange-tip. ​Wow.....what a beauty! 
Every evening I walked around and searched on yellow flowers (including his larval foodplant) for this butterfly without any success.
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Then the day came that I found one resting butterfly in the daytime and while I was photographing this butterfly (with stormy Mistral) I found some little caterpillars, white and orange eggs and the same evening as a big surprise: 3 resting Orange-tips....they maked my day! 
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The only problem was the Mistral which drives me crazy. With two empty shopping baskets I built a kind of shelter and with some sticks I stabalized the long and tiny plant they were resting on. Despite all this efforts it was a real challenge to make photos without any movements. 
As one shopping basked was red and the other light blue, it must have been looked very obvious but it helped to keep the worst gusts of wind away. 

When the sun came up across the hill, one by one they were opening the wings and it seemed that I had three femals. Girlpower! But, the way they came, they left, as no more resting yellow Orange-tip was found, till yet.
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Provence Orange-tip with a white egg
Soon, a new page with all images of the Provence Orange-tip will be added to this website.
1 Comment
    Picture
    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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  • Home
    • Update News
  • About
    • Biography
    • Photography
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Butterfly Gallery
    • Hesperiidae >
      • Chequered Skipper
      • Dingy Skipper
      • Essex Skipper
      • Grizzled Skipper
      • Large Chequered Skipper
      • Large Skipper
      • Mallow Skipper
      • Red-underwing Skipper
      • Silver-spotted Skipper
      • Small Skipper
    • Papilionidae >
      • Apollo
      • Clouded Apollo
      • Scarce Swallowtail
      • Swallowtail
      • Southern Swallowtail
      • Southern Festoon
      • Spanish Festoon
    • Pieridae >
      • Black-veined White
      • Green-veined White
      • Large White
      • Wood White
      • Small White
      • Orange-tip
      • Portuguese Dappled White
      • Provence Orange-tip
      • Western Dappled White
      • Brimstone
      • Cleopatra
      • Clouded Yellow
      • Pale Clouded Yellow
      • Berger's Clouded Yellow
      • Mountain Clouded Yellow
    • Lycaenidae >
      • Black Hairstreak
      • Brown Hairstreak
      • False Ilex Hairstreak
      • Green Hairstreak
      • Ilex Hairstreak
      • Purple Hairstreak
      • Sloe Hairstreak
      • White-letter Hairstreak
      • Large Copper
      • Purple-edged Copper
      • Purple-shot Copper
      • Scarce Copper
      • Small Copper
      • Sooty Copper
      • Violet Copper
      • Adonis Blue
      • Alcon Blue
      • Alpine Blue
      • Amanda's Blue
      • Baton Blue
      • Brown Argus
      • Chalkhill Blue
      • Chequered Blue
      • Common Blue
      • Cranberry Blue
      • Damon Blue
      • Dusky Large Blue
      • Escher's Blue
      • Geranium Argus
      • Glandon Blue
      • Green-underside Blue
      • Holly Blue
      • Idas Blue
      • Large Blue
      • Mazarine Blue
      • Mountain Alcon Blue
      • Northern Brown Argus
      • Piedmont anomalous Blue
      • Provence Chalkhill Blue
      • Reverdin's Blue
      • Ripart's anomalous Blue
      • Scarce Large Blue
      • Silver-studded Blue
      • Silvery Argus
      • Small Blue
      • Short-tailed Blue
      • Turquoise Blue
      • Duke of Burgundy
    • Nymphalidae >
      • Purple Emperor
      • Lesser Purple Emperor
      • White Admiral
      • Southern White Admiral
      • Hungarian Glider
      • Camberwell Beauty
      • Comma Butterfly
      • Large Tortoiseshell
      • Map Butterfly
      • Painted Lady
      • Peacock
      • Red Admiral
      • Small Tortoiseshell
      • Assmann's Fritillary
      • Bog Fritillary
      • Cardinal
      • Cranberry Fritillary
      • Dark Green Fritillary
      • False Heath Fritillary
      • Glanville Fritillary
      • Grisons Fritillary
      • Heath Fritillary
      • High Brown Fritillary
      • Knapweed Fritillary
      • Lesser Marbled Fritillary
      • Marbled Fritillary
      • Marsh Fritillary
      • Meadow Fritillary
      • Mountain Fritillary
      • Nickerl's Fritillary
      • Niobe Fritillary
      • Pearl-bordered Fritillary
      • Queen of Spain Fritillary
      • Shepard's Fritillary
      • Silver-washed Fritillary
      • Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
      • Spotted Fritillary
      • Titania's Fritillary
      • Twin-Spot Fritillary
      • Weaver's Fritillary
    • Satyridae >
      • Alpine Heath
      • Arran Brown
      • Chestnut Heath
      • Dusky Heath
      • Gatekeeper
      • Great Banded Grayling
      • Large Ringlet
      • Large Wall Brown
      • Marbled White
      • Meadow Brown
      • Pearly Heath
      • Ringlet
      • Small Heath
      • Southern Grayling
      • Speckled Wood
      • Wall Brown
      • Woodland Grayling
      • Woodland Ringlet
    • Metamorphosises >
      • Spotted Fritillary
      • Large White
      • Red Admiral
      • Black-veined White
      • Map Butterfly
      • Swallowtail
      • Peacock
      • Orange-tip
      • Brimstone
      • Small Tortoiseshell
      • Painted Lady
      • Comma Butterfly
      • Portuguese Dappled White
      • Camberwell Beauty
      • Queen of Spain Fritillary
    • Alpine Species
    • Germany - Eifel
    • Butterflies in France
    • Butterflies NL
    • Threats & Enemies
    • UFI
  • Gallery A - Z
    • Amphibians
    • Aosta - Gran Paradiso
    • Ardeche
    • Bayerischer Wald
    • Beetles
    • Bluebell Forest
    • Caterpillars
    • Cevennes
    • Dordogne
    • Holy Love
    • Hungary
    • Insects - Others
    • Jumping Spiders
    • Kleine Beerze
    • Kleine Beerze II
    • Koebosch
    • Landschotse Heide
    • Little Owl
    • Luberon
    • Lueneburger Heide
    • Mercantour
    • Mercantour part II
    • Orchids Dream
    • Pink and Purple
    • Snakes and Reptiles
    • Spiders
    • Spring Flowers
    • Strabrechtse Heide
    • Styria
    • Teutoburger Wald
    • Toxic Tales
    • Var
  • Blog Vosges
    • Butterflies in the Vosges
    • Nature in the Vosges
    • House Gallery Vosges
  • Rust In Peace
    • Citroen
    • Ford
    • Hanomag
    • Mercedes
    • Peugeot
    • Renault
    • Simca
    • Sleeping Beauty