Today in pictures

[Margaret Pilkington]

Yes...I am much the same...and I do not mind people being in my shots...it gives the picture life.
Oh and Ryewolf.....I thought of you on sunday....I found a very large bee in my backyard...it looked a bit tired and distressed...so i took some sugar water out for it.
I even picked it up(OK...still cowardly - gently lifted it with my fish slice).

[Ryewolf90]

Not even a damp and dreary day like today stopped me from going out with my camera.... There's no such thing as a bad day for photography but some days are better than others....

There should have been 2 steam engines running but 80080 was cancelled, so D1501 was running in it's place.

1. City of Wells at Irwell Vale
2. Diesel D5054 'Phil Southern' departing Rawtenstall
3. Diesel D1501 departing Rawtenstall

[Ryewolf90]

One of my favourite spots for evening photography is on Pendle Hill

[Ryewolf90]

Cinnabar Moth Caterpillars: Another load off to their new home, as the little beggars have eaten all the ragwort... I did have around 15-20 plants growing in my yard, after a quick count there's at least 95 here. These were the second lot I collected and moved off to a new home with lots of ragwort. Ragwort itself is posionous and because the caterpillars eat it they also become posionous, same with the moth, hopefully these will manage to pupate and will become moths next year.

[Exile on Spencer St]

Originally Posted by Ryewolf90

One of my favourite spots for evening photography is on Pendle Hill

Brilliant shots, Ryewolf.

[Ryewolf90]

The Painted Lady's are here, these butterflies come all the way from Africa for the summer then fly back again...

[Ryewolf90]

Originally Posted by Exile on Spencer St

Brilliant shots, Ryewolf.

Thanks, just taking advantage of the natural splendor of summer evenings.

[ferret man]

Originally Posted by Ryewolf90

The Painted Lady's are here, these butterflies come all the way from Africa for the summer then fly back again...

How do you know this are they taged

[Ryewolf90]

It's been well studied, the ones that return to Africa after arriving in the UK aren't the same ones that set out back and as many as 6 generations have passed.

[Exile on Spencer St]

Originally Posted by Ryewolf90

The Painted Lady's are here, these butterflies come all the way from Africa for the summer then fly back again...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-49210010
Just read the above!

[Ryewolf90]

Saturdays Mini Beast Safari...

One of the problems with macro is not just finding your subjects but identifying them afterwards...

1. Red Solider Beetle - at least I know what this one is...
2. Tiny Fly... on a similar plant as the solider beetle....
3. Teeny Tiny Fly, it was so small it was hard to see with the naked eye.... Again on a plant like the others...
4. Hoverfly - this one had me confused as it looked like a wasp, but on a large screen you can see it's proboscis..
5. It's a moth on a thistle head - that's all I know....
6. A Spider....
7. Mystery Bug, my instincts tell me this isn't the adult....

[Margaret Pilkington]

Welll, Ryewolf....those last shots of yours are amazing.
The detail you have captured is the kind of thing you would see in textbooks.....but they still made me go all....ooh ah, let me get away....so not cured of the insect thing....yet.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by Ryewolf90

The Painted Lady's are here, these butterflies come all the way from Africa for the summer then fly back again...

There were three of these butterflies resting on my newly washed sheets on Friday and I (wrongly) thought they were Red Admirals....but then the only butterflies I can identify are Cabbage Whites and Red Admirals.....and seemingly I can now only identify Cabbage whites(because I thought the Painted Ladies were Red Admirals)
Just as an aside....are males Painted Gentlemen?.....no, I know they aren't.
Can you tell males from females...and how?

I will away now and consult Google.

[Ryewolf90]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I (wrongly) thought they were Red Admirals....

They do look very much like Red Admirals, don't worry I wrongly identified them at first.


No idea how you tell the males from females, some butterflies do have distinct differences between the sexes, Orange Tips for example only the male has the orange tip on it's wing, the females look very similar to small whites or green veined whites when they have the wings open, however the undersides of the their wings are completely different.

[Margaret Pilkington]

ah well now after my research, I can tell you that the males have a thinner abdomen than the females and that they have a circle on the underside of the hind wing.
You can always come to accyweb and learn something.

If something poses a question in my mind I have to look for the answer.