The Green Veined White is one of
the most widespread species of butterfly across the British
Isles, and can be found all across England and Wales, and into
the southern parts of Scotland. It is noticeably absent from
the far north and Shetland Isles, which could be down to the
colder weather at both end of this insects season (typically
March until October).
The green
veins are not actually green but an optical illusion created
by a mix of yellow and black scales on the underside of this
butterflies' wings, while the top side is slight off white
colour, with a small spot on each forewing that becomes more
pronounced as the months go by. Increasing also in size as the
summer approaches, those in the south are typically smaller,
but with slightly brighter underwings than their norterly
counterparts.
This photo
was taken at Blashford Lakes, a Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Trust nature reserve situated on the Hampshire and Dorset
border, close to the New Forest National Park. Successfully created by flooding disused gravel pits,
Blashford is popular amongst bird watchers and photographers,
as the reserve fills up with thousands of waterfowl during the
winter months, with Geese, Egrets and Herons aplenty.
There are
a good number of butterflies here, but it is the dragonflies
which are in abundance in the summer months, and then of
course there are the Blashford Kingfishers which see the hides
fill up with long lenses on a regular basis. The best hide for
photographing Kingfishers is the Goosander Hide, where a 400mm
lens will usually be sufficient to catch the Kingfisher on one
of the branches or posts in the water just below you (if you
are using an aps-c camera such as the Canon 7d mark ii or the
Nikon D500).
Even with
the equipment above you would likely need to do a little
cropping, so a longer lens such as the Sigma 150-600 would be
much more ideal. For photographers with Full Frame sensors you
may find that 400mm doesnt cut it, therefore you really should
be looking at the longer lenses. For find out more about
Blashford Lakes visit:
www.hiwwt.org.uk/reserves/blashford-lakes. |
