So … for a while at least, I have returned to photographing butterflies using my considerably lighter macro lens!

These are “studio” shots of butterflies supplied by a friend who breeds them. I make no claim to natural accuracy (it is highly unlikely that a Purple Emperor butterfly would land on a poppy, for example, as it spends most if its time in the tree tops) – rather I am looking for images that are pleasing pictorially.

I think I have achieved it with at least a few of them … however, we will have to wait to see if next season’s camera club competition judges agree!

Nothing much on the water, except for a couple of Little Egrets taking advantage of the draining of The Moat (a periodic cleaning process). One in particular was on the sluice gate wall between The Moat and Haslar Marina several days running, and seemed wquite hapopy for people to pass close by. I took several photos from different angles over a couple of days.

Internet connection running very slow again, it takes forever to upload the full-size photo files to my SmugMug gallery. The larges files have been timing out, but so far I have been able to upload them on the second try.

I thought computers were supposed to run faster when cold!

I managed to get several reasonable shots with the aid of the flash (I would not have gotten any small bird pics without it!), including a nice juvenile Greenfinch – which at first I thought was a new species! Also saw several Robins and Blue Tits, a couple of Dunnocks (no good pics though) and a few other species still hiding behind the branches.

On and around the water, a cormorant on Stoke Lake showing patches of white. There are several of these white-feather cormorants around Gosport, I wonder if in-breeding among the small local population is causing this. Plenty of gulls and geese, a few Redshanks scattered around the waterline, and a solitary Little Egret near the ASDA store by Haslar Lake.

Not as many small birds as there were on Monday, but there were several House Sparrows and a nice Robin in full song, in the trees beside the footpath. Further on, in Clayhall Lane, I managed one shot of what I at first thought was a juvenile Goldfinch, but from the photo it looks more like a young Greenfinch.

Another Great Black-backed Gull on Stoke Lake, this one still in its brown-and-white flecked juvenile plumage, which I think is more photogenic than the black-and-white adult. Quite a few Brent Geese and Black-headed Gulls on Workhouse Lake. Nothing much from there around to the far end of Haslar Lake, where a Curlew near Haslar Bridge took off before I got close. I seem to have an endless series of Curlew-in-flight photos, every time I see it it flies around me to land behind me to land on the Walpole Park shore.

More small birds about now, the morning chorus is picking up nicely. My day started well, with some Goldfinches which stayed put despite the flash (I tried some shots without it, but they were just silhouettes against the dawn sky). Several House Sparrows, Great Tits, Blue Tits and Dunnocks also in evidence, although most were around the backs of the bushes. Hopefully they will be less shy as the nesting/feeding season gets under way. No Robins today, which was surprising, but I did see my favourites as I neared Stoke Lake – some Long-tailed Tits in a tree some way back from the path. I was able to get a few shots, not very good but hopefully I will have a chance at some better ones as the season progresses.

There was a nice Great Black-backed Gull on Stoke Lake, I think this is a returning visitor as I do see one there from time to time. Nothing much else on the water apart from the Brent Geese, which must be getting ready to depart back to their summer nesting grounds. A lone Oystercatcher at Seafield and a Redshank further round Haslar Lake, and finally, a nice Little Egret. This was in the small channel by the Cockle Pond outlet into Haslar Lake; it ignored me and allowed me to get a few close shots to finish the morning nicely.