Sunday 24 July 2011

The Gatekeeper.

I have been patiently waiting to capture a Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) this year and although I have seen the odd individual flying during the past 14 days or so it was only during my recent riverside wander that I eventually caught up with an obliging specimen.

More often than not the only view we get is when our quarry is perched with wings closed .... so below are images of the two species that can be easily confused.
On the left is the Gatekeeper (two white spots inside the black on the underside of the fore wing) and the Meadow Brown on the right (with just a single white spot). It is worth remembering that there can be a wide variance in the colouring of the under wings, particularly on the Meadow Brown.

Now when I said this individual was obliging that was not totally true ... it only remained in one spot for a moment or two before moving to a different location but at least that provided a slightly different background for each shot using the Canon PowerShot S95.



 I hope to get out and find some other colourful fliers to post in the near future.  FAB.

14 comments:

  1. it is beautiful. such soft coloring.

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  2. I have only seen a few Frank and not as many as previous years.

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  3. Fantastic images Frank.
    My post for the day has also been butterflies... Hope I have all the correct ID's

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  4. They are truly "flying flowers"....so pretty and colorful. Nice job, Frank.

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  5. He's such a lovely specimen! Great shots!

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  6. Captured it well, that Gatekeeper, Frank.

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  7. Such subtle differences. I often have trouble with my butterfly identification.

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  8. Great shots)
    superb summer collection!
    Juliana

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  9. Lovely captures Frank. I haven't seen one yet this year.

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  10. Hi Everyone. Sorry for the delay in responding to all your comments but delighted you enjoyed the colourful Gatekeeper. Cheers FAB.

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  11. Beautiful! The flashy ones like the Peacock are nice by I love the understated beauty of little brown jobs like the gatekeeper :).

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  12. Thank you Tatjana.

    Hi Gaina. I totally agree, the LBJ's (both birds and butterflies) all possess their own particular beauty.

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I hope you enjoyed your visit and I always appreciate your comments and feedback.

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