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Evening sky with contrails

A couple of weeks ago while out walking I took this shot as I turned towards home at about 7.15.
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Half an hour later I spotted an airliner heading towards Heathrow; normally I wouldn’t take a second glance at a  contrail  but the light  was  perfect so I took this photograph.

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There must have been a landing delay as the aircraft suddenly veered right, then, several minutes later, turned again and flew back in the direction it had come.
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It crossed back over its own contrail and circled round before heading once more in the direction of Heathrow. Usually I dislike these intrusive man-made vapour trails but that evening the effect was quite surreal, like an abstract painting across the sky.
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The Garden at Oxleaze Farm, Filkins.

During the summer I visited the garden at Oxleaze Farm, Filkins; this is a beautiful rural location roughly between Lechlade and Burford.  Chipps Mann has created a wonderfully relaxing environment and, as she grows many of the same plants as me, I think she has impeccable taste!! I hope that the following photographs give a feeling of the place but there is a lot more to linger over in this garden.

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I know, I said no more dragonflies, but twice in one summer ……………………

I took my mug of tea and a journal out to the pond; I couldn’t believe my eyes when another dragonfly settled on my boot the moment I stood still.dragonfly9

I took a few more pictures then sat down very slowly but it did not move
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Several minutes later I slid a piece of grass underneath the dragonfly and held it right in front of my face; annoyingly I did not have a macro lens on the camera and had to stretch out both my arms to get the next shot so it’s not properly focussed on the dragonfly

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I just had to show you that I hadn’t reached my dragonfly zenith after all.

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August 18 – final butterflies and a hopper

I have set myself new writing targets for September; stepping back from the WIP and concentrating on improving my photography has helped me to regain enthusiasm for finishing the novel.  A huge ” thank-you” to everyone who has liked and/or left kind comments in response to the photographic posts as the positive feedback really helped to keep depression at bay.  These are the last butterfly shots for 2013.

I took the photo of the Small Copper butterfly last week on the marjoram that has been covered in bees and butterflies all summer

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Yesterday some Speckled Wood butterflies were flying in a small group along the edge of a belt of trees; they completely ignored me

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This one was darker than the others; it looks a bit moth-eaten!

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I couldn’t get a clear shot of the underside; this was the best effort

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I don’t know anything about identifying grasshoppers but this little creature appeared in front of me on a reed

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I knew I had a good shot but I waited to see if I could capture the face

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Afraid that it was disappearing I snatched that picture too quickly without getting the focus right  but, a moment later, the hopper reappeared from the far side of the reed and I had my shot of the dayghopper3

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August 17 – last of the dragonflies

I had a telephoto lens on the camera as I was trying to capture a shot of a strangely exotic-looking bird (focus failure!) but when this dragonfly landed next to me I stepped back about 5 feet and took the photo below. I think it looks like a picture of a plastic toy, reminiscent of childhood purchases from Woolworths. The reflective quality of the wings almost certainly means that this is a recently hatched dragonfly (female teneral common darter??)

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I walked  to the house, switched the lens, and went back out not really expecting the dragonfly to still be around so I was delighted to find it in the same spot.  This is the first time I have managed to take a series of shots of the same one; I think I may have reached my zenith where dragonflies are concerned so these will be the last photographs of them on my blog this year.

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August 16 – gatekeeper, skipper, darter, bomber……….bomber??

It’s amazing what flies by when you sit quietly!gatekeeper & skipper

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Suddenly out of nowhere, with no time to change the camera lens, this appeared

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This is the last Vulcan bomber still flying in the UK and I have no idea where it was coming from or going to. I hope that one day there will be no need for any bombers but, flying quite low almost overhead on a quiet Sunday afternoon in an otherwise empty sky, this one knocked my socks off.

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August 15 – harvesting those oats as the sun went down, moon rising, brown argus butterfly.

I went back to watch the last hour of harvesting those oats (see August 13 – oats and ladybirds.) There was a glorious sunset and a pale harvest moon rising over the hills.  Earlier on I spotted a brown argus butterfly; although the wings are brown a soft blue sheen sometimes shows up and you can see it on the front raised wing.

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Clouds were coming in fast to the west but to the east, across the Chilterns, the moon was rising in a cloudless sky.

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All photographs copyright Lynne Revette Butler

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August 14 – close encounter with a dragonfly

I did some work by the wild garden pond this afternoon; the sun came out and with it came some dragonflies. I always keep a camera nearby and  first I took this blurry shot

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closely followed by this blurry shot

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Just as I concluded I had discovered the world’s first jet-propelled dragonfly I heard a scratchy sound in the reeds at my feet; when I looked down there was this beautiful creature perched on my boot

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I had a tiny gap in the reeds to film through; the focus on the shot is not great and the wings are not complete but I will treasure this picture as if it were a masterpiece.