The Flickr F67 Image Generatr

April 20th in Tyresta, south of Stockholm, Sweden typically isn't anything near warm though spring is obviously coming. But the water in the Nedre dammen pond was still very cold which is why it was a bit curious to find this grass snake (Natrix natrix) out swimming, presumably hunting the toads that were busy dating and mating in the shallow water there.

sprinters travel of marlow at northampton on rail replacement

The male male leopard lacewing (Cethosia cyane) is intensly orange. This however, is the female of the same species - decidedly less colourful, but still pretty..

As I understand it, females fly around considerably less and it is up to the male to find her if he wants to get busy.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52049869809/

For the shot of the male. please have a look here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52047713818/

Deer’s large, gentle eyes may seem human, but their vision is unique. Specialized in detecting movement, they have a 310° field of view and perceive mostly blue and yellow tones. With a reflective layer, they see clearly even at night – a perfect blend of survival instinct and graceful presence.

Camera: Sony A7C II
Focal Length: 500 mm
ISO: 6400
Aperture: f/6.7
Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec

Literally every summer, me and the family visit my mother-in-law's place outside Härnösand which is located 500 km / 300 miles north of our home in Stockholm, Sweden.

She has a grand garden which is a goldmine for me and my macro lens and in that garden is a pond which attracts multiple species of dragonflies.

One of those sepecies is the yellow-winged darter (Sympetrum flaveolum) - but I only saw it that one summer back in 2018. Never before and never after. And there were loads of them, fighting for territory, courting and mating - and yet I haven't seen them in six summers since then.

This is a male as evidenced by the bright red colour and you can see the translucent yellow parts of the wings that give the species its name.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/32502228818/

Part 2 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/46173630975/

and a much closer shot here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/49860184986/

When trying to identify the butterfly in this 2017 shot, I ended up unsure if it was a small pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria selene) or a pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne). Asking around a bit resulted in a mate being able to say it is the latter.

Next time I see one, I really hope I get a chance to shoot the underside of the wings as they are very pretty.

The orange oakleaf (Kallima inachus), also known as the Indian oakleaf or sometimes the dead leaf, is a butterfly which has a rather splendid way of camouflaging itself.

I don't think I need to tell you how - it is pretty obvious how greatly it imitates a dry leaf.

On September 12th 2023 at the Haga Ocean butterfly house in Solna, Sweden, it was the first one I've seen one and I was elated with my discovery.

And since the dorsal side is gorgeous in deep blue and orange - that's what I hope to be able to catch the next time I see one!

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53182746751/


Part 2 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53588504627/

There are over 20 species of butterflies in the South-American genus Caligo and at "my" local butterfly house, the typical species which "always" can be found there is Caligo telmonius memnon.

I believe this one however is a different species, namely the Teucer owl butterfly (Caligo teucer).

It wouldn't surprise me if I have photographed this species previously and misidentified it as C. memnon.

Part 1 (closer) here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54078759315/

If you want more tropical butterflies, I have an album with at the time of posting, over 600 shots from the Haga Ocean butterfly house in Solna on the north side of Stockholm, Sweden here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/albums/72157708178863605

When walking around at the butterfly section of the Haga Ocean butterfly house in Solna, Sweden, quite often you can hear a trilling sound which sounds very "tropical jungle" to me. I initially thought this was recorded background sound to make the experience more immersive, but it turns out it is the mating call of the males of this frog species!

The phantasmal poison frog (Epipedobates tricolor) lives freely in the butterfly section there and jump around as they wish. And the mating calls obviously work as they successfully beed there and on some visits, there are quite a lot of these tiny little guys jumping around everywhere.

Looking at the wings of a lacewing, it is very easy to understand how it got its vernacular name.

The Swedish name, "guldögonslända" is however equally apt as "guld" menas gold and ögon means "eye". This particular one was shot at 3:1 magnification using the MP-E65mm while sitting in a Thuja hedge.

Part 1 (at the same magnification) here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/50926704427/

Here is a great eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina), in some places known as the blue moon butterfly because of the markings on the other side of the wings.

In case you want to know where the "eggfly" name has its origin, have a look here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53347135973/

Photo taken on an early April visit to the Haga Ocean butterfly house in Solna, Sweden in 2023.

My October 10th (of 2022) visit to the Haga Ocean butterfly house in Solna, Sweden, had unusually few nice subjects to photograph.

But right as I was starting to think about packing up and leave for the day (this was just a brief visit of less than an hour anyway) - this beauty came fluttering by right past my face!

After letting out an exited little yelp I took pursuit down one of the paths and found it having landed on the wet soil between a couple of plants.

Not the ideal place when your a large butterfly (especially with ants running around) so, using a dead leaf, I moved it over to a large leaf a bit higher up.

At first I thought this was one of several species around the world known as the giant swallowtail, but it turns out the four lower spots on the forewings means this is a king swallowtail (Papilio thoas), also known as the Thoas swallowtail. If it was a giant swallowtail, it would have had only three spots there instead.

Solna is also home to AIK, a sports club (or team I suppose if you're in North America) with successful teams in both hockey and football/soccer. The team colours happen to be black and yellow, making this one a very fitting butterfly to find there!

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52425203004/

Part 2 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52439687014/

Part 3 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52474509075/

Part 4 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52729106637/

Part 5 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52828195123/

By now, I have visited the Haga Ocean butterfly house something like sixty or seventy times and seen quite a lot of different species. The Peleides blue morpho (Morpho peleides), also known as the common blue morpho, is a common sight as it is one of the staple species.

This makes me not notice it as I tend to go Pokemon on the place with a "Gotta catch 'em all" attitude, but sometimes I stop and notice how gorgeous these guys really are with that magically shimmering blue colour.

By now, my album with shots from this butterfly house is past 500 posted shots - you can find it here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/albums/72157708178863605/

A male beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) surveying his territory on a mossy rock at the edge of the Stenbäcken creek at Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park, south of Stockholm, Sweden.

For a close-up shot of one of these, please have a look here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/51726787163/

and of the more greenish female here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52621534934/

The large tree nymph (Idea leuconoe) is a pretty large butterfly with a wingspan of up to 115 mm (4.5").

The chrysalis however is surprisingly small (and bright yellow with rows of tiny black spots) so they must be doing something special in packaging to fit inside there.

I've known this species as the silver-studded leafwing (Hypna clytemnestra), but it turns out it has two more English names: The marbled leafwing makes sense but how about the jazzy leafwing"?

I have no idea what is jazzy about this one, but I think it is an awesome name for sure!

One detail on this is that if you zoom in on the eye, it looks like it has part of the chrysalis still stuck there. I wouldn't think it would pose any issue for the jazzy one here though.

The common eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina) is also known as the blue moon butterfly as it has light markings on the dorsal side of the wings that shimmer beautifully in blue.

Unfortunately then peeking out here wasn't interested in showing those at all so we ended up with this shot instead.