Caligo memnon

Todays painful lesson in photographic frustration came courtesy of a visit to the RHS Garden at Wisley, where for a short time only they have released hundreds of exotic butterflies in their tropical glasshouse.

Problems of climate were the first to become obvious - the transition from cold winters day to steamy glasshouse immediately resulted in lens and viewfinder becoming hopelessly steamed up for a good 15 minutes after which time the camera was fine but I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable in my heavy winter coat!

These of course were minor details compared to the ensuing horror of trying to capture some decent shots. Constantly changing light conditions and subjects which were never totally still don't help but in the end I've concluded that my macro technique simply sucks! Out of 350 odd frames this is one of a handful that almost looks good. I am now torn between hurling all my toys into the bin and taking up embroidery or heading back down there later in the week to try again.

The title refers to the Latin name for the owl butterfly an example of which is seen here filling his or her feeding tube with the natural goodness of slightly rotten fruit - what could be nicer?

This time last year - Sounds like rain....