Exotic

The most exotic thing I can think of this morning is the wing of the beautiful peacock butterfly which visits our buddleia regularly at this time of year. I tried to photograph one a couple of days ago but they don’t stay still for long enough to get a good macro shot. I decide that the only way I can get the shot I want is to catch one.

I don’t want to hurt it so I need a butterfly net, but of course I don’t possess one. My next door neighbour has two small children so it occurs to me that maybe one of them has a fishing net. Can I bring myself to go and ask what will surely sound like a very weird question. I’m a blipper so I know there are no bounds to the embarrassment levels I can endure. Sure enough I get that ‘look’, but Lindsay is a very kind and helpful girl so although the children don’t have a fishing net she offers me the net she uses to put her tights in the washing machine. I leave gratefully thinking that Igor can probably turn this into a butterfly net for me. A coat hanger, some zip ties, a bamboo cane and ten minutes later I have a net.

The buddleia is outside the front door so while I’m standing there waiting for a suitable candidate to come along I get strange looks from the postman, a delivery man and a couple of people walking by. But I’m a blipper and “there are no bounds to the level of embarrassment I can endure” (maybe we could make this into a motto rather like the scouts have).

After about 20 near misses (and some very far misses) I eventually get my subject. In the net then in a jar. Igor thinks I should put him in the fridge to make him a bit sleepy. He read this in Amateur Photographer magazine some time ago. After only 10 minutes in the fridge the butterfly is definitely sleepy. He sits at the bottom of the jar sleeping............with his wings closed. After about an hour with my camera on tripod poised for snapping, he sits at the bottom of the jar..................with his wings closed.

I did eventually get some shots and I think they were well worth the effort but another blipping motto could be “however long it takes.....”

No butterflies were hurt in the blipping of this blip. He eventually flew off happily into the sunshine to find his friends.