Waning Gibbous Moon
So, I've gone mirrorless at last...Canon R7. This was my first moonshot with the camera. Used my usual Sigma 150-600mm zoom with an adapter handheld, but image stabilised.
I did a little bit of denoising with DxO PureRaw, then a bit of tone-mapping and a crop in PaintShoPro.
@sciencebase Looks gibbous as well. How odd.
@SteelFolk It does. The almanac states "quarter" on that date, if I remembered rightly, but I must have photographed it at a point before it had got to looking like a proper half...dunno...
@sciencebase Anyway, I chucked what was left of my coffee into the shrubs earlier and out came a Swallowtail onto the grass. It was exactly the same colour as the moon in your pic.
@SteelFolk Noooo! Swallow-tailed Moth? Far too late for them or Swallowtail butterfly...way off their usual patch...could've blown in off the Continent, perhaps?
@sciencebase It looked knackered and tatty but there's nothing else like them is there? Like a fancy big kite.
@SteelFolk You could report the sighting your County Butterfly Recorder, they'd be interested. I've not heard of them in your part of the world.
It may well be a release that someone local has grown from eggs, of course
@sciencebase It was the moth. I've seen them before here but not common. Never seen the Butterfly here.
@SteelFolk Ah. Okay. The moths usually have a very short flight period in July...I haven't seen any this year, but saw several in 2022 from late June to mid-July but none afte that.
It's definitely an odd sighting...
I know you'd know, but are you sure it wasn't a female Brimstone butterfly?
@sciencebase Good point but I think not. Agree I've only ever seen them in July and only 1 or 2 in 30 years here.
@SteelFolk fair enough. Bizarre if it was, but could've been, things are very weird in nature these last few years
@sciencebase I disturbed it during daylight rather than saw it flying. I gather they o/w as a larva. I guess it had got ready to pupate or something and it moved very little. Anyway, it's back in the shrubs now. I'll be more careful of chucking cold coffee in there in future.
@sciencebase I realise that's pretty screwy. I meant hibernate but not even sure they do that either. Maybe just dying.
@sciencebase I never thought about what adults do that don't hibernate and then wake up for the shagging season etc. Die off I suppose after leaving eggs or larvae behind to face Winter.
@SteelFolk yes. They die.
@SteelFolk one of the Smash aliens
@sciencebase "For mash get smashed. Good riff, man"
@SteelFolk Yes, smashed, veh gooood
@SteelFolk Where did that photo come from, because I have seen it before, but perhaps decades ago...was it a British Steel ad or something?
@sciencebase Nicked it from LinkedIn,, so not sure of origin.
@SteelFolk don't think they hibernate