Austria 2024: Close-up on Alpine Nature

“June sees the Tyrol’s alpine meadows in their full glory, with a spectacular show of wild flowers and an array of butterflies and other insects – in short, the perfect time for macro photography.”

 

Photography week arranged by Wildlife Worldwide, led by Alex Hyde and Nick Garbutt, and staying in Hotel Wiesenheim.

 

A wonderful week. Full on from 0500 to 1800 every day in spectacular Alpine countryside. Close up photography I can do, but in your face macro photography is hard; many shots didn’t work as I hoped, and I’ve still got a lot to do to improve. Perhaps a return booking is needed!

 

Just as at home in England, Austria seemed to suffer from a shortage of butterflies. Maybe it’s been cold and they will come out later, but our leaders had to work hard in the early morings to find any roosting butterflies. When wet, they will all hide anyway, but by way of compensation there are lots of water droplets to photograph!

 

Here’s an early morning pair of common blue butterflies, first in natural light.

 

And then with flash. A totally different picture, and I’ve no idea which I prefer. Flash helps when the light is low, and also provides a greater depth of field, so more of the subject will be in focus.

 

It’s not just butterflies that roost at night. It seems that bees need to sleep, maybe 5 – 8 hours a night. Some curl up in a flower head, but solitary bees will suspend themselves from a strand of grass,

 

locking on with their mandibles.

 

Hand held focusing is hard, especially when getting as close as possible to show the compound eyes. Lots of help from Alex to get this robber fly sharp – thank you.

 

Reluctantly I include this fly shot to show how easy it is to think you have nailed it – lovely water droplets – but when you check carefully, the eyes are just not sharp. Most of my other macro shots are similar, and are in the bin. But no reason to despair; close ups work as well.

 

Snipe Fly (Genus Rhagio)

 

Fruit Fly (Drosophila funebris)

 

Scorpion Fly (Panorpa communis)

 

Not everyone’s taste, but I like this snail head

 

Up close with black bean aphids and an ant

 

High in the mountains (at 2440m) a Lycia alpina moth (family Geometridae). Found in the Alps at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,500 meters… Females are wingless.

 

This Pine Sawyer Beetle (Monochamus sutor) was a great poser

 

and looked pretty fierce

 

Shout out for the crickets. A wart-biter (Decticus verrucivorus)

 

and a Great Green Bush-cricket (Tettigonia viridissima)

 

I’m going to make a separate butterfly (and flower) post, but here’s a coy woodland ringlet

 

I mentioned water droplets. Alpine or Sulphur Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla alpina apiifolia) seedhead covered in rain drops.

 

And some water – a stream running through the valley at Tschey, with meadows on either side.

 

Look hard, and there’s a butterfly in these flowers

 

Not convinced, but it could be a Reverdin’s blue (Plebejus argyrognomon)

 

And here a Burnet moth lighting up a flower patch

 

The meadows are fabulous

 

 

Often with spectacular backgrounds

 

 

On the last day we followed the Kaunertal Glacier road hight up into the snow. Stunning mountain scenery

 

Here with Alpine Snowbells (Soldanella alpina)

 

And, my favourite, Alpine pasqueflower / alpine anemone (Pulsatilla alpina)

 

 

 

Thanks to Alex, Nick and the group, and Andreas and the hotel team for an excellent week.

 

• Austria 2024: Red Snow

More butterlies and flowers, especially orchids, to come.

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