Grayling

These are interesting butterflies. They live on heathland and the males appear to like a territory containing the circle of bare ground often found under the scots pine trees. Here the ground is littered with chewed fir cones and bits of bark and debris from the tree above. The blend in so well that they can be hard to see until they fly usually to chase any other butterfly that strays too close to their patch, but sometimes they rest on the trunk of the tree and then they are a bit more isolated from the bg and suitable for a shot or two.
I like the colours in this shot as they show how well they blend in, but I must admit that the wings drift out of focus towards the bottom of the shot.
C&C welcome

400D; Sig 180 macro
iso 200; 1/40; f11
full frame

Your not wrong Eric they have been real blighter to find this year more than any other,,, mind needing glasses donthelp

Nice to get a good clear view of one. I failed miserably with this species this year as it always seemed to perch on the ground surrounded by horrible bright white pebbles and grit. I shall check the tree trunks from now on, thanks to your tip.

A good image set against a very pleasing and complementary background

Nice picture and setting, Eric. Like the colors and background. The OOF area is not a problem for me.

Knowing your other predilection I was expecting something else Eric

Pity it's angled away from you matey but can't be helped. Now if you'd been 100% on the ball you'd have rattled off another shot with the wings in focus, then you could have blended them together

Nice colours, good exposure and a cracking BG - good one Eric

Always difficult to get butterflies completely in focus (for me, anyway), and I don`t find the OOF areas in this shot at all bothersome. Interesting about them perching on trees, as I`ve only ever seen them in treeless grassy/ rocky/ coastal cliff areas.
Lovely shot!

Eric - Hi, I like this very much, lovely composition and a super background.

I spent some time with this one Andy and mindful of what you had told me in the past, I was trying very hard to get the whole thing in the DoF box, but he was a real fidget. Every time I had it all lined up nicely, he would just turn a tiny bit. I never managed to get him all in. What it does mean is that I appreciate the quality of those dragon shots of yours even more, because I know just how painstaking a job it is to get everything just right.
Last year when I didn't know enough these things were everywhere on the heath, I even got a snap of one laying an egg. I went back this year ready to put all my newly acquired skills to good use and as Paul and Justin say it was struggle to find one at all. Such is life.
thanks for all your kind comments.

that's a nice one Eric, you've done well to isolate it from the background. You've mentioned the only nit, not much you can do about that sometimes if they won't sit still!

Matt