Some other photographs of some of the Fritillaries in the meadow that illustrate the variation and may help ID.

Many thanks for your comprehensive response. I shall study my other photographs.

Where I was staying in SW France last week there was a scrubby flowery meadow that had not been cut since 2020. Lots of insects including what I assumed were Heath Fritillary. I believe this species can be variable in both size and markings but the more I look at the photographs I took and my books ...

Thank you both.

This blue was sat in the middle of a large patch of trefoil in SW France last week. Unfortunately, I did not get a sight of its underside which would have allowed me to ID with certainty. Hopefully, more experienced observers will be able to help. Despite a good search the following days I didn’t se...

The wet Spring has certainly favoured plant growth in the Cornish sand dunes. The number of Silver-studded Blue is still increasing and hopefully they will have a good season.

The spring brood of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary is well under way in west Cornwall. Yesterday morning’s light winds made photography much easier.

At last some sunshine and warmth in Cornwall and the butterflies are appearing, shame about the wind

Thank you David, very helpful.

Last Sunday (28 April), I was walking in the mountains near Haro a town in the south of the Rioja region of Spain. A mixture of open woodland and scrub. Some nice butterflies about including some Pyrgus that I struggle with once south of Calais. I am pretty sure images A & B are of the same butt...

The hedgerow surrounding my garden contains Elm suckers, mature Elms long gone. Every summer I hope to see White-letter Hairstreak and this year my patience was rewarded with a very tatty individual feeding on Ragwort. Not the best of photographs or butterflies but my favourite of 2023. Final garden...

I usually see plenty of Wall on the Norfolk or Cornwall coasts, but I had a pleasant surprise in 2023 when my first encounter of the year was at an inland site in Cambridgeshire. I have been visiting the site for many years and never encountered Wall there before. Although it’s not the best of photo...

Judging by the way this thread is developing, the South coast generated more photographs of the continental race than the Norfolk Broads did of britannicus. I hope this is not a reflection of its demise. As I happened to be staying with friends in Norfolk in June, I felt it rude not to pay this most...

Speckled Wood seemed to have an ok year as they appeared to be about in typical numbers at my usual haunts. In June I was walking in a friends Norfolk garden when we came across this individual basking in the dappled sunshine doing what Speckled Wood do best.

High numbers of Small Tortoiseshell in Cambridgeshire are a thing of the past but numbers seem to have been fairly stable in recent years. My favourites are of visitors to the flower bed next to my house where they are very approachable.

Small Skipper thrive in my garden that is mostly rough grassland. They seem very fond of the Knapweed and I have selected two photographs of them feeding that show how incredibly long their proboscis is.

I didn’t catch up with the first brood in 2023 but was in West Cornwall in late July and early August where there is a reliable second brood. I visited a number of sites where they seemed to be about on ok numbers. One site in particular is a lovely herb rich grassland kept free of scrub by ponies g...

It will be a sad day if we loose the Swallowtail from The Broads. However, the habitat is very vulnerable to effects of climate change and I fear it is only a matter of time. Perhaps the only hope is to create more suitable habitat further up the river catchments away from the tides and less vulnera...

Small Heath are never particularly numerous in my garden but there are usually a few about for most of the summer. Although it’s always nice to see them, their beauty is rather subtle compared to other species. My favourite was feeding on Ragwort and does justice to its muted colours.

Two from different ends of the season from me. The first was a pair interacting. What I presume was a female was quivering her hind wings while the male walked around. The second was in my garden where Small Copper persist late in the year and have favourite perches, in this case Ragwort, where they...