Silver-washed Fritillary

[Lawts]

Hi what's the nearest place to Yorkshire to see this species? It looks like there's a site(s) in West Lancashire somewhere; maybe there?

Thanks.

[DaveO'B]

I depends where in Yorkshire you are!
There are a number of sites in Lancashire & Cumbria which have SWF; I saw them at Howe Ridding Wood near Whitbarrow last week. A good idea would be to look at the Butterfly Conservation Cumbria and Lancashire Branch web pages for the latest sightings to see exactly where they've been recorded.
There's just been a SWF sighting in Yorkshire, at Harwood Dale but I don't know an exact location. Every year there are a handful of Yorkshire sightings, but they're a bit hit-and-miss.

Hope this helps,

Dave

[CallumMac]

what's the nearest place to Yorkshire to see this species?

The nearest place to Yorkshire to see SWF is Yorkshire! There's been a recent colonisation at Bishop Wood, near Selby. Definitely seen there a week ago today, and probably still on the wing. Details in the latest issue of Argus, the Yorkshire branch newsletter: http://www.yorkshirebutterflies.org.uk/ ... 0small.pdf.

[petesmith]

Lincolnshire isn't that far away from Yorkshire and our county has been well and truly colonised by silver washed over the last eight years! It can be found in many of our woodlands nowadays.

[Lawts]

Thanks all for replies. Difficult to know if climate change and natural northern colonisation, or deliberate introductions, or both for some of the Yorkshire sightings.

[CallumMac]

Thanks all for replies. Difficult to know if climate change and natural northern colonisation, or deliberate introductions, or both for some of the Yorkshire sightings.

Agreed. However, I reckon that the way that this species has spread through Lincolnshire recently, and the position of Bishop Wood in the south of the county and west of the Humber, means that this seems more likely to be a natural colonisation than the many other recent establishments in Yorkshire (Silver-studded Blue, Small Blue, Marsh Fritillary, Scotch Argus...), none of which can have arrived on their own.