Father's Day
For various reasons it's been quite some while since I've been able to get an entire day out 'butterflying' with my father. However, on Friday (6th May) an opportunity arose and we headed off to an isolated woodland clearing in Wiltshire to look at Marsh Fritillary. It turned out to be one of those magical days when everything goes to plan, and it was certainly one of those days that will define the summer of 2011 for me.
As we arrived the numerous Pearl-bordered Fritillary were already beginning to stir. A particularly brightly-coloured individual caught my eye and its slightly wobbly flight pattern confirmed it was a very freshly emerged Small Pearl-bordered; our first of the year.
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
It wasn't just beautiful butterflies that kept us entertained until well into the afternoon. We soon started to see Narrow-bordered Bee Hawkmoths buzzing around at high speed, nine or ten in all, occasionally stopping to sip nectar from a bluebell. But it was already too late in the morning for them to linger long enough for a photo. A female Argent & Sable also appeared, looking very smart in her black and white livery.
Kipper Senior trying to photograph Narrow-bordered Bee Hawkmoths
Argent & Sable
Butterfly numbers increased rapidly throughout the morning and the next rarity to show was a Duke of Burgundy. Grizzled Skippers were common and even Brown Argus put in an appearance. But the stars of the show were the Marsh Fritillaries, which were emerging in good numbers that day. Several times I watched freshly-emerged butterflies ejecting red meconium fluid before taking their first tentative flight. Most of them were males, although a couple of pristine females with huge, bulging abdomens full of eggs sat around in the grass and on low scrub.
Marsh Fritillary
Eventually it came time to head home, and we did so reluctantly, leaving the glade to the butterflies, moths, nightingales and cuckoos. Days don't come much better than this one.