www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Wall - Favourite Photo of 2020

Week 19

So the Weather forecasts for this weekend seemed to suggest that the 2021 season would be kicking off but as the week rolled on those forecasts became steadily worse for most of us in the West! Oh well at least there are a couple of weeks left of the ‘Favourites’ – in fact this is the penultimate week so make sure that you’ve got your Overall Favourite ready!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened me for a particular species before posting photos as then it will be easier to keep track of things? Of course our overseas members are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants. As in previous years details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome as would any accompanying stories and anecdotes or other observations of behaviour and interesting other points.


Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

I can't pick a single image from last year, two females captured ovipositing and a perfectly posed mating pair all vying for the top spot.

Only one seen in 2020, on 27 January in southern Spain.

In most years I see Wall Brown while in Cornwall in April making it one of the first species I see. However, this year it was the penultimate species I encountered at a very reliable site in North Norfolk. Over the course of my three day visit it was the second most numerous species on the wing (exceeded by Small Copper). Given the date and the recording data for the nearby transect, I assume they were third brood. Unsurprisingly, the numbers were much lower (maximum of 21) than the 200+ second brood I saw over 2 hours in August 2018. Again a hard choice of favourite, so one of each sex and a pair.

Another decent year on Bacon Hill, Wiltshire with three generations. Last seen 1st October

Wall was one I was able to see last year as we have them in the Peterborough area 26th of July. we saw male and female

I went to Reculver in Kent last year on the 21st of July only to find the Roman Wall there was being repaired, most of the grasses and vegetation had been removed, my heart sank, then I saw a flutter and realised it was a wall Butterfly, I took a quick shot, the poor thing was landing and taking off constantly, I just hope they survive okay. Goldie

Sadly, Wall Browns have not been reported in Warwickshire since 2008 and are now considered extinct here. They can still be found further afield around the West Midlands, mostly on higher ground in Shropshire and Staffordshire, but numbers are low.

I managed to catch up with a few in 2020 during our family holiday week on The Lizard in Cornwall in early August when they appeared fairly regularly along the coast path going south from Kennack Sands and also along the walled path down towards the lighthouse from Lizard village.
Cheers,

Neil.

Wall

My Favourite shot of this species came from my ‘Duke Site’. We were still in Lockdown I think – it’s all to blurred together in my memory – and to give both my girls and myself a break from staring at screens I grabbed my gear and bundled them in the car. It was a fabulous morning – warm, blue sky as far as the eye could see and a stunning array of butterflies with Greenstreaks, Adonis Blues, Marsh Frits, Dingies, Grizzlies and Small Coppers. There were also Walls fighting along the earth walls of the hill fort just as fiercely as the Celts and Romans from ages gone by. I chose this shot as my Favourite not just from the day but from the season as I managed to get a nice side on under wing shot showing the stunning intricate under wing patterns without the subsequent cursing and stomping this way and that normally accompanies my Wall shots. Instead I just sat still and the butterfly returned to roughly the same spot several times in between quartering what I guess was its territory.

Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Wurzel wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 6:06 pm Wall

I chose this shot as my Favourite not just from the day but from the season as I managed to get a nice side on under wing shot showing the stunning intricate under wing patterns without the subsequent cursing and stomping this way and that normally accompanies my Wall shots. Instead I just sat still and the butterfly returned to roughly the same spot several times in between quartering what I guess was its territory.


Wurzel

Great choice of image there Wurzel - it is a stunner... beautiful underside nicely captured!

I always experience a modicum of sad nostalgia when this thread comes along. This butterfly was once common to the point of distraction in my youth, but now it is hard to find away from coasts.

Thankfully, we have plenty of coasts where I live, but Wall Browns are still not particularly widespread. They crop up in low numbers in a few places, but on Kilvey Hill there is a thriving colony, and this is where I saw this male on the abnormally early date of 22nd April:

This female has to be my favourite, the freshest I have ever seen, and so obliging when it came to having her portrait taken.


But this male came a very close second.