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Meadow Brown - Favourite Photo of 2021

Week 11

Hopefully you all had a great Christmas Day with full stockings, full bellies and plenty of merriment!

Please could I ask that everyone waits until a topic has been opened by 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

Always find them very difficult to photograph. Seem to always find them when they are very active. Managed these photos at end of June on my local patch in Bridge of Don, Aberdeen.

A few shots that stick out for various reasons:
a female with a generous amount of orange on the hindwings, always rather eyecatching another female who looks borderline ab. She did pose rather well for me a 'blind. male ab. ceaca distracting me from Large Blues and a mating pair with an 'onlooker'. He'd already spent quite a while chasing this pair and was just waiting his chance to make another attempt at barging his way in

My favourite Meadow Brown photograph is of this mating pair that posed nicely for me in a wealden wood back in July.


http://eastsussexwanderer.blogspot.co.uk

Plenty of Meadow Brown photographs to choose from since this is one of the most numerous species in my garden which is where this was taken.

I took my shot at Brockholes CP Preston on the 1st of July, Goldie

My favourite Meadow Brown photographs from 2021 are of aberrant forms - a female ab.alba, and a pathological aberration of a male, with a very pale hindwing, both from central Lincolnshire:

A species I find difficult to photograph - the only one I have this year that I am halfway happy with.

Lots of Meadow Browns around my local patch in 2021 even if numbers were down a bit on usual.

A few favourites;

A male from the park by my mom's house in early July,
a pair at my local spot by Wagon lane,
By early September they had mostly disappeared from my local patch but saw plenty on our trip down south where I saw this nicely marked if worn female at Old Winchester Hill.
Cheers,

Neil.

Meadow Brown

This was taken in mid-September whilst I was awaiting my wife’s Yoga morning to finish. As I had a couple of hours to kill between drop-off and pick up I spent an enjoyable time at Martin Down picking up my first Clouded Yellow of 2021 but also encountering plenty of late season butterflies including plenty of Meadow Browns. There was plenty of variety on offer; some had two pupils in their eyes, others had orange lozenges instead of flashes on their fore wings whilst others still had bands in different shades of browns on their under wings. However the most ‘different’ of the lot was this individual which not only had a lighter toned ground colour but also silvery white flashes instead of the usual orange. My only regret is that I didn’t find it sooner when it would have been in much better nick and so even more stunning.
Have a goodun and stay safe

Wurzel

Very few images of this species in 2021 (they seem not to wish to pose wings open when fresh in the UK).

However, this female from Montes Universales in Spain in early August did oblige, and what a stunner she was:

It is interesting to note that several very pale examples have already been posted here, which makes one wonder if this has been a particular feature of the year. I saw one or two as well, including this one from Denbies on 5th August......and another from the same spot on 23rd September..

Dave