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Marsh Fritillary - Favourite Photo of 2022

Week 10

It’s that time of year again…Happy Christmas or Seasons Greetings whichever you prefer!

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

Wurzel

In past years, I have usually visited Cotley Hill for my annual dip into the Marshy pool. However, this year I had arranged to meet up with Wurzel on 14th May at a different site, one I'd not been to before: Sidbury Hill. However, the day before this I was up on the Chilterns at Steps Hill near Ivinghoe, testing out my recently-healed scalded foot on some steep slopes. Here I encountered a fresh Marsh Fritillary down in the grass - sheltering from the wind and the aggressive attentions of male Dukes.It was just the one though, and during an overall excellent day at Sidbury they proved more plentiful.Curiously, I was to see them again rather unexpectedly at Hutchinsons Bank a few days later - surely an introduction as the nearest colony must be many miles away. Dave

The Marsh fritillary was a first for me in 2022. I decided to visit a recommended site in Port appin. There were around 8 to 10 on the wing. These are the best photos.

A good year here for Marsh Fritillaries. My favourite photo being this one from Beacon Hill, Wiltshire

The colony of 'unknown origin' in the Chiltons gave me my fix this year, albeit in single figures, here's one of the males giving me a couple of nice poses.

Marsh Fritillary

I had another good year with Marsh Frits seeing them at four different sites – one of which was an unexpected locale and something I’ll be looking out for in seasons to come. As I saw so many there was a vast array of shots I needed to look through and whittling them down to a single one was a very hard task. I got as far as four or five and then when looking though two choices became firm favourites and I couldn’t go any further.

The first came from a splendid day when I acted as a guide for Dave at Sidbury Hill also known as my Duke Site. Over the course of a day we saw pretty much all of the species normally encountered on Downland in early spring. The reason this was my favourite was that it was perched delicately on a Dandelion clock and so made a welcome addition to one of my collections. The second came from a quick trip to the Hill on my way back from Priddy Pools. In previous years I’ve chosen individuals with a huge variation in the hues and tones of their livery ranging from browns and blacks through to yellows, creams, whites, oranges and reds. However this individual stood out for the opposite reason – it was almost two tone, orange and brown and something I’ve not really seen before. Have a goodun

Wurzel

Had a short window to observe my local populations in late May and early June:

Wurzel - if you're lucky, you can sometimes see Marsh Fritillary at Priddy, though I'm not sure the butterflies there are truly of wild origin. SPBF also flies there around the same time.

Cheers for the info Matsukaze I was at Priddy specifically for the Small Torts and after scraping one or two from Bentley Wood it was great to see so many on a visit

Have a goodun

Wurzel

There were so many Marsh Fritillaries about at Little Scrubbs Meadow, Lincolnshire when I visited on the 19th May, that it was difficult choosing a couple for this, but I have eventually plumped for these two.