www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Pearl-bordered Fritillary - Favourite Photo of 2023

Week 13

Well now we’re into 2024 for a bit of a bang from this weeks Favourites! The days are getting longer and soon the Sightings threads will start filling up, brilliant! In the meantime let’s crack on with the Favourites photos of 2023…

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

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

This came from a visit to Bentley Wood back at the start of May. Philzoid and I had found a few around the Eastern Clearing but we decamped to a spot on the Western side of the wood as there they’d been out for a few days longer. When we strolled down the track it curved sharply round to the right and the wood along the edge was replaced by stacks of last years ferns with Bugle and Bluebells poking up between the decaying fronds. All morning I’d been trying for the classic underside shot but the butterflies which had been scarcer round the EC were newly emerged and so intent on seeking mats and/or establishing territories and so rarely stopped to feed and when they did it was with wings open wide so as to absorb plenty of solar rays. However in this little patch they were much more numerous and also more liable to feed so it wasn’t long before one sat perfectly upright, with wings tightly closed and pointing directly upwards. I managed to lie almost flat on the ground so that the butterfly was flat on and so grabbed my Favourite photo of a Pearl for 2023.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

My only sightings of this species in 2023 were a handful at Rewell Wood in mid-May, and only one of those stopped long enough for a photo. Dave

Just one audience with these, on 14 May at Ewyas Harold Common in Herefordshire:

Just one excursion, to Sussex in late May, to catch up with the PBF. Not promising at first, as there didn't seem to be many present and those that were kept relentlessly charging around. Eventually things settled down a bit and I managed some shots, though undersides were a bit challenging as the butterflies were burrowing around in the vegetation as they nectared on the bugle, and scarcely stayed still for a millisecond.

Visited my usual haunt at Cambus o May on Deeside on 2 days on 22nd and 24th May to look for this wonderful creature. They were very active on both days and it took a while to get some decent photos , but well worth the effort.

I spent a good few days hiking around upland Perthshire trying to repeat sightings where they hadn't been reported for 10 years or more, following a target list from Butterfly Conservation Scotland. I did eventually find them in about half of the areas targeted, but it was hard work with many miles covered per butterfly! They can exist at very low densities over large areas in this terrain, often exploiting wayleaves under major pylon routes.

It has been a good few years since I last saw a British Pearl-bordered Fritillary, but it was nice to spend a bit of time with several Pearls on a ski-slope in Greece back in June, at a very un-British altitude of 1650 metres above sea level.

Bertl wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 10:44 amVisited my usual haunt at Cambus o May on Deeside on 2 days on 22nd and 24th May to look for this wonderful creature...

Very nice, Bertl. One of the few butterflies more common in Scotland than England.

Caught up with them a few times last year, Neil Hulme helped with a trip to one of the lesser known Sussex colonies where we found this lovely female.

My only time with Pearl-bordered Fritillaries in 2023 was on May 11th when I visited Stansted Forest while we were down visiting our daughter in Emsworth for a few days. This is quite a large area but Mark Tutton had kindly suggested a couple of spots for me to try and I ended up seeing half a dozen or so, all fresh looking examples of both sexes. As with other spring species that I saw, I got the impression that they were running a bit late, no doubt due to the poor spring weather.
Cheers,

Neil

I only saw PBFs on one occasion at Rewell Wood, Sussex, taking a friend there. Here is the best shot