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Hi everyone
I've seen mention in various old forum posts about an introduced colony of Marbled Fritillary at Finemere Wood. I was wondering if anyone knew whether the colony was still around last year, whether it was worth visiting this year, and if it was, whether there were any specific OS grid references?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance
Paul

I don't recall any reports of this butterfly from Finemere in 2011, either on here or on the local BC website sightings page.

Dave

I saw two of these alien fritillaries at Finemere in 2010. They were straightforward to find, but much more difficult to photograph, as they were constantly on the wing up and down the main ride there, attacking anything that was orange (Gatekeepers, Silver-washed Fritillaries, Brown Hawkers etc). The day I saw them was probably the sunniest and hottest day in the UK since 2006 and in more normal weather they might be a bit less active.

I am not sure if the colony still survives but Finemere is worth a visit in any event. There are good populations of most of the southern woodland butterflies including Black Hairstreak - I think it only lacks Brown Hairstreak out of all the British species. I watched the Emperor on the ground there, drinking something unidentifiable from the hardcore, and later he flew around my head. The meadow tucked away in the middle of the wood is also a fine spot.

Matsukaze wrote:I am not sure if the colony still survives but Finemere is worth a visit in any event. There are good populations of most of the southern woodland butterflies including Black Hairstreak - I think it only lacks Brown Hairstreak out of all the British species. I watched the Emperor on the ground there, drinking something unidentifiable from the hardcore, and later he flew around my head. The meadow tucked away in the middle of the wood is also a fine spot.

I went there one day last year but saw no Marbled Fritillaries. Purple Hairstreaks were all over the place though; the most I've ever seen at a single site.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm making my way back from Dorset on Friday, and will be passing that way, so weather permitting I'll make a visit. Haven't seen a Silver Washed Fritillary yet this year, nor Purple Hairstreak, so would be very content with these!
Paul

Weather permitting, I'd be surprised if you didn't see both those species at Finemere.

The best spot for Purple Hairstreaks was to take the grassy path to the right just after the entrance to the wood (rather than the obvious path that leads straight ahead). There is a stretch with ash and oak adjacent to one another and this is where I saw 20+ last year.

Thanks David. I visited yesterday (Thursday), and did indeed see quite a few Silver Washed Fritillary. However, speaking to a local enthuiast the Purple Hairstreak are only just emerging (one so far this year), so I didn't see one. He also confirmed that the Marbled Fritillary hadn't been spotted for two years now.

I would say however that I was very very impressed with the main ride. It had by far the most butterflies (of many species) that I'd seen anywhere else in the country ever (apart from the 2009 Painted Lady invasion on Martin Down!) Ringlet and Meadow Brown were in profusion, and there were many Large Skipper, Comma, a few Large White and Small Tortoiseshell, plus the Silver Washed Fritillary too.

Big compliments go to the BBOW volunteers who have made Finemere such a special place.

Hi there
You can safely assume that Marbled Fritillary is not now resident at Finemere and as mentioned elsewhere hasn't been so for 2 years. It's local to me and at the time didn't ring any bells for me personally. The assumption here was that it was a captively bred release and may have been put down again on the second season.
I did Finemere on 22nd July 2012 and only recorded 5 species among them being one PE, one Purple H'streak, 4 MBs, 8 Ringlets and worryingly only a single White Ad. On setting out that morning I was undecided on final destination specifically for PEs whether Finemere or Bernwood. Wrong decision - got 10 PEs the following day at Bernwood, 8 on the ground! Best PE day ever for me.