www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Here is the opportunity to post your favourite photo(s) of a particular species taken in 2012 (or the last time you saw one!).

This is part of a series of topics which will grow over 20 weeks throughout the winter until all 59 UK species have been covered. The intention is to showcase three species per week (in alphabetical order), so please wait until a topic has been opened by me for a particular species before posting photos. Our overseas friends are very welcome to fill in the obvious gaps relating to rare UK migrants.

Details of locations, dates, times and circumstances would be welcome and please feel free to contribute observations of behaviour, stories of personal encounters, anecdotes or other interesting points.

Vince

I saw my High Brown Fritilaries at Gait Barrows on the 21st July 2012. They were flying at the same time has the Dark Green Frit's so I just took shots of them all and sorted them out name wise when I got home It was a lovely day one of the few we had this year Goldie

Although not yet present in my village, I've met HBF in most of the faunistic squares I've been monitoring. The species is evidently able to survive in a modern countryside (in rather low pop. densities), while in old-fashioned areas can be present in huge numbers. I have a strong suspicion the butterfly must be absolutely common in Eastern European's "pasture paradises" such as Romania, Albania etc.

My recent favourite is pretty tatty, which makes him even more valuable in my eyes



(Taken at NPR Čertoryje, White Carpathians, August '12. Go and visit 'em. 112 species! )

I saw High Browns along with Dark Green Fritillaries at Arnside Knott when I spent a couple of days there at the end of July. Most of the DGFs were looking worse for wear by this time but some of the HBFs were still looking reasonable.
Talking to some of the locals, the opinion seemed to be that the High Browns were down in number this year. looking through my photos afterwards, I reckon I photographed at least half a dozen different individuals, mostly in the lower meadows but also a couple higher up near the top of the Knott.

I particularly like the shot of the female below,
and this underside, of which I also have topside shots by which I confirmed it as a male.
Cheers,

Neil F.

Neither of these is a brilliant picture but both might add something to the portrait of the species in this thread.

The first is a pair of mating high browns, photographed on 8th July in my local woods:



They were some way up a sunny bank and I didn't clamber closer to them for fear of putting them up.

Later in July I found a female not far away, laying eggs in the vicinity of violet plants. She was very active, constantly moving, constantly pressing her abdomen into the leaf litter, perhaps reaching parts of violets that were not visible - she was never far from violets.



Guy

The HB Frits I saw at Gaits Barrow also liked Violet leaves Padfield ,some of them were in the same vicinity where the the Duke of Burgandy can be found in the Spring. In fact alot more of the area has been cleared and Violets now grow in these area's which as extended the regions of both species.

Small Pearl B and PB can also be found in this area early June . Goldie