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 only took one photo of a marbled white this year. It is a very photogenic butterfly but always seems to get eclipsed by rarer things flying in the same sites. This was taken on 4th July in a local meadow:



Guy

Marbled White
This is my favourite shot of the many Marbled Whites I took this year as it was the first of 2012 and it was a fitting reward for all hard work and patience it took to get! I was led a merry dance by this chap who showed “white” behaviour i.e. fluttering here, there and everywhere but never settling for long, if at all. Finally after watching for a further 15 minutes it started making low passes over the grasses, a sign it was possibly going to land. So I cautiously approached while the passes became tighter and tighter circles as it spiralled in to land...for a full 20 seconds! Just long enough though to grab this shot. Then it was off again. Have a goodun

Wurzel

There were plenty of Marbled Whites around these parts this year, there is something about the first sighting of the year of this species when they are really fresh. This mating pair was on Frog Firle, Cradle Hill where my son and myself were finding over 100 Burnt Orchids.

I still count myself lucky to have this species within walking distance of home, as they are found in good numbers at Harmondsworth Moor immediately north-west of Heathrow and south-east of the M25/M4 junction.

These two shots were taken on 27th June, at around seven in the evening when they were becoming quite docile.

Dave

This is my favourite shot of 2012 . I took the photo at Lydden Kent 5th July it was very windy but that didn't put the Butterflies off they were every where Goldie

It was one of the few hot days of 2012 and this one was in a shady spot deep amongst the long grass...
Mike

The Marbled White is one of those species where photography has really helped me appreciate its subtle beauty. The first picture was taken on a very damp and miserable evening at Southwater Woods on 8th July 2012. The second was taken also on a fairly dull evening at Cissbury Ring on 24th July 2012.
p.s. I'd be interested to know what the seed pod is that the second MW is sitting on.

Don't think it's a seed pod. Looks like the unopened flowers of Wild Carrot.

A trip to Twywell CP on July 19th saw an abundance of Marbled Whites. A mixture of sunshine and showers saw these wonderful butterflies resting for short periods enabling me to grab an open wing shot.
The neat two images were taken at Aston Rowant on July 21st and 27th respectively. Both males had infestations of a red mite called Trombidium breei, something that i found very common amongst most species at the site.
Finally an Iberian Marbled White photographed in Spain on June 19th.

Here was I thinking you'd stumbled across a unique aberrant. I didn't read the text above the last photograph until after I'd had a sharp intake of breath from looking at the image.

Some cracking photos in this thread especially by Nigel. My favourite however has to be Guys at the top of the thread, I do love to see a good photo of a butterfly in the context of its habitat.

I saw loads of Marbled Whites around the midlands including at a couple of local spots where I had never seen them before.

A couple below from Snitterfield Bushes where I went with my son Chris a couple of times and saw hundreds.
Cheers,

Neil F.

nfreem wrote:My favourite however has to be Guys at the top of the thread, I do love to see a good photo of a butterfly in the context of its habitat.

I agree and also think millerd's second pic is excellent too. Recent competitions have shown a strong tendency towards 'clutter-free' photos but these pics are valuable for placing the butterfly within a context.