www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Week 5.

Here is the opportunity to post your favourite photo(s) of a particular species taken in 2013 (or the last time you saw one!).

This is part of a series of topics which will grow over 20 weeks throughout the winter, eventually covering all 59 species which are regularly found in the British Isles. 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 members 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

Duke of Burgundy

The Duke is one of those butterflies that always makes my season. Over the last couple of seasons I’ve managed to find a few of them but always at the same site which is worrying because if they’re having a bad year it could disappear. So this is my favourite as it was taken at a new site I visited this year which, for my neck of the woods, had an astonishing number of Dukes. A quick walk up the path of about 150m turned up four. A parallel path on the opposite side of a small field produced up to 15 of them, all jostling and scraping for the best spots. To go from searching and seeing 1 or 2 at most to tripping over them was sublime. My abiding memory of the visit was of my younger daughter admonishing some Dukes for scraping and telling them to “Calm down!” Have a goodun

Wurzel

Always a firm favourite with me too! Here's a beautiful female posing nicely at Heyshott Escarpment on 31st May.

I think most people are used to seeing Dukes on scrubby downland but it is also a true woodland species and occasionally I come across colonies along woodland rides. Here is my favourite picture from one of these colonies, taken in June this year. It took a long time to get the picture because several males were defending spots very close together and by the time I had inched my way into the perfect position, to get a butterfly and the habitat beyond it, another butterfly would usually have flown in and disturbed my target.



Guy

I have two photo's I like, one ,because although I don't think the shot is one of the best, it still sums up the ralationship between the Duke and his favourite flower.
The other photo because I went up to Gaits Barrow a few times looking for the Duke, they were so concerned it had not been seen notices were put every where for people to get in touch if one was seen. Luckily that day we caught a glimpse of him/her (not sure) it was the 19th May and made my day. Goldie

Back in early June I made a bit of a last minute decision to head down to Prestbury Hill, this being likely my only chance to see His Grace this year. It turned out to be a great day with me seeing, amongst many other butterflies, at least a dozen or so Dukes and a couple of Duchesses.

Most of the Dukes were very active, constantly intercepting anything that came near as they do, but in the afternoon I found one individual that was a little less boisterous and managed to get some reasonable photos,
including these two backlit undersides which are my favourites shots from the day.
Cheers,

Neil.

This rare but entertaining species is still relatively new to me (only seen about a dozen in my entire life, and all of those males).

I found several leks in the large crater at Rodborough Common, Gloucestershire, on 4th June and spent a good hour watching the antics of this particularly aggressive little butterfly.

A Duke from Heyshott.
http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.com

I spent another sunny but chilly day back in the spring (2nd May) looking for Dukes at Noar Hill. It was right at the start of this rather late season and only one appeared - but one was enough, especially as I was joined by Pete Eeles, making for a very pleasant morning indeed. The only other Duke I encountered was near Ivinghoe Beacon later in the year (6th June), and it was so worn I didn't immediately recognise it. At least I assume it's wear that has given it the pale cast, rather than it being an aberration of some sort.

Dave

Here are two favourite photos - one showing the Duke in his natural habitat, on Cowslip, and the other not so natural, perched on the end of Celia Curtis' finger!
Both taken at Kithurst Hill in Sussex on the 25th May 2013. I was pleased to see a couple more Dukes there than last year, though it still seems a small and precarious colony.

Cheers
John W

One of my favourite butterflies of the year see. Both images were taken on Stockbridge Down.

Taken on a Sussex Butterfly Conservation walk at Heyshott this year. The conservation work done on the site was really obvious this year. Tremendously well done to all involved! Duke numbers were really good on the walk. At one point I had a sit down and was chatting to a friend on the phone and I had Dukes flying all around me - it is a wonderful memory.

Favourite photos of Duke of Burgundy..



And one from Noar Hill 30th April 2013.