www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Week 11.

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

Marsh Fritillary

I saw my first few Marsh Frits at Hod Hill three years ago. Last year I tracked down a singleton in a Wiltshire Wood which was really hard going. This year I tried a new site on calcerous grassland and they were all over the place. While the sun was out it was harder trying to avoid them than find them.
This is my favourite shot of the many that I took that day as it was one of the final ones. Having seen five ”firsts” for the year, gotten my closest view of a Wall ever, stained glass host in the bag and witnessed mating behaviours and a Battle Royale this was the culmination of the day. A fantastic closed wing shot served on a platter of Philzoid Finger! It was such an awesome day that for the first time ever I filled my memory card so to get this shot I had to hastily check through and delete a few so as to make room – definitely on the visit list for next year! Have a goodun

Wurzel

These are my favourite Marsh Fritillaries of the year. The second photo was taken 13 minutes after the first, at the same place, but I'm not sure if it is the same specimen. As usual, at about 200 metres altitude in the Alpes-Maritimes.
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Colin

The Marsh Frit season was late this year, but it coincided with a decent spell of warm, sunny weather and I saw them at 3 different locations in south Wales. This one was at Caeau Ffos Fach on Saturday 8th June:
These two were frolicking at the same location:
This unusually marked female was seen at Welshmoor, on the Gower, on 3rd June:

The late season made a bit of a mess of my plan to see this species - it's a bit of extra travel to the better locations, and a carefully planned day excursion that took in Hod Hill saw me puffing up the steep slope a few days too early. However...
Earlier on I had luckily been at another site entirely and whilst enjoying a number of other species, I chanced upon a solitary, slightly worn, female Marsh Fritillary. In the end, this proved to be my only sighting of this butterfly this year, and I felt a bit annoyed at the unnecessary extra mileage involved on the day - though delighted to have seen it all the same! Dave

Some good pictures of this species, but David M's flight shot is remarkable!

For myself, I have two favourites. The first is a rather interesting aberration from about 2400m in the Alps, photographed in August:



This one was closer to home, on my local mountain, at about 1700m, in July. Marsh fritillaries move about constantly when nectaring and it is very difficult to get the angle and aspect at the same time for a good shot with a scenic backdrop. This was close, but the butterfly is still too flat:



Guy

Mine is June 25th Chambers Farm Wood, Lincs. Eric

It's always a long day from Seaford to see Marsh Fritillaries so It isn't every year that I make it. This year however I did the trip with a friend that has never seen them before which always makes it more rewarding. Whilst we were watching them we also saw a pair of Goshawks performing their courtship and on the return home seeing Sword Leaved Helleborines for the 1st time for both of us so it was a very memorable day.
http://bobsbutterflies.blogspot.com

I had never seen Marsh Fritillaries before and hadn't actually made any plans to do so until a few days before going to North Devon for a family holiday back in June. I had noticed that due to the late start to the season this year, they were still on the wing and a quick perusal of the map got me thinking of making a trip to see them whilst I was in Devon.
So it was that I spent a couple of hours at Volehouse Moor as described earlier in the year in my UKB diary and saw my first Marsh Fritillaries
Cheers,

Neil

I didn't get to see Marsh Fritillary on home soil but luckily I visited Spain in May and June where they were in plentiful supply. I have two favourite images, the first from May and the second from June.