My Year in Butterflies

This year has been an interesting butterfly year so far. I have seen three new species, of which one was more of a re-discovery…that I didn’t know I had seen before. You are never to old to learn something!

Let’s start with the two “firsts”: the White Admiral and the Silver-washed fritillary.

One evening when I was walking in my favourite woodland area, a very gracious butterfly came almost floating towards me. I didn’t recognize it at once but when it landed I saw that it was indeed a species I hadn’t seen before. So I took some pictures and researched it at home upon return. As it happened, it was the White Admiral (Leminitis camilla).

According to Butterfly Conservation UK, this butterfly…”occurs widely in southern Britain and has spread rapidly since the 1920s, after an earlier contraction. However, population monitoring has shown a dramatic decline in the last 20 years for reasons that are as yet unclear. Adults are often found nectaring on Bramble flowers in rides and clearings. It is a fairly shade-tolerant butterfly, flying in dappled sunlight to lay eggs on Honeysuckle…”

 

I only took two pictures, but the encounter was remarkable.

The next “new” butterfly is the Silver-washed Fritlillary (Argynnis paphia) that I saw in the walled garden of Hughenden Manor, one of the many National Trust estates. A very distinctive butterfly that has increased in numbers over the last three decades.

 

I thought I saw the Green-veined White (Pieris napi) this year for the first time. But that turned out to be wrong, since I had already seen them over the last two years…without recognizing any difference with the other “Whites”. The distinctive black veins on the under wings should have been a giveaway. Anyhow, now I know.

It is a wide spread butterfly through the UK and I will pay more attention next time I see a white flutterer. This male I spotted  during one of my walks in Buckinghamshire in May this year.

According to Butterfly Conservation UK it “…prefers damp, lush vegetation where the foodplant is found. It usually occurs in hedgerows, ditches, banks of rivers, lakes and ponds, damp meadows, moorland and woodland rides and edges. This butterfly can be found in gardens but favours damp areas…”

I will finish this blog with some butterflies I saw again this year. The Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria), the Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus), the Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni), the Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) and the Six-spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae).