NFY: Meadow brown

18 Thursday Jun 2026

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Maniola jurtina, Meadow Brown

Most co-operatively, as I had specifically gone looking for it, my 22nd butterfly species for 2026 appeared flitting up and down among the long grasses and wildflowers of a local meadow on Sunday 7 June, a breezy day but warm enough in sheltered places. And then another appeared, and a third, and, more distantly, a fourth, though I only managed to get this one photo. As with many butterfly species, the males emerge before the females and then spend their time racing madly around looking for females to mate with and sprinkling their pheromones on to the vegetation. This is, of course, a Meadow brown (Maniola jurtina).

Water mint

18 Sunday Aug 2024

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British wildflowers, insects on Water mint, Meadow Brown, Mentha aquatica, Small copper, Volucella zonaria, Water mint

Is there anything more delicious on a hot sunny day than the refreshing smell of mint, whether it be in a long cold drink or when you’re out walking and brush against the leaves of one of the many species of mint that grow wild in the UK.

240818 water mint (a)

In the damper areas of my local walks, Water mint (Mentha aquatica) grows in abundance, and it’s now in full flower, a boon for hungry insects as some of the earlier summer flowers go to seed. I occasionally bring a few leaves home to infuse with a herbal tea that I leave to chill in the fridge but mostly I just enjoy the sight and smell of this pretty plant and the many insects that feast on it (in this case, Meadow brown and Small copper butterflies, and a Volucella zonaria hoverfly).

240818 water mint (b)

Brown and orange

15 Saturday Jun 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Large skipper, Meadow Brown

Time for an update on the butterfly front …
Usually I see Large skippers before I see Meadow browns but this year it was the other way around, with the local Meadow browns emerging slightly earlier than usual. Who knows why – maybe something to do with the crazy weather we’ve been experiencing – warm one minute, cool the next. My first Meadow browns were seen fluttering over the wildflowers in the meadows at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park on 3 June.

240615 meadow brown

And, despite a keen breeze and large fluffy clouds frequently obscuring the sun, I spotted my first six Large skippers basking on Bramble and other shrubs along the leeward side of a coastal hedgerow two days later, on 5 June.

240615 large skipper

A common sight

11 Monday Sep 2023

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, wildflowers

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, British wildflowers, butterfly, butterfly on scabious, Devil's-bit scabious, Meadow Brown

Nothing says late summer/early autumn to me more than a Meadow brown butterfly on Devil’s-bit scabious. This is a typical sight now at my local country park.

230911 meadow brown

A festival of orange and brown

08 Tuesday Aug 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Comma, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown

Just a little celebration of some of the beautiful butterflies I’m enjoying seeing during my daily meanders. Though some butterfly species are suffering from this year’s weird weather, these three species seem to be doing very well.

230808 1 comma and gatekeeper

A Gatekeeper in front, a Comma behind

230808 2 gatekeeper pair

A pair of Gatekeepers, the female on the left. The male butterfly has prominent sex brands (brown streaks) on its upper wings.

230808 3 gatekeeper meadow brown

A Gatekeeper below, a Meadow brown above

230808 4 meadow brown

A pair of Meadow browns, creating more Meadow browns. The female is on the left.

The fluttering browns

14 Tuesday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Maniola jurtina, Meadow Brown, meadow butterfly

Weaving their way amongst the long grasses, fluttering delicately up and down, meandering through the meadows – the Meadow browns are out and about.

220614 meadow brown

Getting up close

17 Tuesday Aug 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature photography

≈ 2 Comments

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British butterflies, butterfly, Common blue butterfly, macro photography, Meadow Brown, practising macro photography, Speckled wood

I mostly use my Olympus camera for macro photographs, and to get crisp shots I need to get within an inch or two of the subject. As you can imagine, a lot of little creatures are alarmed by a large animal looming over them with a camera so, from time to time, I use one of my daily walks to practise my stealth. After a couple of false starts yesterday, I was very pleased to get up close to these three butterflies – a Common blue, a Meadow brown and a Speckled wood – as the macro photos give such good detail of the anatomy of these beautiful butterflies.

210817 common blue 210817 meadow brown 210817 speckled wood

298/366 The last Meadow brown

24 Saturday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects

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Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, butterflying, Meadow Brown

Meadow brown butterflies have a long season, on the wing from early June to the end of October, and those dates are exactly what I’ve observed in my area this year and last.

201024 meadow brown 200918

In 2019, I spotted my first Meadow brown on 5 June and the last was a single butterfly seen on 7 October.

201024 meadow brown 200925

This year, I saw my first Meadow Brown at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park on 1 June.

201024 meadow brown 200927

And, as September was drawing to a close, I kept a special eye out for these lovely butterflies, each time taking a photograph and asking myself, ‘Will this be the last Meadow brown of the year?’

201024 meadow brown 201001

I knew time was fast slipping away for them and, on 5 October, again at Cosmeston, it really was the last time I would see a Meadow brown in 2020. That butterfly is the one shown below … and I’m already looking forward to seeing them again next June.

201024 meadow brown 201005

251/366 Bs and Ts

07 Monday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, plants, wildflowers

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Buff-tailed bumblebee, bumblebees, Burnet moth, Common carder bee, insects on teasels, Meadow Brown, Teasel

Bumblebees and Teasels – I’m not sure why but they seem to be a match made in heaven.

In fact, bumblebees are the insects I see most often nectaring on Teasels, though the Burnet moths also find Teasel to their taste, as did this Meadow brown butterfly yesterday.