Second lucky day

12 Friday Aug 2022

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British butterflies, butterfly, Silver-washed fritillary

My first lucky day happened when I took the new camera for its first outing, and not only produced the Robin photo I posted yesterday but also the Brown argus I blogged about on Wednesday. The very next day I was, if anything, even more lucky, as I found this superb, if rather faded Silver-washed fritillary in a local woodland. Long time followers might remember I found a male Silver-washed frit (A golden surprise) last July, which was in the same woodland. This latest butterfly was quite a distance from last year’s find spot but that may just be because the scarcity of food sources had forced it to fly a little further than usual. This year’s butterfly is a female so I’m hoping she had found/can find a male and laid/will lay some eggs.

220812 silver-washed fritillary

A golden surprise

28 Wednesday Jul 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British butterflies, butterflying, Casehill Woods, Silver-washed fritillary

My walks in Casehill Woods delivered yet another delightful surprise on Monday, this stunning male Silver-washed fritillary.

210728 silver-washed fritillary (1)

I have, in fact, been looking for these butterflies in the Dinas Powys woodlands in recent weeks as this is the closest area to where I live that Silver-washed fritillaries were last seen on a regular basis. Though they were once recorded quite frequently in Cwm George woodland, none have been reported there since 2003. It seems to my untrained eye that the trees in Cwm George have grown too tall so the area no longer provides the sunlit rides and glades, the flourishing banks of nectar-rich brambles, thistles and other wildflowers, and the quantities of its larval food plant Common dog-violet that the Silver-washed fritillary needs to thrive.

210728 silver-washed fritillary (2)

Fortunately, this particular butterfly has discovered the younger Millennium woodland area of Casehill Woods, which caters exactly to his needs. Now, let’s hope this male can attract a female so that together they can build a new local population. Fingers crossed!

207/365 Butterflying at Lower Woods

26 Friday Jul 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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Brimstone, British butterflies, butterflying, Gatekeeper, Gloucestershire woodland, Lower Woods Nature Reserve, Purple hairstreak, Silver-washed fritillary, Small copper, woodland trenches

On the hottest July day on record, yesterday, three mad gents and a Kiwi woman went butterflying in the noon day sun!

190726 Lower Woods (1)

Our destination was the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s Lower Woods Nature Reserve, which, according to their website, is ‘one of the largest ancient woodlands in the south-west of England’. I can believe it!

190726 Lower Woods (2)

We walked most of the Horton Great Trench, one of the long grassy roads that have been in existence since Medieval times, as well as detouring in through the woods on one of the many tracks, and it was beautiful – extremely hot, but beautiful! Towering old trees edged the ancient trackway, with clearings widening out to wildflower meadows in many places along the way.

190726 silver-washed frit

The trench was perfect for butterflies. I have never seen so many Silver-washed fritillaries before, and there was also an abundance of Peacocks, flashing their brilliant colours on the bramble flowers. We spotted several Purple hairstreaks up high in the ancient oaks and then had the delight of watching one come down to the grass to drink from the overnight dew – fabulous!

190726 purple hairstreak 190726 small copper

Our list for the site came to 17 species: Silver-washed fritillary, Purple hairstreak, Peacock, Red admiral, Comma, Large and Small and Marbled whites, Brimstone, Small skipper, Common blue and Brown argus, Speckled wood, Meadow brown, Ringlet and Gatekeeper, and two gorgeous Small coppers.

190726 gatekeeper 190726 brimstone

We didn’t actually find our target species, the White admiral, at Lower Woods but a detour to Slade Wood on the way home produced one individual, bringing our top-spotter car-driver his 50th butterfly species of the year. Congratulations, Gareth!

197/365 Butterflying at Slade Wood

16 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, walks

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#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterfly, butterflying, Comma, Peacock, Red Admiral, Silver-washed fritillary, Slade Wood, Small tortoiseshell, White admiral

Yesterday, with my friend Sharon, I went to Slade Wood, in the neighbouring county of Gwent, for a walk and some butterflying.

190716 Slade Wood

The woodland was lovely and a haven from the hot sun but, for us, the best butterflying was to be had just wandering along the country lane leading to the woodland. With high hedges, abundant wildflowers and occasional blooming Buddleia bushes, backed by the tall woodland trees, it was heaven for butterflies. These are a few of the 12 species we saw …

190716 white admiral

My first White admirals of the year, the first I’ve seen in Wales; they seem to float over the vegetation.

190716 silver-washed fritillary

Those giant orange-and-brown speedsters, the Silver-washed fritillaries.

190716 red admiral

Red admiral extracting minerals from poo … mmmmm, delicious!

190716 comma

Comma, incredibly well camouflaged amongst the grasses and leaf litter, also heading for a slurp at the poo.

190716 peacock

Peacock, hiding its glorious bold colours away behind those closed wings.

190716 small tortoiseshell

Small tortoiseshell, a pretty little butterfly that I don’t see very often, so a delight to spot one of these.

189/365 ‘A confetti of scent scales’

08 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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androconial scales, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly anatomy, butterfly courtship, Large skipper, pheromones, sex brands, Silver-washed fritillary, Small skipper

The observant among you may have noticed silvery looking lines on the veins of the Silver-washed fritillary in yesterday’s post – those are its sex brands. In these particular frits, the males have four such brands, two on each top upper wing. The brands contain androconial scales, special scented scales that are used during courtship to attract females. As the Woodland Trust website explains, Silver-washed fritillary ‘courtship is an aerobatic spectacular: the female flies in a straight line while the male loops the loop around her, before showering her in a confetti of scent scales’.

190708 silver-washed fritillary

Silver-washed fritillaries are not the only butterflies to have sex brands: they can also be found, for example, in Large and Small skippers (below left and right, respectively). The Learn about Butterflies website (which has a much more detailed explanation for those who are interested in the nitty gritty of butterfly anatomy) explains, the dark diagonal marks on the skippers’ wings

are composed of hundreds of androconial scales. These disseminate pheromones that can be detected by females during courtship. As the male ages the strength of his pheromones diminishes, thus by analysing the strength of the pheromones a female can assess the age and virility of a potential mate.

The more I find out about butterflies, the more fascinated I become.

188/365 Silver-washed fritillary

07 Sunday Jul 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, fritillaries, Silver-washed fritillary

As well as the endangered High brown fritillaries and their cousins the Dark greens, Friday’s butterflying day out also turned up a couple of these beauties, the equally glorious members of the family, the Silver-washed fritillaries (Argynnis paphia).

190707 silver-washed fritillary (1)

If you’re wondering how an orange-and-black-patterned butterfly got the name silver-washed, it’s because the underside of its wings are streaked silver. Unfortunately, my photos don’t show that very clearly … next time.

190707 silver-washed fritillary (2)

Silver-washed fritillaries

22 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Abbot's Wood, Argynnis paphia, British butterflies, butterflies, fritillaries, Silver-washed fritillary

What an absolute delight it was to see these beauties during my recent visit to Sussex, my second new butterfly sighting for the week!

180722 Silver-washed fritillary (3)

My friend Jill can testify to the fact that I was grinning from ear to ear as we followed the Abbot’s Amble trail through Abbot’s Wood, a Forestry Commission site near Polegate, and were entertained at every sunlit spot by Silver-washed fritillaries (Argynnis paphia) flitting about the bracken, bramble, thistles and burdock.

180722 Silver-washed fritillary (5)

With a wingspan between 7 and 8 cms, they’re large butterflies, and so very vibrant.

180722 Silver-washed fritillary (4)

These are woodland butterflies, feeding on the flowers that grow along the edges of paths and trails in wooded areas. Apparently, they also lay their eggs on tree trunks, rather than on their caterpillar’s food plant. Once hatched, the caterpillars hibernate through the winter, awakening and descending to the forest floor come the springtime to feed on the leaves of violets.