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Tag Archives: Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Pearls in the grass

16 Thursday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, Boloria selene, British butterflies, butterfly, fritillary, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

I can’t think of a nicer way to spend a day than to enjoy a lovely catch up with my friend Shar while wandering around a grasslands reserve looking for butterflies. Having a second pair of sharp eyes was also a bonus as the weather was quite dull, the butterflies few and mostly inactive. Still, we managed some good close sightings of Small pearl-bordered fritillaries (Boloria selene), a butterfly that thrives in the damp grassland habitat of Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR and, though one of the reserve’s largest fields was burnt recently, there are promising signs that both the violets required for this butterfly’s larvae and the thistles, bramble and bugle that provide food for the adults have survived the fire. Let’s hope both the plants and the butterflies bounce back from what could so easily have been a truly tragic event.

220616 small pearl-bordered fritillary

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Small pearl-bordered fritillaries

30 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterfly, fritillaries, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Another visit to Aberbargoed Grasslands National Nature Reserve last week produced my best ever views of Small pearl-bordered fritillaries so I thought I’d share a couple of photos of these stunning little butterflies.

210630 small pearl-bordered fritillary (1)

They get their name from the series of pearl-like markings that can be seen along the outside edge of the underside of their hind wings, though I personally think all their markings, on both the upper- and under-sides of their wings are as exquisite as pearls.

210630 small pearl-bordered fritillary (2)

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Small, small, large

10 Thursday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterfly, Large skipper, Small heath, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The adjectives small and large are, of course, relative: of the three butterflies featured in today’s post, the large (skipper) is actually the smallest, but it’s larger than the Small skipper to which the adjective in its name refers. So, having explained that, let’s take a look at these three latest beauties to grace my (reasonably) local airways.

210610 small heath

I wrote (reasonably) local because these first two butterflies were seen on my journeys up the Welsh Valleys to Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR. The Small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) (above) is now only occasionally seen in my coastal area – I found one in Cardiff Bay last summer but that was, sadly, a rarity.

210610 small pearl-bordered fritillary

The Small pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria selene), of which I saw seven on Tuesday’s trip to Aberbargoed, is a bright orange beauty that thrives in the National Nature Reserve’s wet grassland environment, though, even there, the numbers are usually quite low. Sadly, the British population of this butterfly is suffering a long-term decline, and the changing climate isn’t helping matters.

210610 large skipper

I found my first Large skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus) in the same local field where I spotted my first last year, and I’ve only seen one so far but, hopefully, they’ll soon be adorning the grassy fields in better numbers.

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172/365 Flitillaries

21 Friday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, fritillaries, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Summer solstice

My mis-spelling of the word fritillaries is deliberate – the darn things never keep still. They’re either constantly flitting from place to place at a great rate of knots or, when they do settle, they either disappear into the long grass so you can’t find them or they perch on a flower to refuel but never stop flapping their wings for a moment.

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (1)

Those are my excuses for the Small pearl-bordered fritillaries in today’s photos being out of focus and/or obscured by blades of grass!

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (2)

Still, I spent a glorious few hours with them, and their cousins the Marsh fritillaries, at Aberbargoed Grasslands National Nature Reserve. A little patience was required, as huge menacing clouds kept rolling over but, in the gaps between, when the sun came out, so did the butterflies.

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (3)

It was a magical way to spend the summer solstice!

190621 small pearl-bordered fritillary (4)

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154/365 Frits again

03 Monday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Marsh fritillary, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The weather wasn’t ideal for my visit to Aberbargoed grasslands today, with little sun and a fresh breeze, but I thought I’d give it a try as the rest of the week is looking little better – in fact, it’s looking downright miserable, with rain forecast most days. To see butterflies, you really need sunshine and warmth.

190603 marsh fritillary (1)

Moaning aside, as you can tell from my photos, I did manage to find some Marsh fritillaries – I counted at least 25, some of which were already looking a little worn from their flying about, bumping into plants, and their interactions with others of their kind.

190603 marsh fritillary (2)

What I was really hoping to find were Small pearl-bordered fritillaries, as they’ve been seen at this site in the past week and they would have been a new sighting for me for the year. And I did see some – two, perhaps three – but they were either distant or flying rapidly past. They did, however, look much more orange in flight than the Marsh frits and their flight pattern was different. Luckily, I managed to grab one photo, with both a Small pearl-bordered fritillary and a Marsh fritillary on the same flower. It’s a heavy crop but I still like it.

190603 apb and marsh fritillaries

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Fritillaries!

22 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, British butterflies, British moths, Dark Green Fritillary, Large skipper, Six-spot burnet, Small heath butterfly, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

I had never seen any Fritillary butterflies until today, so, on day 22 of #30DaysWild, I’ve had a very exciting afternoon seeing my very first High Browns, Dark Greens and Small Pearl-bordereds. These butterflies were very fast fliers and didn’t settle long so I didn’t get many shots, and didn’t manage any of the High Browns. Below are three different Dark Green Fritillaries and one Small Pearl-bordered … plus a few other butterflies we saw.

180622 fritillary (1)180622 fritillary (2)180622 fritillary (3)

180622 fritillary (4)

Small pearl-bordered fritillary

I did manage to get reasonable images of some of the many lovely little Small heath butterflies, the one Six-spot burnet moth we saw, and, my favourite, this cute Large skipper. ‘Twas a grand day!

180622 Small heath180622 6-spot burnet180622 Large skipper

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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