Marsh Fritillaries

I didn't have it in me to call this blog Great Spotted Cuckoo, as I only managed a couple of record shots on a day when I was expecting to nail the bird. It was a toss up between a bird and a butterfly or two butterflies. The bird won and we were on our way to Portland with an 0600 start to miss most of the traffic. Conflicting reports cost us a bit of time but in the end we staked out Reap Lane in Southwell where the bird had been spotted most days. We waited patiently but the optimism level was starting to wilt, then Martin saw a bird flying into the cuckoo's favourite haunt. A slight relocation and we had the bird, which was skulking in the bushes, in our viewfinders albeit at a distance. Unfortunately I think the bird was replete - stuffed with Brown-tailed Moth caterpillars  - and it remained on its perch for a good half hour before dropping down the hill to munch on even more caterpillars. Of course we tried to get clear shots but it remained obscured by twigs, then the inevitable happened - dog walker - and the bird returned to its perch in the dense bushes. We waited for another opportunity but we were keen to have a go at the Marsh Fritillaries of Cotley Hill.

 
Cotley Hill came up trumps though we had to walk a whole hundred more yards into the reserve than last time to find our first Marsh Fritillary. With some warm sunshine heating up the ground, plenty of butterflies were emerging, we counted between 20 and 30 sightings. Last time we visited we were later in the season and the butterflies were worn, you can't get them fresher than this.

 

 

 



As we left an obliging Wall popped up and posed for us.

Two freshly emerged Banded Demoiselles from the upper River Arun, today 17th May.

Finally some butterfly shots saved from previous outings.

Duke of Burgundy



Dingy Skipper



Two friendly Grizzled Skippers



Orange Tip

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered and Marsh Fritillaries

Sadly today's outing would have been much better had we made it at least a week before. Both subjects were past their best and although numerous, the quality of freshly emerged butterflies was not there. That said, we still had a great day at two different venues capturing shots of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Marsh Fritillary.

First up was Bentley Wood, a well known butterfly venue just to the east of Salisbury. We parked up and made our way to the Eastern Clearing, unfortunately I made an error in navigation and we ended up at the wrong entrance. No matter, just two minutes later we spotted our first Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Finally, we found the right area and located lots of specimens, most of them nectaring on brambles. As the temperature rose in a clear blue sky they were joined by Large Skippers which were a minor distraction. During the search I managed to capture a Golden-ringed Dragonfly,  which, as I tried to alert Martin, did the Houdini trick and vanished.

 



Brown eyes indicate immature specimen

 Having taken sufficient photographs of the SPbF we wandered along the ride going north from the car park. A small clearing was reported as having Marsh Fritillaries present, alas nothing found. On our return we came across another obliging dragonfly, this time an immature male Black-tailed Skimmer (subject to confirmation)

Second venue for the day was Cotley Hill near Warminster, home of numerous Marsh Fritillaries. Martin had secured sound advice from another butterfly enthusiast and yet again the information was perfect. Within minutes a Marsh Fritillary landed in front of us. During our stay we probably never ventured more than 50 yards from the original sighting, the butterflies were everywhere, unfortunately most of them showing signs of age, faded and missing bits of wing indicative of the hard life they had endured.

"I've had a hard life" -  most specimens were worn...

....or faded....

...but still photogenic.

 

 

As the afternoon progressed more and more came out to nectar on the brambles and we made a conservative estimate of 40, just in the immediate locality. Lots of other butterflies present, we noted Small Tortoiseshell, Common Blue, Small Blue, Dingy, Large and Grizzled Skippers, Green Hairstreak, Whites and Small Heath.