Dark Green Fritillary
Like many natural history bloggers, I tend to tread the same paths regularly. There are some places that we’ve visited now for 35 years, so we’ve got to know them pretty well and when something unusual appears it tends to catch the eye. Which is exactly what this Dark Green Fritillary did, on a footpath near Stanhope in Weardale this morning. We’ve walked this path several times a year for three and a half decades and this is the first time we’ve seen this handsome butterfly there. Usually this is a species that’s very active and so is hard work to follow. I chased one for a frustrating hour on a hot afternoon in Norfolk recently without getting a decent photograph but in this morning’s showery weather I was able to approach closely without too much effort.
Like many natural history bloggers, I tend to tread the same paths regularly. There are some places that we’ve visited now for 35 years, so we’ve got to know them pretty well and when something unusual appears it tends to catch the eye. Which is exactly what this Dark Green Fritillary did, on a footpath near Stanhope in Weardale this morning. We’ve walked this path several times a year for three and a half decades and this is the first time we’ve seen this handsome butterfly there. Usually this is a species that’s very active and so is hard work to follow. I chased one for a frustrating hour on a hot afternoon in Norfolk recently without getting a decent photograph but in this morning’s showery weather I was able to approach closely without too much effort.
That's a stunner
ReplyDeleteThat is a beauty Phil.
ReplyDeleteAnother I've not seen, or noticed, before.
Thanks Citybirding....it had just started to rain, which helped a lot.......this is a very active butterfly when the sun shines!
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith, the best place to see these, I've found, is on the nature reserve at Ravenstonedale in Cumbria, where sometimes there are large numbers. Most other colonies I've seen seem to be quite small..
ReplyDelete