The Heath Fritillaries of Blean Woods

 

To see anything truly rare in the UK usually requires a long journey to some remote corner of Scotland. Not so for the Heath Fritillary, one of Britain's rarest butterflies, which makes its home in Exmoor and in select parts of the woodland surrounding Canterbury. The best sites for seeing them are East Blean Wood NNR and Blean Woods NNR, and it was the latter I visited on a hot clear day in early July, hoping to get some photos.

In a normal year numbers are expected to peak towards the end of June, but the wet spring seems to have pushed everything back, butterflies included. I'd remembered from previous visits that Heath Fritillaries favour the open drove-ways or "rides" that transect the woods, and it was on one of these rides (where the black trail splits from the red trail) that I encountered a cluster of about a dozen - all in pristine condition.

Not having visited Blean Woods for a while, I'd forgotten how tricky these little butterflies are to photograph, but - with a great deal of patience - I managed to get a few shots worth keeping.

I didn't quite succeed in nailing the wings-wide-open photo I was looking for, but the pictures I did get were an improvement on previous efforts. An incentive perhaps - if incentives are needed to seek out this lovely little butterfly - to try again next year.


See also:
More of my Heath Fritillary photos on Flickr
Heath Fritillary (UK Butterflies)
Status of the Heath Fritillary - Kent Biodiversity Action Plan (PDF)

Blean Woods (RSPB)
The Big Blean Walk (PDF)

Marbled Whites

The weather may have suggested otherwise, but we're coming to the end of high summer; that time of year when the birds lie low to recover from the breeding season and - in some cases - ready their wings for the great autumn migration. It's also the time of year when some photographers moan about having nothing to photograph ... as they brush the butterflies away from their lenses.

One highlight of the summer months is the elegantly beautiful Marbled White (Melanargia galathea). Intermediate in size between the small blues and the attention-grabbing Peacocks and Red Admirals, it's easily distinguished by the unmistakable black-and-white checkerboard pattern on its wings. It looks particularly striking when perched on one of its favourite nectar sources, purple knapweed:

The Marbled White isn't rare as British butterflies go, but due to its preference for unimproved grassland you'll almost never see one in a typical garden. Fortunately the person (or persons) responsible for naming it had a finer appreciation for its aesthetic qualities, otherwise it might well have ended up being called the Pied Butterfly.

A closer examination reveals a hint of colour amongst all the black and white - pale blue dots on the underwing:

Of course, a telescope is no substitute for a good quality macro lens when it comes to photographing the small stuff; even with extension tubes in place, the closest I can get to a butterfly and still keep it in focus is about nine feet, but that's no reason not to have a go (and at least I know I'm not disturbing it). And, with the draw-tube racked all the way out, the depth of field is so shallow it's easier to adjust focus simply by rocking backwards and forwards slightly.

The cliff-top wildflower meadow where these photos were taken also plays host to grasshoppers, crickets, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, the distinctive Six-spot Burnet and little orange skippers (though I couldn't tell you if they're of the Small or Essex variety).

See more of my Marbled White photos on Flickr