On July 18th, whilst leaving the house to go to a friend's BBQ, my wife informed me that a Silver-washed Fritillary was on the front garden buddleia. I arrived to find a rather smart male and then also a rather tatty female (males and females have slightly different wing markings). I only managed a record shot of the male, as he was quite flighty and I have also attached quite a smart female from 2006. This is the third year in the last four that Silver-washed Fritillary has been recorded in the garden and I suspect that there is a small population in the adjacent woodland, although in good years, of which this is apparently one, they do tend to wander. Funnily enough, at the friend's BBQ about a mile and half down the road, I observed another female Silver-washed Frit on their buddleia!
The following day, a male and female were seen again. The male appeared to be behaving quite aggressively and would feed occasionally on the buddleia, but would also harass other 'orange' butterflies, namely Painted Lady and Comma. When the female SWF put in an appearance, she was parried into a bedroom window with a thud and they both tumbled off.
No comments:
Post a Comment