A couple of naff shots.

[JohnP]

I spent ages trying to photograph Silver-washed Fritillary butterflies last Thursday, they just weren't being helpful. When I took these shots I was up to my chest in brambles which were poking through my shirt...  not nice...

[Clicker]

 

How does the saying go ..".No Pain no gain"   

I wouldn't beat yourself up over the shots though John ... I  would have been pleased with them especially   considering  the obstacles. They stand out against the foliage and are just a beautiful colour .

[JohnP]

This is a bit better but it's a shame it didn't land on some vegetation. It's quite heavily cropped.

[Clicker]

Actually ....I like that a lot better John ...If I were to be uItra picky .... might have cropped it even a bit tighter so the  butterfly was off- centre to the left a bit more .. I think the  contrast of the hard stone makes a super foil to the  fragile wings of the insect ...and for good measure  I would just saturate the couple of complementary orange petals (?)   that match the colour of the wings. The shadows under the wings add a nice depth too . There ... You  can see I know  next to nothing about  insects  and I come to an image from a perspective that  is governed mostly by the aesthetic  rather than  the technical correctness . You may have  been brambled today but I'd say you 've got a worthwhile image there ..  but hey ... it 's just my opinion ...

I've attached a version  just to show you where I might have cropped it ...  I hope you don't mind..

Cheers

Polly

 

[JohnP]

Thank you Polly!  As you have said you know next to nothing about insects here are a few facts about Silver-washed Fritillary butterflies. Firstly they are the largest butterfly found in the British Isles, unlike almost all other butterflies they don't lay their eggs on the leaves of the plant the caterpillars feed on. The caterpillars feed on Common Dog Violets and when the adult female is ready to lay her eggs she looks around for the violet plants and then lays eggs on the nearest large tree about a metre above the ground, when the eggs hatch the caterpillars descend to the the woodland floor and find the Common Dog Violets on which to feed. The adults feed mainly on the nectar of Bramble blossom & Thistle flowers- two of their favourite nectar sources.

Here's a couple photos I took last summer, this is the unusual Valesina form of the female Silver-washed Fritillary. Typically only between 5% and 15% of the females in a colony are of this form, and at one time they were confined to the southern coastal counties of Dorset, Hampshire and West Sussex. In recent years however, the Valesina form appears to have been spreading further northwards, though whether this is purely the result of natural expansion, or has been influenced by the deliberate release of captive-bred butterflies, is unclear. I took these shots in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.

[Clicker]

Oh my .... What a beauty! I'm so glad I showed my ignorance... Stunning images ...simply stunning! 

Thank you so much for the lesson too ..most enlightening ... Appreciate your reply on both counts  

[Ryewolf]

I've never seen either of the forms, I'd have been in the branbles as well if I'd seen them.