Silver-washed fritillary

After yesterday's jaunt to Kent, I had a day at home trying to catch up with things. At the moment I feel as though,however fast I run, it's not quite fast enough! Still, after polishing off a few chores, I took the dogs to Bedford Purlieus, one of their favourite places to walk. I'd heard that silver-washed fritillaries Argynnis paphia were on the wing, so was hoping to see a few of these beautiful butterflies.

I'd not long arrived when I saw a bright orange butterfly flying strongly down a ride, high up near the tree tops. This species is our largest fritillary and gets its name from the beautiful streaks of silver found on the underside of the wings. The bright orange male is quite distinctive as it flies powerfully,swooping and gliding, along woodland rides, pausing only briefly to feed or investigate anything with an orange hue that could be a potential mate. If two males meet they spiral up into the air, battling, until one admits defeat and flies away.

The male in my blip only stopped very briefly on this hazel leaf, after busily investigating a comma and several large skippers . I like the way the light's passing through the wings. The isolated orange dot is actually the tip of the antenna - not a dust spot!

When we first came to Peterborough, this species had been lost from all the local woodlands, and you had to travel south or west to see it. It became re-established at Bedford Purlieus and some other large Cambridgeshire woodlands in the 1990's and today I saw at least nine individuals in several different parts of the wood. It's one of a suite of woodland butterflies at the site, including white admiral, which I also saw very briefly today, but wasn't able to photograph.

PS I backblipped yesterday's entry which can be seen here.