Tag Archives: Ellis

An orange, yellow, black and white butterfly on green vegetation

Marsh Fritillary. Photo: Sam Ellis

Sam sent in this photo telling us:

Just sharing this photo of one of eleven Marsh Fritillaries I saw today, 24/05/2023 at Lankham Bottom in a 15-min Count. I actually saw several more after I finished the count! So good numbers considering the season. All seemed fairly fresh. They were all recorded on the north-west facing slope in the gully at the southern end of the site. I didn’t see any on the south-facing slope at the northern end where you also usually see them.

An orange butterfly with black markings and a white fringe to the wings on some green vegetation

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Photo: Sam Ellis

An orange and light brownish butterfly with black and white markings on some green vegetation

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Photo: Sam Ellis

A couple of photos from Sam Ellis of a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary at Godlingston Heath taken on 11/06/2022.

This is the first sighting of a SPBF reported to Dorset BC this year – two days earlier than the first sighting of one last year.  It was once a common butterfly throughout most of Britain but is now lost to most of its former range in the east of the country and it is good to see that this small colony is still surviving.