A trio of North Yorkshire's finest Butterflies...

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Yesterday I set off for North Yorkshire in wonderful weather hoping to see three species at three sites - the Dingy Skipper, Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Duke of Burgundy.  For once everything went to plan.  A great deal of hiking was required to reach the Dukes in particular but it was great to find a healthy little colony.  All three species require a degree of habitat management to meet their specific needs and maintain numbers.  Habitat loss has been a problem and some of our rarer species like these three still need our help.


Pearl-bordered Fritillary



Pearl-bordered Fritillary (top view)



Dingy Skipper (quite attractive really?)



Duke of Burgundy



Duke of Burgundy - our only "metalmark" butterfly, nearest relations in Asia and the Americas



Duke of Burgundy



Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Introduction to Wildlife Photography walk at Noddle Hill

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Link

It is hard to believe that conditions last weekend were the polar opposite of this weekend's heatwave. Nevertheless 15 hardy souls turned up at Noddle Hill Reserve for the photo session in gloomy, windy overcast conditions.  Despite the reserve hosting lots of interesting migrant birds such as Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler and even Cuckoo, the weather was so poor that hardly any birds were to be seen - apart from the resident Greylag Geese who quite rightly gave anyone who came too near to their goslings an evil hiss!  Accompanied by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Officer Helen Holford we made our way around the reserve and concentrated mainly on macro and closeup photography and discussed using depth of field and points of focus to artistic effect.













http://www.ywt.org.uk/