Wildlife

I have always been passionate about wildlife and conservation and when not photographing people I can often be found out in the countryside and on nature reserves. Though we have of course lost species, we are lucky to still have such a diversity of birds, butterflies and insects in the British countryside. Many species are still under threat, but it is heartening to have met so many like minded people when out and about photographing the natural world.

You can contact me on 07866 316577 or via e-mail at info@mauricephotos.co.uk

TO GO STRAIGHT TO DETAILS OF PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES AND TO SEE SOME OF MY FAVOURITE IMAGES PLEASE CLICK HERE AND SCROLL DOWN

Some wildlife links:
Michael Flowers birdwatching classes and walks
Yorkshire Butterfly Conservation
Yorkshire Dragonflies
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
Yorkshire Nature Triangle
Yorkshire Mammal Group
East Yorkshire Birding Forum
Birdguides
Tophill Low Nature Reserve
Yorkshire Red Kites
North Cave Wetlands Nature Reserve
The Wild Bird Cafe - North Cave Wetlands
Paull Holme Strays sightings
Potteric Carr Nature Reserve
Hull Valley Wildlife Group
Spurn Bird Observatory
Mike Robinson Bird Photos
Vince Cowell Photography
Steve Mulligan Bird Photography
David Ware - Wolds Birding
Paul Ashton East Yorkshire Wildlife
Wold Ranger
Beetle Boy's Bio Blog
Rory Selvey (age 13) Wildlife Photography
Kill the Badger Cull
The Brown Hairstreak Blog
Africa Gomez Bugblog
Zilch - eliminating litter
Keep Britain Tidy
Plantlife
Buglife

Next Photo Event dates to be announced...

Monday, 9 September 2013

French Fritillaries

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Spotted Fritillary


Always pleased to see a Fritillary I wasn't quite sure which flavours would be on offer in August in the south. The Spotted Fritillaries (Melitaea didyma) above and below are quite widespread, but when fresh are extremely striking. The males in particular are flame red and the photos don't really do the brightness justice. The bright colour and clear sub-marginal crescent shaped spots are indicative of the southern European meridionalis form. Quite a small Fritillary, they seemed to enjoy short energetic flights from flower to flower staying low to the ground.


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Below is Weaver's Fritillary also knows as the Violet Fritillary (Boloria dia) which looks superficially very similar from above to the Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne) which we are fortunate to have still hanging on at a few sites in North Yorkshire. I only saw the Weavers lower down the mountain, but apparently they are often seen at greater altitudes. Took me a while to identify as they are meant to be principally a May/June species, so presumably there are a couple of broods in the south. The Weaver's/Violet Fritillary is also not dissimilar to Titania's Fritillary (Boloria Titania) but she is an Alpine butterfly with much stronger V shaped markings around the outer upper wings.


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 Violet Fritillary

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the white dot encircled by black at the front of the hind wing seen from underneath kept catching my attention and helped in identification

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Violet Fritillary


Pictured below here is the Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe) which is very variable when seen from above in lots of different colour variations.  The underside at first glance is also very similar to the Spotted Fritillary, but it has the orange dots in the post discal band which distinguish it. Knapweed Frit I also saw up and down the mountain. There are similar Melitae species to the Knapweed in Eastern Europe and Sicily, the adults indistnguishable although the larvae are quite different. I do enjoy a Fritillary!


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Knapweed Fritillary


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Knapweed Frit showing big orange dots


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