Dark greens and High browns

At long last I managed to finally find some Dark Green Fritillary's at Penhale sands last night.  Several observers have already seen them but it's taken me about six visits to finally find this species.  As it happens I counted between 50 and 60 insects spread around the dune system.  All were in pristine condition, except for the very last one I found!  The image below was taken at the very last moment before the sun dropped behind the dune, hence the warm hues.

This morning I visited  South Dartmoor to look for the rare High Brown Fritillary.  The species is ultra rare in Cornwall now with the last known record being one at Kynance in 1996.  Thus I had to do a bit of twitching.  In contrast, at Aish Tor I saw at least 20 insects flying around strongly, once the sun came out.  I arrived there at about 8am and managed to photo one or two fairly static individuals warming up on the bracken.

Dark Green Fritillary, Penhale, Cornwall.

High Brown Fritillary at Aish Tor, Dartmoor. 

Dark-green Fritillary at Perranporth dunes

These shots were taken yesterday evening, which is the only time of day that seems to be the best to get anywhere near this species.  Dark-greens are strong fliers and only need a hint of sunshine to fly around.  The species is locally common in Cornwall with the north coastal regions being the best eg Gwithian towans, Perranporth dunes and around the Camel Estuary. 

Dark-green Fritillary at Perranporth

I took this image last Thursday in low light.  There are actually two shown in this photo.  The image was taken at about 8pm on ISO800, far higher than I normally use.  The insect was also "shivering" which meant this image was the only one just in focus.  Dark-green Fritillary is a bit of a speciality in this region and this was my first for the year here.

Dark green Fritillary poser

This Dark green Fritillary was taken tonight at about 8.45pm tonight in rapidly dropping light.  By day it is a very strong flyer with rapid flight and just about impossible to approach.  By evening they are docile and will pose without any concerns, if you can find one of course.  I was lucky and just caught this one basking in the late sunshine on a grass stem.

Dark green Fritillary's are the commonest of the Fritillary's in Cornwall and they prefer the dune systems of North Cornwall including Perransands, Hayle Towans and areas aound the Camel Estuary.