Heath Fritillaries  | - Click on the image above to view gallery
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 Heath Fritillary on a bramble flower I’m not sure I will ever get that ultimate butterfly shot because there is always something I think that can be better. One of the first butterflies I ever took pictures of a few years ago was the beautiful little Heath Fritillary (Melitaea athalia) and if they hadn’t been such an obliging butterfly I don’t think I would have been bitten by the bug and would have given up a long time ago. At this time of year there are many butterflies about or perhaps there should be anyway. Sadly, I have to say, numbers of many species as far as I can tell are far less this year. I’m not sure if that’s to do with the appalling summer we had last year or the bad start to this. I know those doing butterfly transects this year are saying the same thing though. I go out looking to take pictures of any butterflies I find but really at this time of year I concentrate on Heath Fritillaries and the best place to see them is in the Blean complex of woods, and as the woods at East Blean are my favourite I always go there. The Heath Fritillary is a very rare butterfly in this country and has a lovely local name of the “Woodman’s Follower“. This comes about as it follows the cycle of coppicing in woodlands. The coppicing allows its larval food plant the Common Cow Wheat (Melampyrum pratense) to grow in recently cleared areas.  Heath Fritillary on a bramble leaf Back on the 15th June we visited East Blean woods and only found one Heath Fritillary butterfly who I think must have only just emerged. He was very amiable and even settled on my finger for a while. It was nine days later before I had a chance to return and sadly any Heath Fritillaries I did find had suffered somewhat with the bad wind and rain we had been having. On this occasion I had a very exciting few minutes though. I was busy concentrating on getting a good shot of a Heath Fritillary who had settled on a bramble to feed when all of a sudden a White Admiral (Limenitis camilla) came and settled right next to it. I was really excited about this as it’s a butterfly I had tried and failed to find anywhere last year. Just as I was following that butterfly I looked up and there were two foxes running along the footpath. They very quickly turned tail as soon as they saw me and I have one very blurred shot to prove it. I would never usually keep such a shot but it will always remind of that moment. Just goes to show not every picture has to to be perfect to be a keeper. Two more visits have been made and after all the trips this year I now feel happy with the pictures I have and to be honest I don’t think I will do much better this year as the poor wee things have been damaged so much with the bad weather. Recommended Reading If you are interesting in finding out more about Britain's butterflies, these books are very handy to have. You can buy them directly through Amazon.co.uk from this site.   
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Taking pictures of butterflies can be a very frustrating task as many of them just do not like to be still for long, especially on warm days. It’s also very much about luck where they land, if they do at all in a suitable position to help you get a good picture. I have also found that many of them will settle and then appear to pump their wings so you just have to wait until they settle. The next big problem is any slight breeze moves the leaf the butterfly is sitting on and your shot will be blurred. So infinite patience is required and perhaps that’s why as yet I haven’t quite got that ultimate shot.
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