Butterfly morning

This is a butterfly I have not blipped before: a high brown fritillary.  It wasn't what I was looking for this morning - the scotch argus, which is found on Arnside Knott at one of its two locations in England (and is quite numerous in Scotland).  I thought the bright warm morning might have brought them out, but I didn't see a single one when at this time last year there were many.  On a longer walk that took in Heathwaite and the Cowslip field, I did see lots of gatekeepers, meadow browns, speckled woods and ringlets.  This was the only high brown fritillary. 

It was tantalising me and my knees.  Every time it landed on a hardhead flower, I would get into kneeling position in the dewy grass, and then it would take flight.  At last though it did wait long enough for me to get a few shots of the underside of the wings, with the arc of reddish spots on the lower wing that distinguishes it from the commoner dark green fritillary.  The high brown is one of our rarer butterflies, declining by 90% since the 1970s, but maintaining a bit of a stronghold on the limestones around Morecambe Bay where targeted woodland management has been a big help to the population.

It was one of our best walks over the Knott this year, and the 29th walk over the hill this month.  There's an extra of Gus waiting patiently in the cowslip field (cowslips long over, this part of the field now dominated by small scabious).  Much of the rest of the day (and weekend) was spent tackling the huge and savage rose that rambles and scrambles over the wall and garden shed outside our kitchen window.