The Heath Fritillary

I am very lucky in that I live only a few minutes from a site that hosts one of Britains rarest butterflies, the Heath Fritillary. I have visited here for many years and have enjoyed countless hours watching them and photographing them. As I have continued my journey into the photography side, I have found myself working for shots that I have in my mind. For most of the time, these chances can be quite rare but I decided to hatch a plan to capture a photo of the Heath Fritillary that I have not attempted in the past, for good reason as well. I had made a few visits in the past week where near the car park, there was a coppiced area which hosted a few Heath Fritillary. My plan was to try to photograph a Heath Fritillary roosting during a rain shower, the main idea was trying to capture the rain drops on the wings and antennae. Whilst most people would head for their cars at this point, I hoped I would be able to get some cover and attempt the shots. The forecast suggested Thursday morning would have showers early morning so on Wednesday night, I made a visit to East Blean Woods and found a few individuals roosting. I marked their position, checked the background colour through the camera and for once, hoped that it would indeed rain the next morning. I awoke Thursday morning with the rain falling and after getting ready, drove over to East Blean Woods to find my target. The butterflies were still where I had left them the night before and were indeed quite wet due to the rain. I set up my tripod with the camera on, somehow positioned an umbrella on a nearby bush and settled in for a while capturing a number of pleasing shots. Luckily at this early hour, I didn't see anyone which I was thankful for as I must have looked quite a sight tucked under an umbrella in the middle of a clearing in the woods! Settings used were manual mode, ISO 400, speed set to 250, f8-11 and in camera flash. This was the first time I had tried this and was glad I did, the underwing pattern with rain on looking superb as the flash caught it. With a few shots to work with, I was soon home for breakfast and onwards to work. I really must not take these for granted and hope to return soon for some more action before their flight season is over for anther year.

Heath Fritillary